F-102 Delta Dagger in Detail and Scale Book Review

By Michael Benolkin

Review

Detail and Scale Publications is back with another title that has been 'modernized' for the digital world. This is the F-102 Delta Dagger in Detail and Scale and for the most part, the textual content remains as it did when first published. What is significant with bringing these older titles into the digital age is that many of the original images were in color and due to costs of publishing when the original title was released, the majority of images were published in black and white. Even so, I was still squinting to make out details in these printed images. With digital publishing, the color images remain in color and the images can be expanded out to their original size (you can zoom in to see those details). This graphic illustrates the differences between the old and new versions of this title:

What does digital publishing mean to you?

• You can use menu hyperlinks to jump straight to a section of interest
• You can expand photos and drawings to full-screen
• You can zoom in on details in photos and drawings for a closer look
• You can search for specific text within the title
• You can bookmark items of interest
• You can highlight and annotate the book with your own notes

Coverage includes:

• Developmental History
• Arming the F-102
• Delta Dagger Variants
• Flying the Deuce
• The F-102 in Southeast Asia
• Delta Dagger Details
• Pave Deuce Drone Program
• Delta Dagger Gallery
• Modeler's Section

Since the title is over four time larger, it provides far more insight into the aircraft and its operations with some nice additions of pilot's experiences as well as the F-102's operations during the Vietnam Air War. Here are some examples of the improved color photo coverage and each of these photos can be expanded to see those details.

Unlike some of the other recent digital reissues from Detail and Scale, this title doesn't look at the colors and markings of the aircraft nor look at the units that operated the Deuce. Air Defense Command units carried some very colorful markings on their aircraft and this would have been a terrific addition with Rock Roszak's color profiles to document that heritage.

The title does retain the traditional Modeler's Section which is updated to cover the latest kits, decals, and aftermarket accessories. It is so current that Revell's reissue of their 1/48 F-102A (case X) coming out this month is mentioned.

Head over to Amazon or the iTunes Store and order a copy. This technology is also truly instant gratification as the title will download to your tablet on completion of your purchase.

For more information about this and other titles, visit their website.

Definitely recommended!

My sincere thanks to Detail & Scale for this review copy.