Rogozarski IK-3 Book Review
By David L. Veres
| Date of Review | March 2019 | Title | Rogozarski IK-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Nenad Miklusev, Djordje Nikolic | Publisher | Kagero |
| Published | 2018 | ISBN | 9788365437808 |
| Format | 184 pages, hardbound | MSRP (USD) | $37.95 |
Review
Rogozarski's IK-3 remains the pinnacle of Yugoslav fighter development during WWII.
Now Nenad Miklusev and Djordje Nikolic offer a fascinating, lavishly illustrated history in the eleventh, eponymous edition of Kagero's "Monographs Special Edition In 3D" series.
Available in North America from Casemate, the handsome, 184-page hardback broadly tells the Balkan rarity's total tale in two parts.
The first 74 pages survey IK-3 history: design, development, production, combat service, and – significantly – postwar developments. Coverage includes illuminating camouflage & markings notes, and technical specifics.
Here you'll find, for instance, US Federal Standard approximates for the IK-3's attractive, four-color warpaint – and, spinner to rudder, every facet of the Yugoslav fighter's construction: canopy, cockpit, wings, control surfaces, landing gear, weapons, and more.
Fourteen pithy, annotated appendices with bibliographic notes then bridge the book's two parts. These conveniently detail everything from flight operating instructions to unit structures and combat claims to specifications and construction materials.
Contents really turn meaty for modelers in the book's picture-packed second half. That's where you'll find:
- 29 pages of plans to 1:48 and 1:72 scales – with insets
- 71 pages of amazingly detailed color 3D art, and
- 7 pages of color profile and plan views
Minor inconsistencies, though, taint this otherwise terrific tome. Authors variously describe, for instance, the predominant Rogozarski gray-green paint as either French or Austrian in origin. Which is it?
The same color also reproduces noticeably differently in 3D and profile sections. And finally, while text and photos note feathered edges between adjacent IK-3 camouflage colors, Kagero's 3D art depicts sharply defined borders.
A pull-out sheet of 1:32-scale drawings also accompanies the book.
Building Azur's 1/72 kit? Detailing Usk's model to the same scale? How about Classic Airframes' 1/48 resin rarity? You need this vital volume.
Robustly recommended!
My sincere thanks to Casemate for this review sample!