Supermarine Attacker
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Warpaint Series 94
Author: Tony Buttler
Publisher: Warpaint Books
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 40
A workhorse of the Second World War and an icon of the Battle of Britain, the Supermarine Spitfire had an extensive history and understandably occupied much of the attention of Supermarine. Even still, the company was asked to look at producing a jet fighter in 1944, and in the interests of saving time, Supermarine decided to use existing tooling and jigs. As much of the Spiteful/Seafang was to be used as possible, thus giving the Supermarine Attacker direct lineage back to the venerable Spitfire.
The Attacker first flew in the summer of 1946, with carrier trials taking place the following year. Its odd (for a jet) taildragger appearance seemed out of place among tricycle-geared jets, but the plane proved stable in flight and soon made its way into Fleet Air Arm service. As jet aviation evolved quickly, it would not remain in service for long, as faster and longer-ranged designs would supplant the Attacker, but for those fledgling years of jet naval aviation, the Supermarine Attacker provided a good transition from propellers to jets.
This book is typical of the Warpaint series, featuring plenty of photographs, including a couple in color. Most of the color, though, comes from the three dozen profile illustrations spread throughout the book. The Attacker was fairly sedate when it comes to camouflages, with nearly all finished in the standard FAA colors of Extra Dark Sea Gray over Sky. A handful went to Pakistan, though, and were painted silver. Scale drawings are also included, as well as a few close-up detail photos.
For those interested in the Supermarine Attacker, or are looking for a good all-in-one modeler's reference, this is a good title to pick up. My thanks to Warpaint Books for the review copy.