THE WARLORDS - VOL 1 - REVIEWS

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This work from Flight Recorder Publications is a compilation of 504 1/72 scale color profile drawings depicting aircraft markings for three Fighter Groups of the Eighth Air Force during WW2 --- the 4th FG, the 20th FG, and the 55th FG. Several pages of black-and-white photographs are also included as well as illustrated specifications showing standard markings and dimensions for ID bands and invasion stripes. An index at the end of the book is cross-referenced by squadron, aircraft code letter, serial number, pilot, and page on which the individual aircraft profile may be found. The author states right up front that his work is "aimed unashamedly straight at fellow model-makers and also, possibly, at those manufacturing decals."

Money's succeeded in his first goal --- I found this book right up my alley, as I'm a big markings buff --- and I was very gratified to see the inclusion of so many aircraft NOT flown by aces, which opens up a lot of possibilities for new modeling subjects.

As to the author's second stated goal of getting this information into the hands of the decal folks, I'm not certain such companies would produce decal sheets relying on information taken strictly from artist's drawings, no matter how accurate they might be. Money acknowledges this, too, as another sentence in the introduction states, "The aircraft drawings are not presented as definitive scale drawings; they are simply the canvas on which to place the aircraft's unique artwork and colours. Great care has been taken with style and placement of artwork." Nonetheless, it's a start and I wish him well in this future endeavor --- I for one hope he finds success in that part of his venture, and since his drawings came from photographs, there may be communication between him and the decal producers. I can always hope.

There are very few errors in this work, and they're just typos.... some of the color profiles mis-numbered. No information seems to have been omitted, and my hat's really off to the authors. This represents a tremendous amount of work on their parts.

How the book will work for its stated goal of being aimed at modelers will depend largely on how much of a nitpicker the individual is. Markings are shown as close as possible to what the authors feel is correct --- and I for one don't think interpreting colors is a big deal but... well, we've all heard some of the discussions as to what color's correct on what aircraft. Colors used in the profile drawings are representative and are noted as "yellow squadron markings", "red canopy rail" and such, so then it's up to the modeler to determine what he or she feels is the correct shade of yellow or red. The standard ETO camouflage "OD and NG scheme" is noted in the glossary to be OD 41 and NG 43, by the way, which should settle a lot of questions, but you know how the rivet counters like to debate these.

If you're looking for absolutely precise drawings, you may find Money's 1/72 scale computer-generated side views less than perfect, but I feel he's succeeded in presenting his information in concise form, as completely as the work would allow.

My personal friend, the late Art Thorsen, flew P-38s and P-51s with the 38th FS, 55th FG, and his Mustang, "Six Gun Pete", is shown in color profile #405, the first time I've seen it in print. It was, I believe, in this aircraft that Art broke up a German attack on the bombers he was escorting and received a commendation. As Art told me the story, he said it was just he and his wingman returning home after being separated from the rest of the squadron in a confusing furball near the target. They found themselves escorting a small flight of B-17's when suddenly "the entire damned Luftwaffe" (Art's words) appeared above them and commenced diving to the attack. Art's immediate reaction was "Let's get the hell outta here" since they were so frightfully outnumbered. His momentary hesitation caused his wingman to radio, "Hey, aren't we gonna fight?"

Art radioed back, "Follow me." Pushing throttle and prop to the firewall, he stood his Mustang on its tail, and turned into a direct head-on attack at this huge gaggle of diving Me-109s. He said every gun on every Messerschmitt was winking, so he "ducked down behind the panel for cover" and pulled the trigger on his six fifty-calibers.

It was over in a split-second. Apparently the Germans were "either low on gas or a new class of recruits" (Art's words) as they kept right on diving past the fighters and B-17s as well. His wingman was unfortunately lost in the encounter but later Art was recognized by one of the bomber crews as "that crazy fighter pilot who took on half the Luftwaffe and broke up the attack", allowing them to get back to their base.

That little war story having been related, let me say I heartily recommend this book. The squadron histories and photographs balance out the work very nicely and I sincerely hope the "Volume 1" subtitle is just a hint of more to come from this prolific author.

My thanks to Flight Recorder Publications and to John Noack for the review sample.

