Hawker Fury and Nimrod Book Review
By David L. Veres
| Date of Review | September 2018 | Title | Hawker Fury and Nimrod |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | William Harrison | Publisher | Guideline Publications |
| Published | 2018 | ISBN | n/a |
| Format | 60 pages, softbound | MSRP (GBP) | £16.00 |
Review
Progenitors of Hawker's legendary Hurricane, the Hawker Fury and Nimrod remain among the 1930s' most comely, colorful aerial combatants.
Now William Harrison recaps the beautiful biplanes' development and deployment in the 116th "Warpaint" installment, Hawker Fury and Nimrod.
And he tells the total tale in just 60 picture-packed pages, including cover.
Contents wend through designer Sydney Camm's initial studies through Fury testing and production to operational use – including combat in the Spanish Civil War and World War II.
I especially enjoyed Harrison's worldwide service survey. Commentary courses, country-by-country, through every Fury and Nimrod operator. In the case of Britain's Royal Air Force, for instance, he handily recaps operations and colors of every Fury-equipped RAF unit.
Converting Inpact's ancient 1:48 effort – or iteration thereof – to a Yugoslav Fury with Dowty undercarriage? Checking the outline accuracy of Airfix's issue of Merit's kit to the same scale? Richard J.Caruana's beautiful 1:48-scale plans will definitely help.
Dozens of color and B&W photos also augment the account. At least 48 of Caruana's superb color profiles with plan views and insets further illustrate the effort. And an "In Detail" spread offers Fury and Nimrod close-ups.
Sidebars summarize production, specifications, unit service, and more. And a concluding table recaps Fury and Nimrod kits, decals, and accessories.
While the lithe, agile Fury proved an apex of biplane design, Camm fast realized the concept's inherent obsolescence – and began planning a low-wing monoplane derivative. That eventually led to the Hurricane. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Modelers and "Golden Era" enthusiasts will love this Warpaint edition. I certainly did. Just excuse Harrison's rather pallid prose – and focus on book revelations and illustrations. And, drat, look elsewhere for Danish Nimrod No.179's upper-wing camouflage pattern.
Robustly recommended!
My sincere thanks to Guideline Publications for this review sample!