Avia B-34, B-534 & Bk-534

HT Model Special
By Peter Sumichrast & Jozef And’al
HT Model, ©2003
ISSN 1335-3667
Softbound, 50 Pages

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

The newest special from HT Model covers one of the lesser-known biplanes of the Second World War, the Avia B-534 family.  Like the others in this series, all the text is in Slovakian, but the photos, profiles and scale drawings need no translating.  The number of photos crammed into these fifty pages is incredible, with over 220 black and white photos and over 60 color photos included.  The color photos are of museum aircraft and provide a very complete walkaround as well as cockpit detail photos.  These will be of great help in building a model of an Avia.  For those who want to try scratchbuilding, there are also several black and white photos showing the construction of the aircraft from the frame up.

For camouflage and markings, the remainder of the black & white photos plus the color profiles cover just about every single Avia flown by Slovak pilots.   There is ample coverage of all the major types, from the B-34 through to the Bk-534.  While many of the photos are small, the printing in this book is excellent and as a result even the small photos are clear.  To finish off the book, there are sets of drawings covering all the types depicted in the book.

This is easily the best book I’ve ever seen on the Avia B-34/534 family, and if you are at all interested in this little biplane, I strongly recommend picking it up. My thanks to HT Model for the review sample. Visit their website for information on ordering.