Boeing B-29 and B-50 Superfortress
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Warpaint Series 143
Author: Kev Darling
Publisher: Guideline Publications
ISBN: 978-1-916759-17-6
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 116
Probably the ultimate strategic bomber during the Second World War, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress dominated the strategic bombing mission over Japan, a fact that was soon overshadowed by its biggest contribution to history: dropping the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. After the war, Boeing refined the design with more powerful engines, resulting in the B-50. That variant remained the US Air Force’s medium strategic bomber until the jet age brought in the Boeing B-47.
This new title in the Warpaint series takes a look at this famous aircraft, from its World War Two origins to operations during the Korean War and its use internationally. The latter is interesting, as the B-29 was directly copied by the Soviet Union, based off interned examples, but the differences between metric and Imperial measurements meant that the Soviet version weighed more and thus had worse performance compared to the American version.
Like other Warpaint titles, this book combines the solid written history with plenty of photos, including a bunch of nose art (which the B-29 was a popular canvas for, both during the Second World War and the Korean War). There are also color profile illustrations, some of which show more nose art, while others highlight the variety of schemes worn by the B-29 and B-50. Finally, there are scale drawings and detail photos, providing useful material for the scale modeler.
This is a good general reference on the B-29 & B-50 Superfortress, and a solid addition to the Warpaint Series. My thanks to Guideline Publications for the review copy. Visit their website for more information on this and other Warpaint titles.