Continuation War

The War Within A War

Valiant Wings Publishing
Airframe Extra No.6

Reviewed by Brad Fallen

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The Russo-Finnish wars of 1939-40 and 1941-44 – the ‘Winter War’ and ‘Continuation War’ respectively – have long fascinated aircraft modellers, and for good reason.  Both sides used a large variety of aircraft, and Finland’s prolonged success in resisting the Soviet Union provides a dramatic historical backdrop.

Valiant Wings’ sixth Airframe Extra title Continuation War captures this period well, focusing on the Finnish perspective.  As usual with this series, the book begins with a history chapter that gives context to the aircraft and modelling sections that follow.  The text gives a good sense of why the Finns ended up at war with the Soviets twice within less than two years.  There are also some helpful maps and lovely period photos of aircraft, including some of the more obscure types operated by Finland including the Blackburn Rippon and Dornier Do 22.

With the scene set, the chapters now alternate between aircraft profiles and model builds.  The profiles are full-colour and Finland-heavy – there are nine Soviet compared to 35 Finnish aircraft – but Valiant Wings has assessed (correctly I think) that most readers will be more interested in Finnish subjects.  Aircraft covered by the profiles are:

• Avro Anson Mk.I

• Bristol Blenheim Mk. I and Mk.IV

• Bristol Bulldog

• Gloster Gauntlet

• Gloster Gladiator

• LaGG-3

• I-16 Type 6 and Type 24

• Hawker Hurricane Mk.I and Mk.II

• Westland Lysander I

• Fokker D.XXI

• Dornier Do 17 Z

• Junkers Ju 88 A-4

• Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2

• Morane-Saulnier MS.406

• Brewster B-239

• Curtis Hawk 75A-6

• Fiat G.50

• I-153

• MiG-3

• Airacobra Mk.I

The profiles are by Richard J. Caruana and are supplemented by plan and scrap views if these are needed to show details of the airframe in question.

Model builds are a highlight of the Airframe Extra series, and this release is no exception with seven builds included.  These are as follows:

• Hasegawa 1/72 B-239 Buffalo ‘Finnish Air Force’ by Libor Jekl

• Revell 1/72 Hurricane Mk.IIb by Libor Jekl

• Azur 1/72 Morane-Saulnier MS.410 by Libor Jekl

• Zvezda 1/72 Ilyushin Il-4 by Steve A. Evans

• Special Hobby 1/32 B-239 Buffalo ‘Taivaan Helmi over Finland’ by Steve A. Evans

• ICM 1/72 Polikarpov I-153 ‘Chaika’ by Libor Jekl

• Gavia 1/72 Lysander Mk.III by Steve A. Evans

The featured kits range from straightforward to build, such as the Hasegawa B-239, to extremely challenging, which is the only way to describe Zvezda’s Il-4 (one of the oldest kits in the company’s catalogue). Being the talented modellers they are, however, Libor and Steve do all of the kits justice.  Their builds are accompanied by helpful text and photographic descriptions that will make the job of anyone else attempting these kits much easier. 

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I’ve been tempted by Special Hobby’s large scale Buffalo for a while, but am glad I didn’t have a go at it before reading Steve’s build article here – his descriptions of how he tackled the kit’s shortcomings are invaluable.

There is also a useful one-page colour reference chart, which lists the aircraft paint colours used by Finland and the USSR along with their model paint equivalents in both enamel and acrylic.

Continuation War is probably my favourite Airframe Extra release to date with its well-balanced combination of history, aircraft information and model builds.  Highly recommended to all with an interest in this corner of World War II aviation; for those new to the subject, this book is an excellent primer.

Thanks to Valiant Wings Publishing for the sample.

Review Copyright © 2017 by Brad Fallen
This Page Created on 7 November, 2017
Last updated 7 November, 2017

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