Albatros Productions Ltd

Windsock Worldwide Vol.25, No.2, Mar/Apr 2009

Reviewed By  John Ratzenberger, IPMS# 40196

MSRP: £;6.80 ($10.25) Website: www.windsockdatafilespecials.co.uk Available from many stores and direct or by subscription from Albatros. If you have not heard of the new, affordable, 1/32 styrene line of WW1 aircraft from Wingnut Wings (IPMS review items are out for build - ed) out of New Zealand, then I do not want to be near whatever rock you are hiding under, even if I'm wearing a super-chem/bio suit for protection. What does this have to do with Windsock Worldwide Vol.25, No.2 ? Well, the entire issue (36 pages plus covers) is devoted to an introduction to the line including complete and extensive builds of the first 4 aircraft released -- the Junkers J.1, LVG C.VI, RAF SE5a, and the Bristol F2B Fighter. In Windsock's usual style, plenty of contemporary photos are mixed in to illustrate construction points -- as you can imagine contemporary color photos are rare, but Windsock's always have as much color as they can. What a coup of marketing -- for both Albatros and Wingnuts -- as the models and the magazine were released about the same time -- and had been kept a pretty close secret. I don't know how wildfires spread over the web, but they did, not just among the WW1 fans, but most everyone else. If you are a WW1 aviation fan, then you should know all about Windsock Worldwide and Windsock Datafiles -- the enduring and authoritative references. I will admit that I do not subscribe to Windsock Worldwide, but for every WW1 aircraft in my stash, I have all the Windsock Datafiles. I cannot see how you can do WW1 aircraft without them even if you do OOB. This issue is highly recommended to everyone contemplating a build of any (all) of the initial four kits. And if you have now developed an interest in WW1 aviation, then you need to check out all that Albatros has to offer. My sincere thanks to Albatros Productions for the review sample and to IPMS/USA for allowing me to review it.