The Supermarine Spitfire - Part 1 Book Review
By David L. Veres
| Date of Review | March 2021 | Title | The Supermarine Spitfire - Part 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Richard A. Franks | Publisher | Valiant Wings Publishing |
| Published | 2021 | ISBN | 978-1-912932-14-6 |
| Format | 272 pages, softcover | MSRP (BP) | £24.95 |
Review
If you missed this masterful monograph the first time around, grab it – now.
Revised and expanded to 272 pages from 240, The Supermarine Spitire - Part 1 systematically surveys the whole Merlin-engine Spitfire and Seafire breed in one handy, lavishly illustrated handbook.
Coverage contains a thoroughly competent, capsule Spitfire history, authoritative camouflage and markings notes, airframe and interior details, and variant summaries.
Period photos, tech-manual excerpts, scale drawings, evolutionary isometrics, insignia and code specifications, and color & markings plates provide plenty of eye candy.
Some updates are subtle. Did you know that Burmese Mk IXe Spitfires sported RAL camouflage colors? I didn’t. But the profile’s corrected caption set me straight.
Other changes are obvious. Steve A. Evans, for instance, swaps his original build of Eduard’s 1:48 Mk IXe for a 1:48 Mk I from the same manufacturer. And Valiant Wings includes new Merlin-engine Spitfire and Seafire models issued since mid-2018.
Four appendices listing Merlin-engine Spitfire and Seafire kits, accessories, decals, and references complete contents.
In my 2018 assessment of the first edition, I wrote, “If your library sports just one book on Merlin-engine Spitfires and Seafires, make it this one.”
That advice still stands. Make this masterful monograph your handbook on Merlin-powered Spitfires and Seafires.
With thanks to Valiant Wings Publishing for this review copy.