From the X Planes of the Third Reich Series

An Illustrated Series on Germany’s Experimental Aircraft of World War II

ISBN 0-7634-0955-2

Library of Congress number 99-62918

Published by Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

4880 Lower Valley Rd.

Atglen, Penn.  19310

Copyright 1999

After a four page introduction by the author, this soft cover book is essentially a 92 page photo album with excellent captions.  There are over 200 illustrations consisting of photographs, line drawings and pen and ink 3-views of the assorted variations of the He 162. In addition, there are a number of photographs of some nicely built models towards the back of the book illustrating various He 162’s.  There is even a “walkaround” of a MODEL of an He 162!  A few of the images in the book have been digitally created. All photographs and/or illustrations are in black and white. There are no color illustrations or photographs at all in this edition.

Although nowhere near the wealth of clear color coverage of the details of the aircraft are presented here as in something like the Aerodetails line of books, the photos in this book are, nevertheless, valuable in that they illustrate actual aircraft in the correct time period. While the Aerodetails books present clear, highly detailed, all-color photos of the He 162, they are  of mostly, if not all, restored aircraft. There are a many nice photos depicting details of the aircraft which would be of great value to the modeler, especially those interested in superdetailing a model.

I don’t know the suggested retail price of this book, but I bought my copy from a vendor at a recent show for the price marked on the cover, $15.00. As compared to a price at least double that for the Aerodetails line, I consider this book a good buy and a good reference source for the modeler.

Arm yourself with the Aerodetails book on the 162 and this book, and you should be fairly well informed as to the details of an airplane to model which was hoped would help the 262 in ridding the skies over Germany of the masses of bombers laying waste to the country towards the end of World War II. Thankfully, for the world, the 162 was a case of too little against too much with no experienced pilots to fly them in the face of the onslaught!

Review by: 

Terry Sumner

President, Southern New England Scale Modelers.

Member, Bay Colony Historical Modelers.

Volunteer rec.models.scale FAQ maintainer.