The Modern Hog Guide

The A-10 Warthog Exposed

by Jake Melampy  

Reid Air Publications

Reviewed by Darren Mottram

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This latest book from Jake Melampy provides a very detailed, photographic coverage of the A-10 Thunderbolt II (or "Warthog" to its friends).

The smallest of his books so far at 120 pages, don't let the size fool you into thinking that it's anything less than the previous two volumes dealing with the F-16. The level of coverage and access is amazing and a lot of effort has obviously been put in behind the scenes to have enabled such a detailed and thorough coverage of just about every inch of the A-10. It isn't just a couple of general overview shots per subject either. Jake has delved right into each nook and cranny and provides close up photos of many of the smallest details along with different angles of many areas which leaves the reader in no doubt as to exactly what's there.<>

Laid out in a fairly logical sequence, after a very brief introduction to the A-10, the photographic coverage starts at the front with the A-10s most well known weapon, the massive GAU-8 Avenger Cannon, then continues on around the airframe covering the fuselage, wings, wheel wells, engines etc. before moving on to the cockpit, ejection seat, pylons and weapons. A particularly useful and interesting aspect is the coverage of all the different variants of A-10s which have appeared after various upgrades and modifications, particularly the A-10A, A-10A+ and A-10C cockpits. The coverage of the weapons could be a book in itself too. Fully one quarter of the book is taken up with detailed photos and descriptions of the various weapons, pods and other training rounds which can be hung under the Warthog's many pylons.

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The only thing which I might consider to be a very minor disappointment is the lack of an index at the beginning to allow the modeller to quickly locate the specific areas of interest that they may be after during a build. Either that or those small diagrams in the corners of the page indicating which part of the airframe the page deals with which some books use.

The quality of photo reproduction throughout the book is very good, being printed on good quality satin paper and the book itself has an overall feel of a quality product. For anyone wanting to add that little something extra to their A-10 model or even if you're just interested in the A-10 in general, this book would have to be high on the "must have" list.

Highly Recommended.