This is #50 in Kagero's Monograph series and is the continuation of what came previously in #49. That earlier book covered the development of the He-219 and included a detailed look at the aircraft and systems. This also includes all of the different variants and that edition had color profiles as well as plans in 1/72 and 1/48.

Volume 2 continues from that edition and covers the operational use of the He-219. Apparently NJG 1 along with the training unit NJGr10 were the only ones who operated the 219 in combat. As such, the authors are able to provide information on all of the various combats in which the He-219 participated. The aircraft was very successful early on in its career, but as time progressed, experienced crews were lost, and the Allies had an ever growing night intruder presence, this success petered out. Still a respectable number of aircraft were still extant at the end of the war, though with empty fuel tanks, and so the Allies were able to capture many of them intact and had a chance to fly and evaluate them.

In this light, it makes sense that many of the photos in this volume are of 219s that were either captured or found damaged at the end of the war. There are operational photos for sure, but like most night fighters, since they operated at night (duh), images are not exactly numerous. The majority of the book are 3-D drawings of the airframe, both with and without the external skinning as well as drawings of the various inner bits and pieces like radios, radar, seats, guns, landing gear and so on. To finish up on the plans front is a huge separate foldout in 1/32 scale that provides views of the overall aircraft. The version picked is the 219A-2 and this along with the CAD images in the book are just the ticket for those working on the big Revell kit.

In all, it is a great offering and one that Luftwaffe fans should not pass up.

June 2013

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

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