German Air Projects 1935 – 1945: Fighters
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Author: Marek Rys
Publisher: MMP Books
ISBN: 978-83-61421-76-4
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 176
The subject of German paper projects has quite a large following, and in the past decade or so, many publications have arisen documenting some of these potential designs. Mushroom Model Publications has produced several titles revolving around this subject, and this latest provides a large format book focusing on fighter aircraft during the wartime years.
The book is broken down by manufacturer, and covers Arado, Bachem, Blohm & Voss, BMW, Daimler Benz, Dornier, Fieseler, Focke Wulf, Gotha, Heinkel, Henschel, Horten, Junkers, Lippisch, and Messerschmitt. Understandably, some of these manufacturers only get a cursory mention, such as BMW that only warrants a couple pages. For the more mainstream manufacturers, though, the coverage is extensive, and includes follow-on designs to known aircraft such as the Fw 190, Me 262, and He 219.
As these aircraft are project only designs, there are no photos to speak of in this book. There are, however, plenty of scale drawings and 3D renderings that help balance the written text. The drawings vary from simple to detailed, which reflects the amount of information available on these designs. Some of these undoubtedly existed as little more than theoretical sketches, while others evolved more thoroughly in the design process. The overall presentation of all the aircraft, though, is quite good and this should be a good addition to any library of Luftwaffe what-if designs.
My thanks to MMP Books for the review copy. Visit their website for more information on this and other air project titles.