Steve Ginter Publications

Naval Fighters Series 71, Douglas TBD-1 Devastator

by  Steve Ginter

Reviewed By  Ned B. Ricks, IPMS# 36013

MSRP: $19.95 ISBN: 094261271X The Naval Fighters series is available from online stores including Amazon, Squadron, and Roll Models, or direct from the publisher Steve Ginter, 1754 Warfield Circle, Simi Valley, California 93063. Phone: 805-584-9732, FAX: 805-584-6604. E-Mail nfbooks@pacbell.net. For some time I have admired the US Navy planes of the "Yellow Wing" era in the years just prior to WWII. When IPMS offered me the chance to review Steve Ginter's new monograph on the TBD-1 Devastator, I eagerly agreed. The Douglas torpedo bomber was the Navy's first carrier based mono-plane and had its greatest moment of fame at the Battle of Midway in 1942. This series of aircraft was rapidly overtaken by events and technology. Accepted for testing by the Navy in June 1937, by 1944 the last of its kind were combat losses, crashed in training or scrapped. This softback publication is sort of a "Devastator family album" covering the life of the TBD-1 from beginning to end. The covers are color, while the rest of the over-200 photos are black and white. These pictures and the drawings in the 96 pages show the aircraft in its initial, test configuration as well as on-the-ramp, on-the-flight-deck and in-the-air. The reader finds original era interior pictures of the pilot's position, the bomb-bay, the gunner's position and just about any other nook-or-cranny you could ask for. There are cut-away engineering plans that show where struts, cables, spars and all the "plumbing" may be found for super-detail interested modelers. As there are no existing examples of the plane available for inspection (at least above water), the book is a treasure trove of resource material. Need to check the accuracy of your modeling project? Look at the 1/72 drawings for scale work and two pages of tables to help get the carrier, squadron and flight section markings correct. Printed on heavy glossy stock, you can page through this book and keep it as a valuable reference. Included in the text is a bibliography of nine other books on the Devastator, and there are also examples of the model kits available of the subject with comments on each. While I wish there were more color photos, especially of the pre-war markings, the B&W shots are of excellent quality and resolution. The text weaves the narrative around the photos and can be differentiated from the photo captions by type face. One gets the idea that the pictures are what this "album" is all about. I recommend this book to fellow modelers. Let me express many thanks to the publishers for making it available to IPMS for review.

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