Martin B-57 Canberra by Kev Darling

Martin B-57 Canberra, volume 45 of the Warpaint series

A publication, not a kit. Volume 45 of the aviation series from the British publisher Warpaint Books, by Kev Darling, is devoted to the Martin B-57 Canberra. The text is in English and the softcover format is close to A4.

The real subject

The B-57 is the American license version of the British English Electric Canberra bomber, built by the Glenn L. Martin company. After the Second World War it was the first combat aircraft of foreign design taken into service with the US Air Force. The cockpit changed from the British original: the main combat version, the B-57B, has tandem seating under a single hinged canopy instead of a glazed nose and a separated crew. An American novelty was the rotary bomb bay, which swung the load out into the airstream. In Vietnam the aircraft flew night attacks against the supply routes, the RB-57 reconnaissance versions took photographs, and the derived high-altitude aircraft with a very large span gathered data at extreme altitudes; from that line came the aircraft that still fly as research platforms today.

What the book contains

• the development history of the type and its combat service
• photographs of the aircraft in the individual versions
• color profiles of camouflage and markings
• scale drawings as a basis for the build

Who it is for

For modelers who build the American Canberra and need to tell it apart from the British original, and for anyone interested in the air war in Vietnam and in high-altitude reconnaissance. The extent of the volume is not stated here; the page count differs between the individual titles in the series.