Squadron/Signal Publications' New Releases

Henschel Hs129 in Action

By Denes Bernad
Squadron/Signal Publications, ©2001
ISBN 0-89747-428-7
50 pages

Squadron has released another great reference for the modeler which will definitely aid 1/48 scale modelers with the Hasegawa kits. This title picks up the story with the Henschel P46 competing with the Focke Wulf Fw189 and Blohm & Voss Bv141 for the development of the Luftwaffe's close air support aircraft. The P46 evolved into the Hs129 which first flew in 1939.

The Hs129 became one of the Luftwaffe's primary close air support aircraft on both fronts and served through the end of hostilities. The capabilities of this aircraft, including the armored single-seat cockpit and the tank-busting cannon carried on some versions would inspire the development of the Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II.

As with each of the In Action series, the title is crammed with excellent black & white photographs and scrap drawings of each variant, a brief developmental and operational history of each variant, and the color centerfold with color profiles of representative aircraft.

Walk Around A-1 Skyraider

By Ed Barthelmes and Richard S. Dann
Squadron/Signal Publications, ©2001
ISBN 0-89747-429-6
80 pages

Here is another great reference to the modeler and historian alike. The authors give us an up-close look at different versions of the Douglas A-1 Skyraider (AKA Spad). There is excellent coverage in color and black & white photographs of many of the A-1 models, including the single seat Spads, the multi-place A-1E/A-1G, and even the radar-equipped AD4W (AEW.1). There are also nice color profiles of representative Spads at the end of the book too.

If you've been looking for great detail information of the cockpits, wingfolds, speedbrake wells, etc., for your Tamiya 1/48 Spads, or happen to have one of the rarer Matchbox 1/48 A-1E kits with the Cobra Company resin cockpits (or the 1/72 Monogram A-1E with the Cobra cockpit for that scale), then this is the one you're looking for! There is also good coverage on some of the stranger weapons employed on this aircraft.

For comprehensive coverage on all of the weapons carried on the Skyraider, you'll have to wait for another book as that topic alone will take up more space than the Walk Around format has available. The Skyraider could (and did) carry virtually every weapon available in the 1950s/60s, including the kitchen sink (dropped on a mission in SEA just to make that point). Believe it or not, the Spad was also nuclear capable!

This is another must-have and I am glad there is finally a modeler-friendly reference for this great topic. My kits are waiting...

My sincere thanks to Squadron/Signal Publications for these review samples!