Back in about 1983 or so, I bought a book called 'German Jet Genesis' by David Masters. This was my first introduction to what was soon to blossom into "Luft '46", the production of kits of German aircraft that were just being developed at the end of WWII or even the 'paper projects' that were considered, but never got past the initial suggestion process.

As most of you are aware, the kit aspect of the Luft '46 has seemed to have petered out as I've not seen a new kit in this area for many years. Yet for a while, even standard kit makers like Revell were producing some really excellent kits of these sorts of planes. The resin guys were the ones who pretty much catered to our needs and even some excellent short run plastic kits were produced by folks like Huma.

Though the kits aspect of things has slowed down, that is not the same for books, and we now have volume 4 from Mushroom Models. This one covers attack, multi-purpose and other aircraft. This edition is divided into two sections. First is for attack and multi-purpose aircraft and is listed alphabetically by manufacturer. Some of these entries are pretty extensive while others are quite brief, depending on how much information has surfaced on the project. In this section are some side view drawings with a few four view drawings. Not all aircraft are covered by drawings, as there may not have been any done.

The second section covers the 'others' category and covers things like flying boats, floatplanes, manned A-4 (V-2) rockets and the Sangar hypersonic aircraft, to name a few. This section also includes varying amounts of information as well as the nicely done line drawings on some of the entries. In the back section of the book are multiple pages of computer art work of some of the types covered in the book. Some of these types have multiple pages devoted to them and others one or two. These are all very nicely done and provide some interesting camouflage schemes.

In all, it makes for an excellent book on the subject and for those who are still interested in these projects, it will be a frequently used reference. Highly recommended for the Luft '46 fan and other interested readers.

July 2013