Finnish Jet Colours Book Review
By David L. Veres
| Date of Review | March 2019 | Title | Finnish Jet Colours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Kyösti Partonen | Publisher | Mushroom Model Publications |
| Published | 2019 | ISBN | 9788365281357 |
| Format | 216 pages, hardbound | MSRP (USD) | $62.00 |
Review
Precariously balanced between East and West, Finland's post-WWII military equipment mix reflected their geo-strategic reality.
Now Kyösti Partonen details their warplane heraldry in Finnish Jet Colours from MMP/Stratus.
Available in North America from Casemate, the lavishly illustrated hardback vividly details the topic in 216 pages and twelve chunky chapters:
- dH Vampire Mk 52 and Vampire Trainer Mk 55
- Folland Gnat Mk 1
- Potez-Air Fouga CM 170 Magister
- Ilyushin Il-28 and Il-28R
- Mikoyan-Gurevitsh MiG-15UTI
- Mikoyan-Gurevitsh MiG-21F13 & MiG-21U
- Mikoyan-Gurevitsh MiG-21UM
- Mikoyan-Gurevitsh MiG-21bis
- SAAB 35BS, 35CS, 35FS and 35S Draken
- BAE Hawk Mk 51, Mk 51A and Mk 66
- Gates Learjet 35A/S
- McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-18C/D and F/A-18C/D Hornet
Sections feature capsule historical commentary, authoritative color & markings notes, extensive photo coverage, color profile & plan views, and extended, explanatory captions. Tables list all aircraft serials, construction numbers, delivery dates, final flights, and notes.
Nor must you sequentially tackle this terrific title. I happily and hungrily roamed from personal favorites SAAB 35 Draken and MiG-21s through the Folland Gnat and CM 170 Magister to everything else.
Modelers will love it. Hundreds of illustrations season text. Call-outs cite official colors. Close-ups record key aircraft nuances. And detailed comments and reference shots accompany artwork.
But detail enthusiasts will go positively gaga over the brilliant book's seven, fact-packed appendices. There you'll conveniently find massive measures of color & markings minutiae – notably official dimensions and accurate FS matches.
Building a Finnish MiG-21bis? Check Appendix 7's handy color table for actual Soviet equivalents of Finnish camouflage.
Partonen's excellent effort will certainly enrich your knowledge of Finnish aviation warpaint. I never knew, for instance, that Finns call the characteristic upward sweeps of ventral camouflage on fuselage sides "clouds".
But the possessive of "it" is "its" – not "it's". By "sticker roundel" does Partonen mean an adhesive-backed appliqué? And did national insignia on initial MiG-21bis fighters really sport "thin white outlines"?
Roundly recommended!
With thanks to Casemate for the review copy.