The Fairey Battle: A Technical Guide
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Airframe Detail No. 11
Author: Richard A. Franks
Publisher: Valiant Wings Publications
ISBN: 978-1-912932-36-8
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 138
The Fairey Battle was a light bomber developed in the 1930s, so by the time the Second World War rolled around, the type was already feeling its age. Still, it performed decently in those opening stages, and even scored the first RAF aerial victory. The Battle was quickly outclassed, though, and relegated to training units. The Fairey Battle also saw service in other countries, including Belgium and Greece, and all told over 2,000 were built. This new title in the Airframe Detail series takes a look at this famous RAF bomber in the usual fashion of this series, with sections on history, technical details, camouflage and markings, and model builds.
The book starts with a brief history that covers the development of the Fairey Battle, then moves into the operational record. The RAF section is the largest and is broken down by broad categories, including training and target towing. The international operator section includes Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Finland, Greece, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Rhodesia, Turkey, and the United States. Some of these operated Battles in squadron service, while others like the United States only had one for evaluation. This chapter also includes information on survivors and a serial number list.
The technical description chapter is where modelers will get all their answers for details on the Fairey Battle in drawings and photos. This section is broken down into eight main groups. The first covers the engine, cowlings, and propeller, the second the fuselage, cockpit interior, and canopy. Group 3 is the tail, while 4 is the wings and controls and 5 is the undercarriage. The last three start with the fuel, oil, coolant, hydraulic, and oxygen systems, then the armament and ordnance, and finally the miscellaneous section that catches all the various pieces that weren’t previously covered. The photos and drawings in this section will be of great use to anyone wanting to detail their next Battle model.
The camouflage and markings chapter is next, and the Battle had some colorful options for sure. This is not surprising given the variety of roles the Battle operated in. This chapter provides a combination of photos and color profile illustrations that show frontline Battle schemes in their standard RAF scheme of dark green and dark earth with night undersides before jumping into some of the more unique schemes worn by the target towing and training units. International Battles are also covered, most of which wore the standard RAF camouflage, but with different national markings.
The rest of the book focuses on models, starting with a couple of builds before diving into a list of kits and accessories. The builds include the Azur-Frrom 1/72 kit built by Libor Jekl and the Trumpeter 1/48 kit built by Steve Evans. Both of these are well done and show some of the challenges with each kit. The kit/accessory section list all the kits available of the Fairey Battle in all scales, as well as aftermarket resin, photoetch, and decals.
This is a great reference for anyone wanting to build a model of the Fairey Battle, whether a simple out of the box build or an all-out superdetailed full of aftermarket details. My thanks to Valiant Wings Publications for the review copy. Visit their website for more information on this and other titles in the Airframe Detail series.