Plans have become a staple amongst modelers and enthusiasts over the last decade or so. Kagero has been on company that has embraced this trend with a now rather extensive catalog of books that focus on this aspect of the hobby.

This particular book is part of their Top Drawings series that has become very popular with modelers. The subject this time around is the Me-21/410. The Me-210 was to be a replacement for the Bf-110 heavy fighter. However, a nice as the design looked on paper, when it finally took to the air, it had issues with handling. Initially designed with twin fins, like the 110, the first attempt at fixing things was to install a standard single fin. This was helpful, but it was still a bit of a handful to fly.

The next attempt at fixing the handling was lengthen the fuselage, and while that helped, it still wasn't sufficient to make it a useful aircraft. Construction of the type was halted in order to concentrate a similar looking, but quite different aircraft, the Me-410. This plane had a different wing design and was powered by DB.605 instead of the DB.601 engine. It also included a small bomb bay that increased its usefulness. Its excellent range made it quite useful as a bomber destroyer and armed with 21cm rockets, it was very successful as long as the bombers were not escorted by single engine fighters. However, during WWII, a twin engine plane simply isn't as maneuverable as a single engine version so that moved the type to other sorts of missions.

Typical of the series, when it comes to aircraft you get drawings in all the major scales. The 1/72 drawings are in the book and cover all the different variants and test aircraft. Due to the size of the 1/48 plans, those are provided in three, huge fold-outs that are included in the center of the book. You are also provided with a couple of profiles and a four view in full color.

A very nice addition to a popular series.

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