HACKS

UTILITY PLANES OF THE MIGHTY EIGHTH

Author: Jacek Jackiewicz,

Producer: Atelier Kecay (www.kecay.com)

Price: $49.90

Reviewed by Sinuhe Hahn

This is the 4^th in the Kecay series that I have the pleasure of reviewing, the other volumes covering captured Bf 109’s or Fw 190’s, as well as the Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eighth. Although the current volume largely follows the same lay out of its predecessors, it is also an addendum to the Assembly Ships, and several pages at the opening of the new book are devoted as supplement and errata to the former volume. Here some interesting new information is provided on the NMF with red-trim B-17 “Little Rock-ette”. This would certainly make for a stunning model. Additional information is also provided for B-17F “Spotted Cow”, B-24D “Lemon Drop” and B-24D “The Green Dragon” amongst others.

The remaining 110 pages or so are devoted to the topic of Hacks. Here the author, Jacek Jackiewicz, provides a useful definition of hat a Hack was, namely a support, non-combat plane assigned to a unit or a base. This is rather a loose definition, for as the tide turned against the Axis forces, a sizeable number of captured aircraft served as Hacks, where there use was more in the line of amusement than serious testing of enemy equipment. In this manner, the author comments on the Polish purchase of a Bf 109 and Bf 108 from a US unit for the price of 2 bottles of liquor.

As in the other volumes, the research in this book is meticulous, and provides a detailed listing of all USAAF station in the UK from 1942-45 (both numerical and alphabetical). Once again, care has been taken to provide photographic evidence for each type, not just the provision of spurious profiles.

A feature that strikes this reviewer while perusing through this book is the wide and diverse array of aircraft used as Hacks by the USAAF. This is not limited to the expected US types such as War Weary P-47’s or nondescript Piper L-4’s, but unexpected modifications of standard USAF types such as P-51B’s and P-47’s converted to twin-seaters. Most of these are in decidedly “colorful” schemes.

The most interesting aircraft types to me are the large number of English aircraft, such as Airspeed Oxford, Westland Lysander resplendent in yellow-black two-tug livery, as well as Tiger Moths, Miles Masters, BP Defiant or a Dh Rhapide. A very nice profile is provided of an Avro Anson complete with “Sad Sack” cartoon nose-art.

Those with a penchant for captured aircraft will no doubt be interested in details describing a He 111 H-23 in overall black night intruder camouflage with striking red letters, or a Fw 190 F-8 with “Stars and Bars”.

It has been a pleasure to receive the latest publication from Kecay. For those familiar with their previous volumes, rest assured, the latest does not disappoint, and provides very welcome information on a largely over-looked topic. With the modeler in mind, a number of details are provided to assist with the making of accurate miniatures. If I do have one minor criticism, it is that the majority of schemes in this volume are restricted to side-profiles, and not as many 4-view schemes are offered as in their previous publications.

It would also be a great help, if Kecay could follow the trend set by KAGERO and provide a set of matching decals with their books. These could form the basis of a number of very attractive and unusual models.

The new publication is available directly from: www.Kecay.com.