I know that many of you are thinking "Another Mustang book?", but this one is a bit different from the norm. First of all Kagero has produced this as basically a photo book, and not a detailed history of the aircraft or unit. Secondly, the book contains a lot of photos that, to this reviewer, have not been published in one place before.

The majority of the images are either very late war or even post war. Rarely do we get to see images of Mustangs that were part of the post war occupation forces. These planes had some interesting codes and code presentations, while still having the nose art that modelers delight in seeing. This includes Korean war birds and some of those used by other nations.

In line with all of Kagero's books, it is in both Polish and English. I found some interesting word usage as often the translation isn't exact. For instance, a forced or crash landing is called a "compulsory landing", and colors were not painted on but "coated", which sounds a bit odd to the English ear, but we know what is meant. 

What now seems to be a staple of Kagero books is a superb decal sheet. This one is over 7 x 9 inches in size and covers four aircraft as pictured in the book. There is a four view, full color section in the back of the book from which these markings are taken. The decals cover all three major scales and provide just the unique markings for each aircraft. Any flashes or stripes will need to be painted, but these Cartograf decals provide an excellent opportunity to model something a bit different.

In all, it makes for an outstanding package that I can highly recommend to the Mustang fan or those wanting a great book.

September 2011

Review book courtesy of the fine folks at Kagero. Visit them for more books.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.