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Although being a scale
modeller I feel this 2 CD/DVD set of "Restorations
Illustrated Vol. 2" is geared for the scale modeller, they
are also very enjoyable CD's for the history buff, aviation nut, modeler
or anyone who appreciates the dedication of museum owners and pilots to preserve these aircraft.
With the absolute rarity of the P-38 today......it is a wonderful
experience to find this many photos to
help the detail conscious modeller.
The package includes 2
discs - 1 CD and 1 DVD. The CD includes:
- Hundreds of printable
photos taken during the restoration of a P-38 Lightning,
- A history of the P-38
and photos of the variants,
- Photos of all the
surviving P-3s in the world,
- Interviews with Bob
Cardin (of Glacier Girl fame) and Bob Jarrett (of Classic Jets Fighter
Museum) and photos describing the efforts to recover and restore their
respective P-38s. Glacier Girl was recovered from nearly 270 inside a
glacier of ice in Greenland and the Classic Jets P-38 was recovered
from the hot Kuni grass of Papua New Guinea,
- Over 100 never- before
published photographs of P-38s
- An amazing CGI movie by
Jay Jacobs of a P-38 skip-bombing in the Pacific,
- Printable pages from
P-38 manuals (including F-4, F-5 and Allison Engine Service Handbook,
- Built models,
illustrations, books and over 60 hot links to P-38 related websites.
The DVD includes:
- On-Camera interviews
(over 110 minutes!) with 11 former P-38 pilots. Hear them talk about
the unique qualities of the P-38, what it was like to fly harrowing
reconnaissance missions, and the amazing combat sorties (flying 8
hours on one engine, bombing Ploesti, shooting down Yamamoto) flown by
these pilots. You will also hear of a daring mission from one P-38
pilot that landed behind enemy lines to rescue a second P-38 pilot
that was shot down. AMAZING STORIES!
Let's first
talk about the CD itself. Like the other Buffie's Best CD's, this
one is in HTML format....which is the
same style as a website, so it runs well on any PC based computer.
The layout and design is straight
forward and very simple to figure out on the first try. This is
important to me......computer programmers have a nasty habit of over
designing a product to show off their programming skill. This can
create a product that is a pain to use.......this product is simple and
clean in design and layout and a treat to use. There is full use
of thumbnail photos through the CD for every photo....this makes it
quick and easy to find the detail photo you need.
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Inserting the CD started the
auto-start feature and I was greeted with a simulated P-38 anti-shipping bombing
mission. The auto start feature
doesn't work on Mac's but the CD can be started manually and instructions are
included for this. The layout is a side by side two frame set-up.
The table of contents containing 9 chapters is on the left and the photos load to the right side frame. A very simple easy to
use design. This CD is best viewed in 1024 x 768 resolution, although it
can be viewed in 800 x 600 resolution by scrolling with the use of the slider
bars at the bottom and to the right of the page. The 9 chapters include the following;
- Ch 1: Development of the P–38
- Ch 2: P–38
Survivors
- Ch 3: Heros &
Memories
- Ch 4: Models, Books
& Decals
- Ch 5: WWII Manuals
& Photos
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- Ch 6: Restoration
Photos
- Ch 7:
Interview–Recovery & Restoration
- Ch 8: Other
Restoration Illustrated CD’s Available
- Ch 9:
Acknowledgements
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This CD is the result of
Derek Brown's never ending quest for detail reference photos and his
love of vintage fighters from WW2.
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photos below are small to protect the copyright of the photos |
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| Below
is one of the photos included on the CD. |
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The photos are of a
very good quality and the total content of the CD comes to an impressive
339megs. The CD includes vintage WW2 photos and history as well as well as
a huge selection of big colour photos of surviving P-38's including some photos
taken during restorations that show detail not normally seen in finished
aircraft. There is over 1200
photos contained on this CD including scans from actual factory manuals and all
photos are printable.
The engine and cockpit photos are very complete and comprehensive....heck there
are 25 photos dealing with the rudder pedals alone. With any product like
this, you will find some tiny detail that isn't covered or isn't covered enough,
but you'll be hard pressed to find many areas not very well covered in this
CD. There is also a section that includes photos of models and a section
listing model kits and accessories, but new products are constantly being
released, so it is impossible for this section of the CD to be 100% up to date.
Sections included
are
-
Historic
overview of the Me-109
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Complete history
of the two Me-109's featured on this CD
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Slide show with
vocal interview covering restoration challenges
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Complete listing
of existing surviving Me-109's
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Me-109 models,
books and illustrations
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Huge assortment
of restoration photos
All in all....this
is one very impressive product and compared to buying a book....this CD presents
excellent value for the money at a Price: $19.50 USD (plus postage).
Drop by the Buffie's
Best website to order this CD of to see their selection of other CD's
available for such planes as the
Steve
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