Wingnut Wings Volume 1. 

Book review by Adie Roberts of In War and Peace 

Introduction 

Adie Roberts love of World War One planes and the ever growing in popularity in Wingnut Wings model kits, Adie takes a look at the first volume modelling guide to see how good the book is.

 History

Wingnut Wings was started by a group of friends that all shared the passion for modelling and in particular, World War One planes, among these friends was a certain well-known movie director Peter Jackson. Who, when I say is the proud owner I truly mean proud.

A very happy looking Peter Jackson Owner of Wingnut Wings 

Review

This is the first in two volumes of books, dedicated to the building of Wingnut Wings kits, this said it is also a very good guide to the building of any World War One model planes. Volume 1 covers such subjects as the Hansa Brandenburg, SE.5 (RAF), Albatross D.Va, Sopwith Pup and the Gotha G.IV bomber. Each build goes into great detail with each author/reviewer giving you some insight into the plane they are going to build and there own thoughts on it.

Starting with the Hansa, well-known modeller Daniel Zamarbide Suarez starts explaining about the concept of this being not only a monoplane, far ahead of its time, but the fact that it was the first monoplane to be employed in a fighter's role within the German Army. When you start reading about the build itself and the pictures you very quickly realise just how useful this guide is. Not just for World War One planes but for any wooden built planes such as the Mosquito and some of the Supermarine Walrus and other wooden planes from World War Two.

The length in which they go to and the top quality photos of wood effects are just amazing and not as hard as you may think. From cockpit assemblies to the engine it is all covered. When looking at the frame of the cockpit it then becomes very easy to see where the control wires would run and of course make a superb edition for the authentic look. A step by step guide to achieving the authentic looking propeller truly gives you the knowledge and tools to be able to and make it look simply amazing. Each turn of the page that you turn is another part of the plane and how to achieve some fantastic results, like the painting and weathering of the engine the lozenge colours some of which were truly colourful.

The stunning RAF SE5 caught my eye and is the second of the build guides, there is something very robust and rugged about the look of the SE5 comes to life with each turn of the pages again with loads of high-quality photos showing you the complete process of the build.

The Roland D1.VA is another informative build with the reviewer admitting that first World War planes were not his sphere of modelling but when he saw the first pictures of the Wingnut Wings kit with the quality of the moulding of the kits it changed his opinion. When reading through his review I gleaned a new way of making the sawtooth join, used in the manufacturing process of building the main fuselage that can be used across the different scales of World War One aircraft.

The RE8 ‘Harry Tate’ a plane that was used across most theatres including Italy, Russia, Palestine, Mesopotamia and the Western Front. The reviewer goes onto to explain that he was looking forward to the complex English rigging and saw it as a great challenge, which he did perfectly. He decided that he would have the cockpit area open to show the incredible quality of the framework and cut away most of the main fuselage coverings to expose the engine as well as the cockpit. The results were just incredible and left me drooling at the pictures of this unique work.

The Albatros D.VA by the well-known modeller and editor David Parker, who went on to explain about his love of this particular aeroplane with its streamlined fuselage and tapered wings making it one of the finest looking aircraft of the era. David goes on to explain at length his build process sharing tips, displaying superb high-quality photos of the whole process. I particularly liked the section where David describes the plywood fuselage and how he achieves the desired effect.

Sopwith Pup one of the more commonly known of World War One fighters is the next subject and I had a particular interest in this one as the reviewer John Korellis decided to make an RNAS version of the Greek ace  Lt Commander Aristides Moraitinis. The kit itself looks so impressive with its crisp lines and the outstanding amount of detail. Just like the other reviewers, John gives plenty of useful tips that can be taken across to other World War One planes.

The last build of this first volume is David Parker and quite possibly one of my all-time favourite World War One planes the Gotha G.IV. This is the biggest model in the Wingnut Wings impressive catalogue of ever-expanding model kits.

The build starts with David giving a huge step by step guide to the wooden colour of the cockpit this includes weathering, using shadows and forming panels within the huge interior.

The work that David does is just sublime and really finishes off this fantastic modelling guide on Wingnut Wings kits with two final tips on wooden effects and hints and tips on rigging this is a great read.   

Conclusion

I have always been fascinated by the aircraft of World War One, a time when planes, to begin with, could not have been further from the minds of these early generals and thought of as purely a gimmick, toy that would not last long!

This book is dedicated to the Wingnut Wings kits and rightly so, the amount of detail that goes into the moulds is quite phenomenal and as for the finished result, I will let you judge for yourselves.

Although this is for Wingnut Wings the number of tips and hints in this book make it a worthwhile addition to any modellers collection whose interest is in these magnificent, historical planes. 

Nothing is left to your imagination other than the desire to own your own collection of Wingnut Wings kits!

Summary

Highs: Amazing book especially if you have a Wingnut wings kit and are worried about the challenge ahead this book really does make it seem a lot easier
Lows:  If you don’t already own a Wingnut Wings kit then you really will want too, after reading this book!
Verdict: For me a must have in the collection of modelling guides easy to follow plenty of tips and hints superb photography