Review

As a big fan of Fw190s, I just had to get my hands on this book. I was not really sure what I was going to get, but what I saw actually surprised me. The book is full of text, both in English and Polish with information covering the short nosed 190s. It starts off the development of the Fw190 and then goes into the variants.

The section on the variants is very good, with a section on each variant, describing the difference between that and the one that came before it. After that comes a section on camouflage and painting. This also section describes how the Germans organized their aircraft units, but gives Polish unit equivalents.

The Fw190 camouflage is described well, giving RLM numbers and describing how different units painted their aircraft. The next section is full of wonderful 1/48 scale line drawings, including fold out drawings of the A-3 and A-8 versions. Following this comes a section that highlights the external changes from each production variant.

This is an indispensable reference when trying to convert model kits. The book concludes with some great artwork, full of interesting camouflage schemes. Included as a bonus are a sheet of Techmod decals to make an aircraft of JG 3 and JGr 10 in 1/48 or 1/72 scale. I was really pleased with this book overall. My only compliant is that some of the pictures are not really much to write home about, but it still is a solid reference.

Volume IV

This Volume focuses on the long nose Fw190 variants. The book starts off with a few pages on the Fw190B and Fw 190C before plunging into the Fw190D and Ta152. After the development and technical aspects are covered, a good number of pages are dedicated to combat operations in the west and the east.

As with the other volume a good set of line drawings are provided, this time giving a fold out to the Ta152C and the Ta152H in 1/48 scale. The final section highlights the differences between the long nose Focke-Wulfs during their production run.

The material covered is quite interesting, and is pretty easy to read. The pictures in this volume are better than that of the first volume, but still are not the greatest. However I don't think this really detracts from the value of the book. The artwork is good in this volume as well, and the Techmod decals provide you with means to build Hans Ulrich Rudel's D-9, two JV44 D-9s, a JG26 D-13/R11, JG54 D-9, and a JG301 D-9 (1/48 and 1/72). I look forward to seeing Volumes II and III