The Focke Wulf Fw 190D and Ta 152 Book Review

By David L. Veres

Review

Valiant Wings resumes its welcome reissues with a second edition of The Focke-Wulf Fw 190D and Ta 152 – third in the publisher’s acclaimed “Airframe & Miniature” range.

Compared to the original imprint, this revision adds 16 more pages, new-kit releases since 2012, and a model build of Zoukei-Mura’s newly-tooled, 1:48-scale Ta 152H-1.

And like all “Airframe & Miniature” titles, it sports hundreds of illustrations – photos, drawings, color art, and archival images.

Author/editor Richard A. Franks kick-starts contents with five chapters charting prototype and development machines, main “long-nose” production versions with corresponding Rüstsätze, and “drawing board designs”.

Coverage then segues to a chunky “Camouflage & Markings” chapter – conveniently complete with details of stencils, national insignia, squadron markings, and Reich-defense bands. And at least 37 accompanying color plates by Richard J. Caruana – profiles, plan views, and insets – provide plenty of potent project potential.

Text turns even meatier for modelers in two subsequent sections. The first samples key “long-nose” kits to popular scales. And the second showcases step-by-step model builds by Libor Jekl and Steve A. Evans.

Confused about subtypes? Fourteen pages of enlightening “Building a Collection” isometrics graphically trace Fw 190D and Ta 152 evolution. And 24 pages of amazing “In Detail” photos, archival excerpts, and drawings illumine “long-nose” minutiae – inside and out.

Four extensive appendices list kits, accessories, decals, and references. And a glossary and pull-out 1:48-scale plans complete contents.

Grab this handy handbook before it goes out-of-print again.

Robustly recommended!

With thanks to Valiant Wings Publishing for the review copy.