Zeke_Freak
Airman
- 64
- Dec 30, 2010
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I have them all. Lancaster, FW-190, Mosquito, Spitfire, F4u, P-38, Stuka, P-51, Zero, Me-109, Hellcat, B-17. It is all old information, but, the drawing are out of this world.In the past I've had a couple of the Crown Publications books on aircraft from the 1980's. The ones I had were 'Stuka' and 'Zero', both illustrated by Rikyu Watanabe. The seemed like great books, with fantastic colored illustrations by Watanabe, and lots of cut away diagrams, etc, showing details.
Just wondering if anyone here likes this series of books, and which ones in particular are worth picking up. I just picked up the 109 book sight unseen for around $10. Re-buying the Stuka book cost me $15.
Also, I'm very impressed with Watanbe's illustrations, but just how accurate are they? Are they a reliable reference for colors and schemes?
Lastly, anyone collected them all? How many are there?
Leif
I have them all. Lancaster, FW-190, Mosquito, Spitfire, F4u, P-38, Stuka, P-51, Zero, Me-109, Hellcat, B-17. It is all old information, but, the drawing are out of this world.
Well definitely got 4 of 'em Bf109, Fw190, Zero and Hellcat!
Hey, great! Which ones are the best in your opinion? Or do they all feature the same level of quality?
For me, these books are more about the artwork than anything else. The 'Zero' book really stood out for me, mainly because of the dust jacket, using the aircraft skin as a scheme for the cover design. I quite liked that approach. While the 'Stuka' book is great inside, I found the cover less inspiring.
Here's an image of the Zero Fighter book, that I just BINed on eBay for $10. I love this cover design. It's a thing of beauty. Would like to know if any of the other books use a similar design.
They say you can't judge a book by its cover... but in this case, I think you can.
I see online that Rikyu Watanabe also illustrated a series called 'Aggressors' where they discuss 'tank busters vs vehicles', 'patrol aircraft vs submarines', 'interceptor vs heavy bomber', etc. Also something called 'The Great Book of WWII Airplanes'.
Leif