Walt Fink
IPMS USA

The Warlords Volume 1
The 4th, 20th & 55th Fighter Groups

A number of aviation titles are aimed at a slightly unclear readership. Too often your reviewer is left wondering whether the volume is aimed primarily at the modeller, the historian or that ill-defined breed 'the enthusiast'. There are no such questions here and the authors Money (sic) state in their Introduction that this book is aimed unashamedly at fellow model-makers and those manufacturing decals. This is the first volume in a series that will illustrate in Colour every US Eighth Air Force fighter of World War 2 for which photographic evidence exists, which is clearly a huge challenge. Treated here are the aircraft < Spitfire, P-38, P-47 and P-51 < of the 4th, 20th and 55th Fighter Groups, with 504 computer-generated colour profiles arranged four to a page. These profiles look accurate, but are really just vehicles for the markings < personal, codes, serials, national insignia, mission symbols, invasion stripes etc < which adorned the aircraft. While some are familiar, such as Don Gentile's P-51B-5-NA 36913 Shangri La, others were the mounts of relatively unknown pilots. There is little text, with just a couple of pages on each Fighter Group featured; even here the discussion centres on markings and, in the case of the 4th, the unit's home base is not even mentioned. There are a number of well-reproduced b/w photos primarily featuring (you guessed it) markings. In summary, if USAAF fighter schemes are your thing, you'll be in seventh (eighth?) heaven with this title.

Aircraft Illustrated
April 2004
AI Rating ***

The Warlords Volume 1
The start of an exceptional reference source, the series will chart the units and colours of the USAAF's Eighth Air Force fighter force. Over 500 colour profiles within the book detail the 4th, 20th and 55th Fighter Groups.

Flypast
September 2004

The Warlords Volume 1
This book heralds the start of an ambitious series, in which it is intended to illustrate, in colour, "every (yes, EVERY) US Eighth Air Force fighter aircraft of World War Two for which photographic evidence can be found." The core of the content comprises more than 500 colour profiles of fighters that belonged to the specified Groups - P-38s, P-47s, P-51s and Spitfires, arranged by squadron to give a scale-modeller's vade-mecum of unprecedentedly thorough coverage. This avalanche of artwork is supported by informative captions for each of the profiles, a general introduction, and a brief history preceding the coverage of each Group, with a description of its colour schemes and markings. Black-and-white photographs are distributed among the text and artwork. A simple index of pilots, listed alphabetically under their respective Groups, also links them to their aircraft type, serial number and code letter.

Those who are tired of seeing the same aces' aeroplanes depicted repeatedly will probably welcome the opportunity to finish their models in the schemes of lesser-known pilots. They might even choose to specialise in a specific squadron or Group. If the authors see their challenging project through to the end, the series will provide unique coverage of the Eighth Air Force's fighters.

Philip Jarrett
Aeroplane Monthly
June 2004

One of my fantasies is to have a library where each separate aspect of aviation can be found individually in a book, or set of books. Such things as cockpits, cutaways, rigging details for every biplane or maybe undercarriage details, then I could have a hundred or so books instead of a couple of thousand!

This will never happen, but in one aspect the publishers of this volume have made a start. They intend to cover all he fighters used by the 8th Air Force in World War Two for which they have photographic evidence!

Each aircraft is depicted as a colour profile drawn to 1/72 scale. This particular book covers the 4th, 20th and 55th Fighter Groups, and there are over 500 images. It is set out by squadron with each profile captioned with information such as pilot and extra colour details. The amount of information within one book is staggering.

Even with all those profiles they have managed to squeeze in some contemporary photgraphs and and index, listing pilot, serial number, code, type and, of course, where to find it. Believe me, with this number of images you need it! I can already hear some critics asking why only one side is shown, but it must be remembered that many aircraft were only photographed from one side.

Even with this massive coverage there are gaps. The authors acknowledge this and I am sure that they would welcome any information from private archives. I cannot see any serious student of the USAAF would want to be without this book, it has to be their number one target!

Ernie Lee
Model Aircraft Monthly
April 2004

With hundreds of Mustang, Thunderbolt and Lightning colour profiles, this series will try to cover ALL US 8th AF fighter colours of WW II, this volume is just the beginning of what will become a collectors reference library.
Collect them!

BMFA News April 20004

Review of The Warlords Volume 1:
This is the first title from this publisher and deals with the 4th, 20th and 55th Fighter Groups of the USAAF during WWII. Basically what the publisher is intending to do is produce titles that offer colour side views of every US 8th AF fighter for which photographic evidence exists! This first title therefore offers over 500 side profiles of aircraft from the three fighter groups which are cross-referenced by pilot and type. It is a mighty undertaking and although 99.9% of this title is the profiles and their captions, there are a few pages of historical text and photographs just to build a picture of the groups that are being covered in the context of their operations during WW II.
 
