Building the Wingnut Wings Hannover CL.II

[Dave W]

Building the Wingnut Wings Hannover CL.II




REVIEWED BY David Wilson

Price:   £26 plus post and packing.
Stockist:

Available through the Albatros Productions webstore
www.windsockdatafilespecials.co.uk or specialist worldwide retailers.

Contents:

54 pages, text, colour photographs, black and white archive photographs; colour profiles, 1/32 scale line drawings.           

Comment:

The eighth title in Albatros Productions’ series on how to make and get the best from Wingnut Wings kits focuses on a kit first issued in 2012 but back in the catalogue again now with new decal options.

The Hannover CL.II special, like the others in the series, can be regarded as a standalone title and as such, it’s an invaluable reference aid to anyone planning to build a Hannover kit, or even super detailing a classic Airfix 1/72 scale CL.III from the 1960s or the 1/48th Eduard kit from the early 90s.

Ray Rimell has a worldwide reputation as a WW1 aviation historian, author and publisher and his Albatros Productions stable is, to me, the go-to setting for quality assessments of all Wingnut kits.

Ray’s ongoing quest to provide high quality reference publications on WW1 aircraft enhances our hobby with every new title.

As with others in the series Ray’s latest publication has an excellent selection of build and detail articles- copiously illustrated with many colour photos, some wonderful archive reference images in a 12 page coverage ( many previously unpublished images) and all of it augmented with a multi-page assortment of inspiring Ronny Bar colour profiles.




The cover image is a blend of Ray’s model in flight on a digital composite background by Jerry Boucher. This is a very visual and effective introduction to the publication.

The layout follows a now-established format of a general overview of the Wingnut Wings kit, a look at the sprues and decals, and then an in-depth build log where Ray takes us through all of the construction steps with more than 190 photos to illustrate the build.



Super detailing is explained, and special attention is paid to the Argus engine and cockpit.



All of these images are augmented by detailed how-to painting and finishing techniques, especially the application of lozenge camouflage.



These publications are aimed at modellers of all levels, but are essentially designed to help a modeller get the maximum from his particular abilities.

While the hobby world can be overrun with too many reference works, in the case of the Hannover, this publication, coupled with the appropriate Windsock Datafiles of 2015 and Wingnut’s acclaimed instruction booklets give you everything needed to produce a great Hannover CL.II model.

There’s also a very useful guide for those wishing to convert the kit to a CL.III or CL.IIIa configuration.

As always the publication is bookended with a useful list of available aftermarket accessories for the kits and web links to the manufacturers as well as detailed appendices for further reading.

Although designed around the Wingnut Wings kit ( the 2012 edition and the recent reissue) the information here would also benefit modellers working in other scales such as the classic 1/72 scale kit or the aging Eduard 1/48 scale Hannover CL.IIIa.



Summary:

This latest Albatros Productions’ modelling special is an essential “must have” for anyone making the Wingnuts Hannover CL.II


 Verdict:

 Highly recommended. 

 (Review copy courtesy of Ray Rimell, Albatros Productions Ltd)