Always nice to see a new series of books and after the success of their earlier books, Valiant Wings Publishing has done the first in their Airframe Album books. This fortuitously coincides with the release of the Revell 1/32 He-219, so it is a book that should be in great demand.

As you may guess from the title, this one is more about the aircraft itself than its development history. However, that has not been forgotten as the book starts with a background on the aircraft. It then immediately goes into a look at the various parts of the aircraft. We are fortunate that the lone extant complete airframe is undergoing restoration at the Smitsonian with the fuselage complete  and the engines/wings now getting the attention of restorers.

What this means is that the book includes images of the aircraft while the restoration is underway. There are also a number of period photos as well as sections from tech manuals to help us see what is what in this aircraft.

This then goes into a section that covers the aircraft's development. This includes sections on all the different variants, delineating the differences between the versions. Part of this section are drawings of the versions so you can see what, if anything has changed from type to type. It includes projected development for aircraft not built by war's end. Then

Then there is a section on those that survived the war, though most were eventually scrapped. Several pages on camouflage and markings are presented to us and this features several pages of full color profiles of various aircraft. As is typical of Valiant Wings books, this one also includes a section on kits, accessories and decals. A bonus is a look at test shot sprues for the upcoming Revell 1/32 kit.

In all, a most valuable reference book on the type. One that both enthusiasts and modelers alike will find useful. It is a great effort and well worth the cover price. A book I can most highly recommend to you as a reference.

September 2012

For more on Valiant Wings, including getting this book, visit www.valiant-wings.co.uk. Thank you for the review copy.

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