Valiant Wings produced a second volume in its new Airframe Extra series. This time it concentrates on the Korean War. The Korean war was unique in several ways compared to earlier conflicts. In this case, it was the first time there was a widespread use of jet powered aircraft. It was also the first of the 'limited' wars. Two of the major powers involved, the US and Soviet Union, both had nuclear bombs, but decided not to use them. Instead, this became a battle against three communist countries and the United Nations.

This book, however, is more focused on the air war part of the war. It opens with sixteen pages on the war itself. In this area we are not only given a general synopsis of events, but are provided with a considerable number of photos of the aircraft involved. Thanks to an increasing use of color film, many of these period photos are in full color. This is followed by ten pages of color profiles of various USAF aircraft.

The next section begins the modeling portion of the book. In this we have the first two of five model build articles. Both of these subjects are in 1/72 scale and both built by the same modeler. The first build is the Eduard MiG-15 while the second is the Special Hobby Seafire FR.47. The builder uses the same method of building these kits and that is to put into them as much aftermarket as is available. Step by step instructions are provided and we get to see how his superb results are reached. This section is followed by four pages of USN color profiles.

The final major section is also modeling. In this case we start with two 1/48 subjects. These are the Italeri/AMT F7F-3N Tigercat and the Special Hobby 1/48 Firefly FR.5. As with the first modeling section, both these kits are built by the same person and his outlook on model building is quite different. Instead of filling the kits with aftermarket, he builds the kits pretty much out of the box. The Tigercat has a seriously wrong nose section and we are shown how to correct this. A few pieces of etched brass are used, but basically this kit is how most of us would build it. The Firefly is built in basically the same way, keeping aftermarket to a minimum. Two pages of North Korean aircraft profiles follows.

There is also a 1/32 kit build by the same builder as did the 1/48 offerings. In this case the kit is the Italeri/Kinetic F-86F Sabre. Once more, the kit is pretty much out of the box. Much of the build here is involved in producing a nicely weathered bare metal finish. Things like this are important on aircraft depicted during war. In peacetime they get lots of cleaning and polishing, but during a war, they are rode hard and put away wet as the saying goes. Following this build is a section of profiles for UN and communist aircraft.

Overall, it makes for a very nicely done edition. Judging by how well the first volume has sold, I would hazard an opinion that Valiant Wings has a winner here.

August 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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