German Air Projects Vol. 3 Bombers

Online & printed reviews

Flying Scale Models

IPMSUSA.org
Reviewed By Phil Peterson, IPMS# 8739

This book, along with the other volumes in the series, is a '46 modelers dream. It looks at paper designs for bombers that could have seen action if the war had dragged on longer. The book is broken up by manufacturers and pretty much all the major ones are included as well as several smaller firms.

There are upgraded versions of the Arado Ar-234, Messerschmitt Me-262 and Heinkel He-177. There are jet engined bombers, propeller driven aircraft, conventional planes and flying wings. Most of the projects include side profile drawings or full 3 view drawings when the information was available. There are even Specifications included for some planes that got a little further in the planning stage.

The end of the book has 16 color paintings of some of the aircraft done by the author or Ronnie Olsthoorn. The most interesting of these for me was seeing the Junkers EF132 jet bomber done up in Soviet markings and even an updated version in Soviet service. What a neat idea for some of those Luft '46 kits out there.

Whether you like Luft '46, are a "What If" modeler or are just looking for something a little different than another Fw-190 or P-51, this book will give you some great ideas. Who knows, maybe you will design your own "could have been" bomber.

 Aeroplane March 2008

JP4 - Italian magazine

Hyperscale.com
Reviewed by Rob Baumgartner

There were countless designs proposed for the Luftwaffe during World War II, and many more leading up to the conflict. Some made it to fruition but most failed to materialize.

The author examines the reasons for some of these failures in Mushroom Model Publications latest release.

This volume, devoted to bomber designs, is the third in the series of German Air Projects.

The book encompasses these what might have been developments and presents them to the reader in a handy well laid out reference source.

There are 89 pages of text and a further eight that contains the artwork. The latter shows how these aircraft may have looked? had they become operational. All of the images are expertly rendered and the illustrator goes to great lengths to ensure a very realistic appearance for his subjects.

The projects are arranged in alphabetical order according to those companies that conceived them. Each contains some very interesting text which explains how the type came about, its proposed development, and the ultimate fate of the subject.

Specifications and estimated performance figures are not forgotten with the former coming in a handy table. These may differ from some references containing technical data; however the author makes it clear that all the information came from original German sources. He also notes that even these official sources contained variations.

Scale plans are also a feature of this publication and these are competently done by Marek Ryś.


Conclusion

Much information has recently come to light regarding Germanys wartime ventures.

These paper projects continue to intrigue the public due their ingenuity and boldness with design. This book captures the imagination of the subject matter and relays it in a readable, easily digestible format.

Recommended to all Luftwaffe 46 fans.

Cybermodeler.com
By Ray Mehlberger

This latest book from Mushroom Model Publications (MMP) is the third in a series covering German aircraft projects before and during WWII. This volume covers bomber projects from Arado, Blohm und Voss, BMW, Daimler Benz, Focke-Wulf, Heinkel, Henschel, Horten, Junkers, Lippisch and Messerschmitt. It is in MMP’s usual 9” x 6 ½” soft cover format that they use for their series of aircraft books.

Included amongst the array of aerodynamic innovations are advanced projects powered by piston-engines, jets, and mixed propulsion designs. The imagination of German designers of the period is clear – how practical most of these designs would have been is open for debate!

The majority of the aircraft described are illustrated with 79 line drawings. These are done as side views, top views, front views and 2, 3 and 4-views. The book finishes with some superb color artworks by the author and others. These are computer enhanced paintings and they illustrate what some of the these designs would have looked like in service markings and in the air. I was a little disappointed that some of a particular aircraft was illustrated more than once. I would have preferred to have seen just one of each and the space used for the extra illustrations of them used to depict other conceptual aircraft.

This book will be of great interest to Luftwaffe enthusiasts, the growing number of “What If?” modelers, and air historians and enthusiasts generally.

Included with my sample of this book was 2 copies of MMP’s book catalog. Lots of exciting titles are announced in it which will carry through 2008 with their release dates.

Highly recommended.

InternetModeller.com
By Chris Banyai-Riepl

The next volume in the Luftwaffe Projects series examines some of the bigger aircraft, the bombers. While the Luftwaffe never really fielded long-range strategic bombers during the war, there were plenty of plans for them, and this book highlights those. As with the other titles in this series, this book covers a wide range of manufacturers and handles both propeller and jet aircraft (with a few mixed propulsion aircraft tossed in for good measure).
The manufacturers covered in this book include Arado (with types such as Ar 234 variants and the more impressive E.555 flying wing), Blohm & Voss, BMW, Daimler Benz, Focke Wulf (with the clean-looking Fw 300 and Fw 191), Heinkel (the He 277 seems like a viable project, if the High Command did not shelve it), Henschel, Horten, Junkers (the Ju 287 and Ju 488 make an appearance here), Lippisch, and Messerschmitt (including Me 262 variants and the impressive Me 264). While many of the aircraft presented in these pages are pure fantasy and never moved beyond paper, several did achieve flying status (like the Ju 287 and Me 264), providing quite a bit of crossover between What If and reality. Like the other titles, this book presents these aircraft with short text descriptions, small drawings, and a section with color 3D renderings of several of the types.
For those interested in the What If aspect of German aviation engineers during the Second World War, this series is a great addition to the existing historiography. The drawings present the aircraft in nice detail, and the 3D renderings help place them in context. The remaining books of the series are likewise fascinating, with the next three covering Attack Aircraft, Special Aircraft, and Flying Boats.

ModelingMadness.com
Reviewer: Scott Van Aken

Continuing with their series on German Project Aircraft, this particular volume concentrates on bombers. As with the others in this series, it includes not only the expected paper projects, but variations of other types that were not brought to fruition for one reason or another.

The book is arranged alphabetically by manufacturer and then by project or aircraft number. It starts with Arado and the bomber versions and derivatives of the Ar-234, through the various manufacturers such as Blohm und Voss, Daimler-Benz, Focke-Wulf, Heinkel, Junkers and Messerschmitt. Each entry is accompanied by a three view drawing of most of the important versions with side or top views or other variants in the series.

This is the first time I've seen all the variations of the Arado E.555, for example. Some of the aircraft have a more detailed history than others as more is known. For instance, there is a considerable write up on the Ju.287 and the versions built and flown by the Soviets after the war. The Me-264 and variants of the Ar.234 also get extended historical information.

In addition to the superb line drawings, there are several pages at the end of computer art work of several of the aircraft from the book. These add a considerable dimension to the work as we can see what these planes may have looked like had they been carried out to fruition.

In all, another fascinating work from the folks at Mushroom Models. It shows that 'Luft 46' is still alive and well with books like this one providing the impetus for additional research. It is one that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and one I am sure you will too.