Brewster Buffalo
By Matt Bittner
Warplane No. 04
Author: Nico Braas
Publisher: Lanasta
ISBN: 978-90-8616-164-5
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 48
This is the first time I’ve seen a publication from Lanasta. Their Warplane series, currently at No. 04 with this release, tends to stick with a single subject, giving it a general, overview coverage with decent pictures and some color profiles. While not meant specifically as a modeling reference, it does help the modeler in some regards, especially when dealing with the history of the aircraft being covered.
The Brewster Buffalo is sometimes maligned. It was the first mass-produced monoplane fighter for the United States Navy, so at the time it was brought on board it was considered state of the art. However, technology changed quickly in those times, and unfortunately the Buffalo was soon outclassed. By the time World War 2 started, there were other aircraft that could out-perform the Brewster easily. Even so, it was used as a fighter, and in capable hands – especially those of the Finns – it was used to great advantage. The most numerous aces flying the Buffalo were Finnish and they put the type to good use.
This book is not broken down into specific chapters, but has specific sections: Brewster Aeronautical Corporation; The Brewster Buffalo: Early development and test flying; Into U.S. Navy service; The Belgian order; In Finnish service; In the Netherlands East Indies; R.A.F. Service; RAAF/USAAF use; and Survivors.
The photographs alone are worth the purchase of this book. There are some I’ve never seen before (not that I’m a huge Buffalo photograph collector) and they’re published in high quality (although most appear to be sepia-tinted, and I’m not sure if that was because of the publication process, or that’s the way the original photos were). There are a few that are also in color. The book does have color profiles, but it’s only one fuselage side, and they’re littered throughout the pages. The one good thing about the profiles is they cover every country and air force that flew her, including USAAF service, which is totally new to me (it turns out they took over a couple that flew in Australia).
All in all a really nice book, covering the overall operational history of the Brewster Buffalo. If you’re looking for details to model from, then you’ll need to track down other references. But if you want to learn the history of the Buffalo you’ll want to purchase this book.
Huge thanks to Lanasta for sending this book to review. It was quite enjoyable.