This is a nice book to see being produced. Sure, it has already come out in a first edition, but Valiant Wings realizes that things rarely stay static and so in order to incorporate additions since the first edition, an updated book has been produced. Such is the level of revision that it has gone from 112 to 176 pages. While I've not done a page by page comparison with the first edition, I know that there have been additions in pretty well every section. The biggest two are build articles on two kits that were not out when the initial publication was made, and those were the Airfix 1/72 and 1/24 Typhoon Ibs.

The book starts out by providing information on the history of the type, starting with the initial prototype. What makes this book special is that there are drawings and photos of these planes, with each successive improvement noted in the drawings. Each plane in this early series has a bit of a history involved with it that gives some pertinent information on the aircraft in question. This not only covers the variations on the Typhoon, but also touches on the Tornado as they both used the same basic airframe.

In the airframe section, we are provided with a goodly section on camouflage and markings. Here you'll find several pages of very well drawn profiles by Richard Caruana. All the major production aircraft are covered in this section as well.

The book then goes into the miniatures section. This is the modeler's section with the author's choice for the best kits in each scale and a build-up of those kits. Next is a section that has drawings of all the prototypes and the differences between the different batches. Something a dedicated modeler will find to be of considerable value.

The very last section is an 'in detail' section. Thankfully there is a single preserved example of the Typhoon and so there are many photos of this plus bits of other planes and images from the period tech manuals and some period photos. These are used to cover all the different bits and systems of the Typhoon. 

This is followed by appendices listing and showing photos of many of the various modeling accessories dedicated to the Typhoon. A kit listing with all variations is next followed by a list of books associated to the aircraft. This is followed by a huge fold out that offers plans of the two major variants in 1/48 scale. I know that many are plans fans and you'll find these to be especially useful as it provides cross section data as well.

All in all, and like its predecessor, it makes for a superb book that should appeal to both the enthusiast as well as the modeler. All the additional pages makes it a superb value as it has only a tiny increase in price for a big increase in page count. It is a book that I found quite a good read. It is a great effort and well worth the cover price. A book I can recommend even more than the initial printing.

November 2015

Copyright ModelingMadness.com

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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