Valiant Wings' Airframe Extra series has become quite popular and it is easy to see why that is the case. This one continues by concentrating on the pivotal Battle of Midway in June of 1942, an event that turned the tide in the Pacific.

As many of you know, the Japanese seemed unstoppable. They had already routed Allied forces in Southeast Asia and the surrounding islands. They were well in the grips of 'victory fever' and felt that nothing could stand against them. The Allies had managed to counter them at Coral Sea a few months earlier and stopped their southerly advances to take New Guinea, but the Japanese fleet was still formidible.

The Japanese felt that taking Midway island would provide them with an advanced outpost from where they could keep an eye on the US fleet and from which they could base attacks on Hawaii. This was one of those battles where happenstance played a major role as indecision on the part of the Japanese was tied in with fortuitous timing on the part of the USN that allowed four of Japans largest aircraft carriers to be sunk in a single day. A disaster from which the Japanese Navy was unable to recover.

This series is known for three things. One is a nice historical background along with some nicely chosen (but small) period photos. Another is a large selection of full color profiles by RIchard Caruana. These are divided in sections covering US and Japanese aircraft. Finally, a kit building selection using their same two builders.

The 1/72 modeler has never met a photo etch or resin part he has not liked and so his builds generally feature a lot of this. However, there is no denying the quality of the builds and in this one we have an Airfix Kate, Airfix Wildcat, and Hasegawa Dauntless.

For other scales, we have kits built pretty much out of the box. In this case it is a 1/144 Sweet A6M Zero, and in 1/48 an Italeri/Accurate Miniatures Avenger, Academy/Accurate Miniatures Vindicator, and a Hasegawa Kate. I think it may well be these build articles that are a major draw of the series as they make up over half of the pages. It all makes for another superb edition and one that I know you will like.

August 2019

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved.

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

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.