This latest edition of Valiant Wing's Airframe Album series covers a plane that has not had the same amount of press that often accompanies Luftwaffe aircraft. In this case, it is the Arado Ar-196 a relatively large single engine floatplane that performed sterling service both aboard navy ships and in coastal patrol and defense.

Previous to this aircraft, German Navy ships had been serviced by various biplanes, none of which were particularly successful. This was the first low wing monoplane and it was rather heavily armed so able to do more than gunfire spotting and recce. It was also built so that the wings could be folded up against the side of the plane to enhance storage.

Initially it was developed in both twin float and single main float versions, but the tendency for the outrigger floats in the single main float design to 'dig' into the water when the seas were choppy relegated this variant to just test versions. The 196 served with both the Bulgarian and Romanian air services as well for their use on the Black Sea. Captured versions were used by the Soviet Union, the British and some other services.

Typical of this series, the opening section of the book is a history of the development and use of the aircraft. Then we get into a much larger section that covers the aircraft itself. Much of this material comes from not only extant technical manuals, but also from the few remaining airframes. In the latter case, the images are all in full color. This is followed by several pages of drawings showing the differences between the variants, starting with the prototype, a real help for the modeler.

 A rather extensive kit build section is next that covers the building of at least one kit from each of the three major scales. In this case there is a Heller and Sword kit built for the 1/72 fan, the Italeri kit for the 1/48 enthusiast and the latest single float version for the large scale builder. This is followed by a listing of available kits, decals, aftermarket and books relating to the plane. In addition, there are several pages of full color profiles of various aircraft.

In all, it makes for another superb addition to a growing catalogue and a book that will be useful to both historians, enthusiasts and modelers alike. These books tend to sell quite well so get in your order soon.

September 2015

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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