This is an excellent title and one that bodes well for the rest of the series. The publisher has certainly made a big undertaking here and the style and format of this first edition is such that it is ideally suited to the modeller.

Scale Aviation Modeller
March 2004

The Eighth Air Force is easily one of the largest topics of aviation publications, so one has to wonder just what could be added to the existing volume of research. Surprisingly, this book adds quite a bit. Rather than providing a detailed day-by-day history of the units covered, this book looks specifically at the aircraft flown. The cover states that there are over 500 color profiles included, and while I have not counted them, I do not doubt that number at all. The three groups covered, the 4th, 20th and 55th, are all illustrated in profiles, from their beginning to the end of the war.

When I say covered, I mean covered. Rather than just focusing on the top pilots of the units, this book provides illustrations with what seems to be every aircraft flown. For example, on the 336th Fighter Squadron in the 4th Fighter Group, there are no less than 31 P-51Bs illustrated, going in order from VF-B through VF-Z, skipping only a few letters (while duplicating others). This is continued for P-47s, P-51Ds, and P-38s, as well as Spitfires during the very early years. Tle authors state that each one of these profile illustrations is based on a photo, either in print or in a private collection, and that they have not based any artwork on other artwork or personal descriptions.

In addition to the vast quantity of profiles, there are also several photos throughout the pages (although nowhere near the number of profiles). These photos are a blend of commonly seen 8th AF photos and other, more rare images, and offer an interesting counterpoint to the profiles. Additionally, each group has an introductory text that describes the specific colors and markings worn by the unit, and when the various changes took place.

There is one caveat, however. The artwork presented here, although drawn on a computer, is not to the standard that you would expect from noted artists such as Tom Tullis or even those illustrations that appear here at Internet Modeler. These are flat art drawings, with no shading, and the edges are not smooth, but jagged. The close-ups of nose art suffer greatly from this in many cases, which is a pity. However, there is more than enough quality here to make out the basics, and should be good enough for those wishing to break out the brush and hand-paint some of these markings on their Mustangs or Thunderbolts.

Although the artwork is not up to the levels of other artists out there, the vast amount of information presented within the pages more than makes up for it. The copious research put into this volume is evident, and bodes well for future volumes. Here's hoping that they can get the rest of the 8th AF volumes out soon, and then start on the 9th AF, and the 15th AF, and all the rest.

Matt Bittner
Internet Modeler.com

Though not recently but some time ago I purchased a copy of the above mentioned, book and must mention, that this is a great source of pleasure reading and just looking at those beautiful profiles. It is great to see how many different aircraft there have been in just one Ftr.Sqn and to see those many aircraft not previously published as a profile. My great appreciation and congratulation for this, well masterpiece of art to the authors and artists, which must have been quite a great piece of work to investigate details and to manufacture the profiles. On the other hand, as a modeller, I am totally confused as I wouldn't know which of these beautiful aircraft I should build.

Of special interest was one of the profiles of a P-51 B whose story is tied to my neigbouring village as it crashed there! It is profile 184 pg 64 of P-51 B-1 ONA, VF- T, Capt. Joseph H. Bennet, 336FS, 4FG.

In the accompanying text it is mentioned that he was shot down on 4/4/44 by fighters near Strar1bourg. This unfortunately is quite not correct if I may modestly remark. I am in the possession of the diary of Hubert Heckmann, then Oberfahnrich with 9./JG 1 based at Paderborn who states that on May, 25th 1944 he rammed Bennets Mustang above Botenheim ( a small village between Stuttgart and Heilbronn, now Part of the village of Brackenheim and about 150 Kilometer aerial distance northeast of Strar1bourg) after his weapons jammed. Bennet parachuted and his Mustang crashed into the village while Heckmann bellylanded his damaged Bf 109 G-6/ASy nearby. He visited the downed US-Pilot in the police custody later that day. In 1994 both men met again here in germany and visited the places of their common expierience. In a letter of which I own a copy Bennet confirms the air battle with Heckmann.

As I hope that your book has already sold that good that there will be a second edition maybe this small correction might be introduced.

Best regards and keep on with the good work!!

Joachim Geier Germany