Military Model Scene

Title: Tupolev TU-2... 
Author: Jason Nicholas Moore

Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN: 978-1-78155-532-3

...the Forgotten Medium Bomber

 

Another fine book on the topic of  a WW2 Russian aircraft from author Jason Nicholas Moore and Fonthill Media.  As for the TU-2 it opens with a couple of bits of information I don't remember seeing before.  Designed by Andrey Tupolev though he was being held in an NKVD prison at the time and the success of his design kept him safe.  Even then, after only a small number had been built and delivered in 1942, production was cancelled by Stalin as he ordered that production was focussed on fighter rather than tactical/medium bombers.  Fortunately, the positive combat reports from the front led to the aircraft being put back into production, with significant numbers in service for the final stages of the war in 1945.

Following the Introduction, it tells the story in another 10 chapters plus four appendices.  The first considers the definitions of Tactical and Medium bombers, followed by a useful background examination of the Soviet bombers that were built before the Tu-2 and then the development, or 'Genesis' of the Tu-2 itself.  The early prototypes, the 103 are next and then the start of the production Tu-2, the Tu-2S.  The break in the production line did enable further improvements to be introduced when it started up again.  With this done, the author gives an interesting set of comparative notes for the Tu-2 against various allied and German twin engine medium bombers.  The story moves on to look at the widespread use of the types post-war, by a number of countries including China.  It also describes post-war development and prototypes, and later jet bombers as well.  It leaves it for the final chapter to go over every aspect of the Tu-2 in Detail.

There are plenty of archive photos and drawings to illustrate the different parts of the story, and does include a section with good colour profiles that will help the modeller.

As for the four appendices, these provide the Tu-2 Specifications; a list and information on Tu-2 survivors; Production Figures; and finally, a list of available kits in different scales.  Add this to the authors previous books on the Il-2 Shturmovik and Lacvochkin fighters and it is growing into a super set of references on WW2 Soviet aircraft.

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Robin