Boulton Paul Defiant
by Richard A. Franks
Valiant Wings Publishing
Airframe Detail No.5
S u m m a r y |
| Publisher and Title: |
Valiant Wings Publishing
Boulton Paul Defiant
by Richard A. Franks
Airframe Detail No. 5 |
| ISBN: |
978-0-9935345-6-0 |
| Media: |
96 pages in A4 Portrait mode; soft cover; many photographs and walkaround ones, colour profiles and model details. |
| Price: |
GBP£13.95 plus shipping available online from Valiant Wings
GBP£13.95 plus shipping available online from Hannants
and stockists worldwide. |
| Review Type: |
First Read |
| Advantages: |
A comprehensive coverage in real life and model form, excellent image reproduction, and it opens flat for ease of reference. No images cross the page centres. |
| Disadvantages: |
None noted |
| Conclusion: |
Thoroughly recommended to both the modeller and the aviation nut and this volume should be on the shelf of every RAF modeller. |
Reviewed by Graham Carter
HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron.com
The latest offering in this well-known and well-received series from Valiant Wings, who we thank for the review sample. Consisting of 98 pages of quality gloss paper, casebound into a colour card cover, this ‘bookazine’ is a boon to the modeller and aviation hobbyist alike.
The volume starts with a brief history of the turret-fighter concept, covering the evolution of the concept, somewhat misguided in the eyes of history, with examples of other products such as the Skua, Turret Demon, Sidestrand and Hotspur.
This leads into a brief coverage of the Defiant’s use in battle, illustrated by some useful images of day and night fighters, followed by work as Target Tugs and ASR aircraft. An interesting side track is the early ejector seat trials by Martin-Baker using DR944 and later AA292 suitably modified at the end of the war to shoot dummies out of the turret area.
Most of the volume is then taken up with technical information - lashings of images, drawings and notes on all aspects of the airframe and equipment drawn from technical manuals, period photos and walk around shots of the surviving aircraft in the RAF Museum. Modellers will find everything they would want to know about the Defiant in this section, whether they be working on the recent Airfix 1/72 or 1/48 offerings or any of the dozen or so other kits in any scale.
Section 2 consists of 23 pages covering the variety of camouflage schemes carried in its lifetime, supplemented with colour profiles and a 5-page set of detailed 1/48 drawings, all by Richard Caruana.
Finally Steve A Evans gives us a fairly detailed build of the new Airfix 1/48 kit, complete with a lot of progress shots.
The volume ends up with an extensive Appendix covering all the kits, accessories and decals that are to be had for Defiant kits in all scales, ending with a production list of all Defiants produced and a bibliography.
Thoroughly recommended to both the modeller and the aviation nut and this volume should be on the shelf of every RAF modeller.
Thanks to Valiant Wings Publishing for the sample.
Review Copyright © 2018 by Graham Carter
This Page Created on 9 November, 2018
Last updated
9 November, 2018
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