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Miranda |
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Unknown! No. 2 by J. Miranda and P. Mercado |
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Reviewed By Paul Bradley, #35554 |
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MSRP: $32.00 USD (plus postage) Justo Miranda is well known for his series of Reichdreams dossiers about Luftwaffe 46 projects, but in 2002 ventured into other realms with his book “Unknown!” about unusual WWII fighter projects from other countries. This is a follow up to that volume, unsurprisingly titled “Unknown! No.2”. The format is similar, in that he covers a variety of unusual projects, but this time includes a number of German designs. Within the 64 softbound pages are 41 pages of technical plans for 26 different types, with 19 pages of English text describing these and many more. The covers are color illustrations of some of the projects covered within, with spurious markings to whet the appetite! The plans are to a high standard, and most are to 1/72 scale. The English is none too polished in places; nevertheless, the text is readable and interesting. Amongst the bizarre and astonishing projects you will find inside are the Supermarine 4040 VTOL tailsitter fighter; the Martin Baker MB-6, looking like a sleeker version of the Douglas Skystreak; and a Focke Wulf Fw190 derivative with a BMW P.8011 engine driving contra-props – this looks like it would happily fit in at the Reno Air Races today, and give them a run for their money! A few of the aircraft are subjects of limited run resin kits, but most will be fine fodder for conversions or scratch building – how about an Fw190 with a Bf109F nose using the new Hasegawa 1/32 kits! This is a fascinating look at what might have been, and I found this book to be an inspiration – and I hadn’t previously considered a serious conversion or scratch build for years! If you enjoy building straight from the box, buy this at your peril; you will spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to create these weird and wonderful aircraft! Highly recommended! This book is available directly from Justo Miranda. The price plus postage is $32. More details and ordering information are available at their website; www.luft46.com/rd/rdreams.html. My thanks to Justo for supplying the review sample. |
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