JeepsGunsTanks Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I really love books; I have a ton of books, and I do use Son of A Sherman on the M4s I'm building. I stopped buying the books marketing toward models and started going with the more serious history books. I do have a large pile of the Squadron Signal stuff. There are a few books I will go to my grave owning, though. The P-38 and P-47 books by Warren Bodie. Another would be America's Hundred Thousand by Francis H Dean. If you have any interest in American Fighters of WWII, and you do not have America's Hundred Thousand, you should rectify that mistake before it goes out of print and costs hundreds of bucks. I wanted to pick up the new edition of Son of a Sherman, but they wanted more than 300 bucks for them, and they did a super limited run so they sell for 500 plus on Ebay. That's two Andy's Shermans! As much I as like the guys who put out the book, I'm not paying that much for a book when I have the first ed. I just picked up several of those MIG Weathering books From Andy's since they were on sale. On the modeling side, I figure anything with 'how to' will help with my modeling, and I'm sure they will be more up-to-date than a book published in the 80s like "Modeling Tanks and military Vehicles", from the 80s For books that are not picture-heavy, I just get everything on Audible and listen while I work. If I really like the book, I buy the hard copy. If I could only own one book on American WWII Fighters, it would be America's Hundred Thousand! thierry laurent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerobat Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Before retirement, I had favorite hobby shops and book stores around the world I could visit (book stores were certainly easier to find). With no room for another bookcase, I should be downsizing like some of my friends, but I can't - I enjoy regularly pulling a book off the shelf just to leaf through it. JeepsGunsTanks, thierry laurent and europapete 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Mike Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 Well, my modeling library is in a 5' x 7' bookcase. I still have some books I bought as a teen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archimedes Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 5 hours ago, DeanKB said: Which is why us modellers tend to develop little mini libraries at home. It’s not that mini…. europapete, Christa and thierry laurent 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dpgsbody55 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I prefer to look at my books first as I have been collecting books on WW2 fighters for fifty years, so I've got a few. But the interwebs do have an amazing amount of pictures too, so effectively I use both. Cheers, Michael Archimedes and LSP_K2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzas Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I love reference photos. I have books referencing things I could barely get hold of when I was a younger man. Now... all I lack is time to make those modelling dreams come true. Christa and Archimedes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmthamade Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I was a pretty casual(?) model assembler, so my reference library was pretty small. Most all references were/are by the internet. Still use some books, they're keeping my soon to use model bench level...OTOH i still buy fiction novels... Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 4 hours ago, JeepsGunsTanks said: I wanted to pick up the new edition of Son of a Sherman, but they wanted more than 300 bucks for them, and they did a super limited run so they sell for 500 plus on Ebay. That's two Andy's Shermans! As much I as like the guys who put out the book, I'm not paying that much for a book when I have the first ed. I'm in the same boat! I have the two prior editions and was ready to get the third one but the price plus the EU VAT and customs fee really put the cost in the bright red zone! I really hope they will reuse that information to release a more accessible version, possibly an electronic one even if I do not really like that format. JeepsGunsTanks and Christa 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 5 hours ago, JeepsGunsTanks said: If I could only own one book on American WWII Fighters, it would be America's Hundred Thousand! I didn't have it. So I immediately repaired that major problem ... JeepsGunsTanks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 12 minutes ago, thierry laurent said: I didn't have it. So I immediately repaired that major problem ... Some of the Schiffer books are quite worthwhile. JeepsGunsTanks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 3 minutes ago, LSP_K2 said: Some of the Schiffer books are quite worthwhile. Fully true! However some do not get the exposure they deserve, more particularly on this side of the pond... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christa Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Gentlemen, I wander in to sit quietly in the corner and find myself dashing out to buy a book I had never heard of. IT KEEPS HAPPENING! mozart and thierry laurent 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) 1 hour ago, Christa said: Gentlemen, I wander in to sit quietly in the corner and find myself dashing out to buy a book I had never heard of. IT KEEPS HAPPENING! Here’s another one for your library Chris: Very readable and full of little details which help to understand the training that these boys went through. The Forward is by the lovely Tom Neil DFC, a colleague at 249 Squadron. He concludes “This is his story, in which he graphically describes life as a fighter pilot during the early part of the war, although some of his descriptions of situations and events are not exactly as I remember them.” (I too would quibble some of Palliser’s recall; being made Sergeants at EFTS for example?) Good read nonetheless! Edited January 20 by mozart Christa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christa Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 I find biographies particularly enriching. Thank you Max. mozart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozart Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 1 hour ago, Christa said: I find biographies particularly enriching. Thank you Max. Me too Chris, I have a large collection of both Bomber and Fighter Command biographies and I have just ordered Tom Neil’s “Gun Button to Fire” about his time with 249 Squadron in the BoB. I was privileged to hear Tom speak at the Chalke Valley History Festival in 2015. He was due to speak for half an hour, sharing the platform with Tony Iveson who flew both fighters and bombers, but Tony had double-booked himself! Tom stood and delivered a clear, hour long recount without notes, holding everybody’s attention throughout and receiving a standing ovation at the end. And of course, he was only too willing to answer numerous questions afterwards and this at the age of 95! Lovely man, sadly died in 2018. Christa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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