Albatros Productions | Building the Wingnut Wings Hannover CL.II

Reviewed by Kevin Williams

The "Building the Wingnut Wings" series of modeling specials from Albatros Productions, offer up a unique look into the world of the subject WWI aircraft, with a look at the aircraft during the wartime years. Adding up to a tad over 50 pages, this would seem to be a sort of "one stop shop" for all fans of the Hannover. Naturally enough, as the title implies, there is also a great selection of photos of the WNW kit during various stages of its construction, with hints and tips spread throughout.

Five sections make up this volume, and they are:

(Most of the sections listed above seem pretty much self-explanatory, so I will elaborate no further.)

A small portion of the publication, interspersed in certain areas, has data on various WWI aviation sites, publications, and materials, and is most welcome, as they, as often as not, point out material that I had otherwise been unaware of.

Yet another plus to recommend this volume, are the numerous excellent color profiles (7, by my count, including one with plan and inverse plan illustrations) offered up by well known WWI aviation artist Ronny Bar; really good stuff.

The kit construction section of the publication regarding the Hannover model, takes up roughly half of the book (25 pages ±), and unto itself is a great read, with tips and ideas being abundant, adding to the overall value of the title and is, of course, the principal theme here.

Anyone with even a passing interest in WWI aviation, is usually familiar with the extensive line of publications offered, and the overall high quality that is typical from Albatros. This volume is certainly no exception, offering forth a glimpse into an era long since passed, but hopefully, never forgotten. Unfortunately for me, now that I've seen what these modeling specials from Albatros really have to offer, I'm quite sure that I'll now just have to order the similar volume on the Fokker D.VIIs, my favorite aircraft from WWI.

Press release

My particular copy of the book, had an included press release as well, explaining the nature of the book, as well as pointing out specific highlights.

Typical Photo Quality/Illustrations

The text and model photos, are augmented with a very nice selection of period photos, many/most of which I'd never seen before, giving the reader lots in the way of "eye candy", in addition to the wonderful Ronny Bar illustrations.

Summation

All in all, I'd recommend this book without any reservation at all. At a decent 50+ pages, and all on very nice quality paper (a big plus from my point of view), this volume makes for a nice addition to the library, and may well prove invaluable for those that eventually model their own kits. As stated previously, I like this "How to" series so much, that I'm now compelled to seek out the comparable Fokker D.VII volume from the same publisher, as that's sure to be a real treat for me, given my particular passion for the D.VII.

If you have but even a passing interest in WWI aviation, this series of books (as well as indeed all of the other Datafiles), may just convert you into a fan.

Review copy compliments of Ray Rimell at Albatros Productions.

© Kevin Williams 2019

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This review was published on Friday, October 18 2019; Last modified on Thursday, November 18 2021