Messerschmitt Bf 109: Early Versions (Monographs Special Edition in 3D)

To be fair, this is a not a version of the 109 that is well-documented, with restored examples sitting in museums just begging for a nice walkaround. That said, I received a rather thick book with eager anticipation, only to discover that about half the book is pictures of a "virtual" 109 model in various states of disassembly. I love pictures of actual airframes, but pictures of someone else's interpretation (which is exactly what a 3D model is) of an airplane fail to excite me, especially when I can pick out areas that, let's just say I interpret or "see" differently. A lot of the recent books from Kagero on aviation subjects has chosen to go this route, and I can't say that I'm pleased with this. It certainly makes their books less valuable in my eyes. And yes, it is very clearly labelled "in 3D", I'm just saying that a little 3D goes a long way.That said, there is still some nice coverage, with a blend of pictures, information, line drawings (which look fairly accurate to my eye) and profiles. The 3D stuff isn't actually that bad, though an airframe in various stages of disassembly would be much preferred (and I do believe such an airframe exists, though I cannot testify to it's completeness.)But with all that, I have added this volume to my library as a valuable resource for my research......

I would buy all the books in this series!

Thanks

This is the third volume (number 96003) in Kagero's "Monographs Special Edition" series. Physically the book is an 11-3/4" x 8-1/4" laminated hard cover with 192 pages. Kagero is very aggressive about repackaging the same material in multiple formats. So aggressive are they that it is often hard not to conclude that they are consciously trying to "double dip", that is to get the consumer to buy the same material multiple times. Kagero recently (2011) published "Messerschmitt Bf 109 A-D" by the same author in their card cover "Monographs" series so the cynical reader might wonder if the present volume is merely repackaging with minimal new material.I am happy to report that the present volume offers considerable value even if one already owns the previous one. Everything in the previous volume is present in this one with the exception of the cover art. The various photos are reproduced at a smaller size in the present book so that the text portion of the book can be squeezed into 2 fewer pages. The 22 pages of line drawings at 1/48th scale are supplemented by another page of detail drawings and seven pages of 1/72nd scale drawings. There are five pages (including rear cover) of color profiles in the original. The present book has fifteen pages of color profiles.The main addition is the 70 pages of computer generated renderings. These are of high quality and give the reader a better grasp of the aircraft's features than photos and text alone can. That said, the value of these drawings would have been enhanced greatly by more detailed captioning. The reader is pretty much left on his own.The text proper gives a fairly complete development history of the aircraft through the first 14 prototypes and the A, B, C, and D production models. The aircraft's service history in the Spanish Civil War and the opening stages of the Second World War are also well covered.In conclusion, the book is highly recommended for those who do not have the original card cover edition. If one has that edition then it is to be hoped that the above comments on the differences will be of value in deciding whether the present book will be a worthwhile purchase.

What's not to like about this publishers books: many and relative photographs, with great colour profiles and interesting content. Must buy for anyone contemplating constructing any of the subjects as a model kit, or just interested in aviation history.

Excellent book with it's in depth coverage of one of the most iconic German aircraft of W.w.II.I am looking forward to when vol.2 is published,covering the later marks,the Bf 109E,F and G.

Nice color profiles.Very, very nice 3D-art.Must have for the BF109 fans.

Excelent book.