HMH Publications | Aircraft in Detail #019: A-400M Atlas
Reviewed by Kevin Williams
Publisher: HMH Publications
Author(s): R. Pied, Nic Deboeck
Publishing date: 2022
ISBN: 978-2-931083-09-3 (Softcover)
Pages: 138
Good stuff here! This particular volume covers the rather large Airbus Industries A-400 Atlas cargo plane, also known as the Grizzly, and I'm thrilled silly to finally get my hands on this. Everything the Atlas enthusiast could want, and gobs of it, is featured in this book. This volume, I don't hesitate to state, will set the bar for any and all future Atlas references.
At present, I know of no available 1:32 A-400 kit, which would be outrageously huge anyway, but there does exist a fine example of the aircraft in the Revell Germany 1:72 scale kit.
As with the majority of titles from this publisher, this is very much a collaborative effort, using photos from many varied sources, each with appropriate photo credits given, and there are quite a substantial number of them in this magnificent volume. Printed on good quality semi-glossy stock, the photos are nothing sort of magnificent, highlighting many areas of the air-frame, giving both modelers and aviation enthusiasts alike, a wealth of eye candy on this fascinating plane. If there's a detail of the Atlas that you'd like to see, it's more than likely in this book. Personally, I find the eight bladed props rather fascinating.
This particular book (No. 19 in the series), depicts the rather interesting Airbus A-400 Atlas, and it’s geared toward both modelers and aviation enthusiasts alike, being very much a detailed, walk around overview of the type, and that pleases me immeasurably, as it's the major reference type that I seek these days.
Photo Samples
Photos are broken down by section; forward fuselage, fuselage, aft fuselage, ramp, wings, engines & props, cockpit (numerous pages), front landing gear, main landing gear, horizontal tails, vertical tail, aft fuselage again, cargo bay, maintenance, defence [sic] systems, and finally, Action!! Certainly enough material is presented here, to satisfy even the most ardent aviation enthusiast.
The myriad photos obviously form the backbone of this book, and for me, this is a true blessing, as I can never seem to get enough details, and this book certainly has them in great abundance.
For those with a passion for the Atlas, or cargo aircraft in general, I can highly recommend this volume.
Summation
On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d rate this book as a solid 10, no question about it. Topping out at a hefty 138 pages of Atlas goodness, it's just packed wall-to-wall with details, details, and more details, and is therefore highly recommended.
(Several additional volumes; F/A-18 Hornet, A-4 Skyhawk, MiG-31, EA-6B Prowler, will definitely be added to my ever growing book collection, and that can't happen soon enough, as far as I'm concerned.)
HMH continues here the wonderful tradition of high quality photo-documentation type books, setting the bar for any emulators to seek, and I heartily applaud those efforts.
Note: Book cover image directly from HMH Publications (used with permission).
My review copy compliments of Casemate Publishers. Thanks a ton to Casemate, it's truly an outstanding reference book for the A-400, really top-notch stuff.
© Kevin Williams 2022
This review was published on Thursday, March 03 2022; Last modified on Saturday, March 05 2022