Lancaster In Action
B-36 In Action
P-80/T-33/F-94 In Action

Squadron/Signal Publications

Reviewed by Brett Green

It is nice to see Squadron/Signal regularly re-releasing some of their popular older titles on top of their ambitious schedule of new releases.

All these books follow Squadron/Signal’s popular “In Action” format with Don Greer cover art, colour profiles as a “centrefold”, helpful line drawings and specifications spread over 50 pages in landscape format. As with the rest of the series, the real backbone of these books are the multitude of contemporary photographs packed between the covers. These photos are captioned in detail.

Lancaster In Action

This book will be especially helpful to anyone building either of Tamiya’s 1/48 scale Lancasters or Airfix’s recently re-released 1/72 scale kit.

“Lancaster In Action” details the history of this famous bomber from design through to post-war operations. Documented variants include the Grand Slam, Dambuster and even a jet-powered Lancastrian.

Details such as radomes, canopies, turrets, engines and bomb bays are well covered by line drawings. Eight colour profiles are also included.

In addition to around 100 Lancaster photos, there are some nice pictures of its night-fighter adversaries too.

P-80 Shooting Star in Action

Monogram, Hobbycraft and Academy all offer models in various scales to build the variants of this important jet pioneer.

Squadron’s compact title details the early history of the prototype and early P-80, followed by a comprehensive photo-essay on the development and operation of the F-80, T-33 and F-94 in Korea, Europe and beyond.

More than 90 photos tell this story very effectively. Ten colour profiles by Don Greer (plus two on the back cover) add further inspiration for the modeller.

B-36 Peacemaker In Action

This title covers the world’s largest ever bomber aircraft in detail.

Two pages of history make way for a 90 photos showing the B-36 both close-up and in operation. Six colour profiles are included in the centre of the book, plus two on the rear cover.

This book will be a major help for anyone considering building the 1/72 scale Monogram Peacemaker.

The original issue of these three titles date back to 1980, but they are no less relevant or helpful today. It is nice to see these inexpensive books widely available again. Their “In Action” format will be especially valuable to modellers.

All Recommended.
 

Thanks to Squadron for the review sample.

Lancaster In Action; P-80 Shooting Star In Action and B-36 Peacemaker In Action
are all available online from Squadron.com

Review Copyright © 2001 by Brett Green
This Page Created on 03 September, 2001
Last updated 22 July, 2003

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