Kawanishi N1K2-J "George" Shiden-Kai

Aero Detail 26
Dainippon Kaiga Co., Ltd. ©1999
ISBN 4-499-22711-9

Aviation Usk Price: $27.95

Reviewed by Michael Benolkin

The Aero Detail series of books is an outstanding series, filled with great photos and excellent drawings. The only shortcoming is that they photograph current restored planes, which means that Japanese WW2 subjects are going to be sorely lacking. Thankfully there are several N1K2-Js around the world (a total of four, in fact!), making this latest Aero Detail title a welcome one indeed.

The book is broken down into sections, starting with some general overview photos of the different museum birds and then falling into the detail shots. Starting at the front of the plane everything is photographed from various angles, and where the photos can't show things clearly enough, drawings accompany them. This duality of photos and drawings give you the most complete reference possible on the Shiden-Kai and will allow you to really superdetail a model of this famous Japanese fighter.

If you've never seen an Aero Detail book, you're in for a treat. If you're familiar with the series, then you know what you'll get in this title, and if you're at all interested in Japanese fighters, definitely pick this one up.