Buffie's Best |
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Restorations Illustrated Vol. 1 Me-109 G-10 by Derek Brown |
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Reviewed By Charles Landrum, #26328 |
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Cost $19.50 USD System requirements: none specified, best viewed at 1024 X 768, MAC users read the enclosed special instructions Software required: none specified Review Copy provided by Derek Brown, creator and owner of: BUFFIE’s BEST 8716 East Frontier Place Denver, Colorado 80237 (720) 200-9122 (phone, fax) |
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If you are a
ME-109 buff (or BF-109 for the purists) and thought that you had all of
the references you could find, think again, for Derek Brown has brought
the 109 into the multi-media age. His company, Buffie’s Best has released
their first CD from a promised list of titles covering the restoration of
famous aircraft of WWII. Where better to start than with one of the most
popular aircraft of World War II if modeling websites and IPMS shows are
any indication. The focus of the CD is, as the title states, on surviving
airframes and restoration efforts. But the CD covers more than just the
G-10; it has images and information on the many variants in museums or
under recent restoration. The CD comes in a slim case with beautiful
cover art done by Dekker Thierry, appropriately a G-10. The label on the
CD bears the same art. A quick scan of the disk shows that 588mb of the
680mb capacity of the disk is filled with content. So what do you get for
the money? The disk self loaded when I inserted in the drive; it worked on both my Windows 2000 and Windows XP machines without any problems. Instructions are provided inside the case Mac users. Upon startup users are taken to a slide show that flashes images of well-built 109 models, at the same time the sounds of a 109 engine sputtering to life fill the speakers! (Unfortunately Mac users will not get the auto start sequence and hear the engine sounds.) I have to say that you couldn’t duplicate that in a book. The slide show gives way to a page with the cover art and a button at the top of that launches you into the table of contents page. This time the change of page is accompanied by the sound of a 109 fly-by. The table of comments page is in a split frame format, with an adjustable divider. As you navigate around the CD, the table remains in the left window allowing to you to easily navigate to another chapter. The text and chapter contents are displayed on the right, with all texts in an easy to read font and point size. There are 8 chapters on the CD.
So what is missing or lacking. Well keep in mind that this CD supplements the wealth of information already out there on the 109 and tries to focus on the survivors and restoration process. With that said, the only additional coverage I would like to see is a discussion of Luftwaffe colors used and how camouflage changes through the course of the war. A restorer’s perspective on this challenge would be insightful. I would like to see a list of links to website with accurate coverage on the subject. I realized that websites can be fleeting, but there are some that have proven enduring. Overall, I was impressed by the quality of the CD both in engineering and content. It is ambitious in its coverage of the subject and presents it well with the minor exceptions that in no way detract from the total quality. If you like the BF-109 or just aircraft restoration, either as an aviation enthusiast or a modeler, this CD provides a lot of images and information. I can’t wait for the Wildcat disk! Highly recommended. |
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