Messerschmitt Me 109, Vol. 1: From 1936 to 1942 (Aircraft and Pilots) [Paperback]

Anis ElBied (Author), Andre Jouineau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

The first volume in this heavily illustrated history of the plane covers the years 1936 to 1942, when the Third Reich was at its height. Over 200 color illustrations show the camouflage and markings used on all fronts by Germany and its allies. Forty black and white photographs, most never seen before, have also been assembled for this remarkable work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 84 pages
• Publisher: Histoire and Collections; 1st edition (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2913903088
• ISBN-13: 978-2913903081
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pages after Pages of Me 109s Colour-Plates - Good Reference., May 1, 2002

By 

paul_cheng "K.F." (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Messerschmitt Me 109, Vol. 1: From 1936 to 1942 (Aircraft and Pilots) (Paperback)

This is by far the most comprehensive guide on the markings and colour schemes of the famous Messerschmitt Me 109. I was breathless when I first opened this book. It is filled with many very beautiful colour-plates profiles of this WWII fighter. This Volume I covers the period between 1936 to 1942 and Volume II will cover 1943 to end of WWII. Messerschmitt fans and modelling enthusiasts, don't hesitate. You won't regret getting this one.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Color Art Bargain, But ..., February 27, 2002

By 

Stephen Fedor (Richmond, New Hampshire United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Messerschmitt Me 109, Vol. 1: From 1936 to 1942 (Aircraft and Pilots) (Paperback)

For the price, you get 51 profile pages, that's 205 aircraft! 109s, starting with prototypes, B-C-D models, into the E-series warhorses, to include foreign service. There's also a brief dip into early F-models (12 examples). A goodly number of examples are not often illustrated. Color art is rendered in the "scale effect" approach, so the appearance is toward the realistic while color differences are easier to distinguish (compared to the use of full strength colors from RLM paint chips favored by some illustrators).

Other pages present pertinent details graphically. Examples of this are stencil placement, standard camo schemes, experten kill markings, 109 subtype differences, and more, some 16 pages worth. So, this volume is nothing but colorful and pleasing to the eye.

At the price, for color art, this one is unbeatable. However, there are flaws.

Maps purporting to show unit locations for major campaigns are incomplete; not explained, this good idea is close to worthless. Unit badge pages are spectacularly colorful but captions are poor and can mislead. Some captions are transposed on the page for E-model camo schemes (albeit, no special knowledge is required to sort this out). These examples suggest insufficient care by the publisher.

So, when examining captions for the profiles, some problems arise. Unit designations may not be 100% accurate and the dates are loose. So confusion can arise, especially when more than one a/c profile is shown for a given pilot. Specifically, 3 for Helmut Wick and 2 for Heinz Bar. There's more, but going into written detail without showing the visuals would be a waste. The point is, some captions can lead to confusion when it comes to historical detail.

Bottom line: The abundance of color a/c profiles(including lesser known examples) makes this volume highly attractive. But it offers little as a solid historical reference. As long as this can be overcome by readers, look forward to succeeding volumes covering 1943-1945.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars re-assured!, March 3, 2007

By 

braxen (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Messerschmitt Me 109, Vol. 1: From 1936 to 1942 (Aircraft and Pilots) (Paperback)

Reading some of the mixed reviews, I was a bit concerned with this purchase. I thought, for this price, I still should give it a try.

What this book brought me:

-great deal of very interesting profiles (litteraly packed with)
-very interesting explainations on the tactical markings on the planes
-Some top down views I couldn't find elsewhere
-quick history and visual explaination of the differences between the different models

As a modeler and painter, I find this book incredibly inspiring and meeting fully (and beyond) the objectives I had when I bought it. Text editing could be better but I don't mind that much.

In a word, I don't regret a second this addition to my library.