Military Model Scene

Title: The Panavia Tornado at Low Level
Author: Scott Rathbone
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 978-1-39903-304-6

'The Ultimate Pictorial Display of the Tornado in its Element', a new book from author/photographer Scott Rathbone and Air World, an imprint of Pen & Sword. A 318-page landscape format hard-cover book.
This is a second book from Scott Rathbone, an enthusiast for photographing military jets in the valleys of the various low flying areas of the UK, and taken over many years of braving the weather and climbing the hills in the hope of catching these amazing photos. The bulk are from Scott himself, but with others from some of his fellow enthusiasts for searching out these dramatic photo opportunities. The book opens with some text which tells us the background of the images which then fill the greatest part of the book. There is some great background to these various low flying areas, and detail such as the definition of 'low flying' for the RAF as below 2,000ft. With reference to the Tornado, the depth of this study is indicated by the figure of 145 aircraft being upgraded to GR4 status, and that he managed to capture photos of no fewer than 135 of them! It also explains how the number of enthusiasts who took to this hobby of photographing low flying military aircraft and its' growth. The large number of colour images that follow show the Tornado from all angles as they weave through the valleys, with various colour schemes, such as green/grey, light grey fighter variants, desert camouflaged aircraft for Saudi Arabia, German and Italian aircraft as well as the many colourful special schemes seen over the many years of Tornado operations. Also notable are the stores carried on these aircraft, including some clearly carrying live weapons rather than the more common practice stores.
We see a clear picture of the many squadrons that operated the Tornado for the RAF, as well as Italian, German and Saudi aircraft. There are tables of all the GR4s built, including their serials, code, operator and remarks which does include those lost to accidents etc.. While aircraft enthusiasts will lover this, I think modellers will be real fans, as there are so many camouflage schemes, markings options, and weathering detail that there is so much inspiration in here to inspire a new Tornado build. Many of the special marking schemes will be especially attractive, and while I am hesitant to pick out just one, I think the red spined F3 of 56(R) squadron on page 169, a picture taken in 2007 is rather impressive. At the back of the book, a great list of the individual call signs of the many Tornados visiting the low fly zones.

Thanks to Pen & Sword for the review copy.

Robin