Military Model Scene

Title: Pacific Profiles Vol. 10
Author: Michael John Claringbould
Publisher: Avonmore Books
ISBN: 978-0-645-70049-4

We have got to volume 10 in the series of books covering the camouflage and markings of the different aircraft types which served in the Pacific Theatre of War in WW2. This one covers the service history of the P-47D Thunderbolt series in the Southwest Pacific region, from their arrival in 1943 to the end of the war in 1945. A 108-page soft-cover book.
Personally, I think we more readily associate the P-47 Thunderbolt with their service in NW Europe, especially escorting the formations of B-17s and B-24s over Europe. As we see in this new book, there were a good number of the P-47D, the razorback version, which operated from New Guinea, in the South West Pacific region. The Introduction does a neat job of setting the overall scene for us, followed by the first chapter explaining the markings they wore, and some technical details. That is then followed by individual chapters covering each of the 11 squadrons which operated the P-47, along with additional ones on Fifth Fighter Command Headquarters and the Combat Replacement Training Centre that also used it. There are notes on the basic history of each unit and each one also features a selection of colour artwork profiles, with captions telling us the history of each individual aircraft. It gives us a total of 94 colour profiles spread throughout the book, plus a selection of archive photos sprinkled throughout the book.
The Thunderbolt was not so widely used in the Pacific, nor as successful as it was in NW Europe, but it was used and this book provides a great selection of options for modellers looking for a new theme they might consider for including in any collection of P-47 models. The research behind these profiles is a long-time hobby for the author and I think this is another good reference in this Pacific Profiles book series.
Thanks to Casemate UK for the review copy, as they are distributors for this series here in the UK.

Robin