This latest Warpaint title covers the Aero L-39 Albatros, a a Czech-designed jet trainer and light attack aircraft developed by Aero Vodochody during the 1960s as a successor to the L-29 Delfín. It first flew in 1968 and entered service in 1972, becoming the standard jet trainer for Warsaw Pact nations. With over 2,900 units built, the L-39 be-came one of the most widely used jet trainers globally, praised for its reliability, ease of maintenance, and versatility. Building on this legacy, the L-159 ALCA (Advanced Light Combat Aircraft) was introduced in the late 1990s, developed to replace aging Soviet-era fighters in the Czech Air Force, first flying in 1997 and entering service in 2000.

Bringing together numerous untried technologies the Boeing Aircraft Company launched its most significant bomber, the B-29 Superfortress. Although beset by development problems and having suffered the loss of the prototype and its Chief Test Pilot Eddie Allan, the company pushed on to create the first long-range strategic bombers. Once the Pacific Islands had been captured the B-29 Bomb Groups began bombing raids on the Japanese Home Islands. On the other side of the Himalayas further bomb groups launched attacks against targets in Japan. As combat experience grew the focus turned to destroying as much as possible of its production facilities, mainly by firebombing areas known to have these targets.

Derived from the earlier Curtiss 75 Hawk the P-40 Warhawk was an attempt to update the original design for more modern warfare. Unfortunately the aircraft that first emerged was seriously underpowered, undergunned and suffering from stability problems. Although not an auspicious start for a fighter design the Curtiss engineers and those of Allison, the engine builders, finally resulted in an aircraft that was worthy of the appellation fighter. While the P-40 would never really gain the fame of other aircraft destined to play their roles in the forthcoming global conflict it would carve out a niches for itself in the deserts of Arabia, the icy Arctic and across the Pacific. Thus in the hands of experienced pilots determined to wring the best out of tools to hand the P-40 was more than able to match the best that the enemy could throw at it. The first claim to fame for the P-40 was with the American Volunteer Group better known as the Flying Tigers created to support the Chinese Government in repulsing the Japanese invaders. Sporting shark mouths on the nose panels these early aircraft, sometimes working in desperate conditions, repulsed the invaders with great skill and held them at bay until America joined the war.

The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was one of those aircraft that was either loved or hated, there was no middle ground. Forged in a hurry for the forthcoming war the Helldiver was designed in a hurry and built by mostly underskilled personnel while being bombarded by the customer with their extra changes and demands. Despite this pressure Curtiss managed to produce a prototype that flew, even though it would soon reveal strength and build problems. The first production model, the Dash-1, was beset by many problems that saw one carrier captain demanding that the Helldivers be removed and the offloaded Douglas Dauntless dive-bombers be reinstated. From the SB2C-3 onwards, after undergoing a full modification programme, a competent combat aircraft would emerge.

Few military exploits have captured the public's imagination as much as the famous 'Dambusters' raid on the night of 16 - 17 May 1943. To mark the 80th anniversary of the escapade Guideline present Dambusters and the Lancaster, a comprehensive study of the raid itself, the background and planning that led up to it, and the men and machinery that took part, as well as a reasoned study of the aftershocks. Author Des Brennan, one of our most respected writers on military aviation history, has gathered together all the threads of this astonishing tale and woven them together to present a book that pays tribute to one of the most remarkable feats of World War 2.

The Dassault MD.452 Mystère was a straightforward development of the successful Dassault Ouragan with a 30-degree swept wing and modified tail surfaces. The aircraft saw extensive service with the French air force, evolving first into the Mystère IVA, and the Super Mystère, which was the first Western European supersonic aircraft to enter mass production IVA, and the Super Mystère saw extensive combat use with the Israeli Air Force, while other operators of Mystère deriviatives included India and Honduras While aimed at both the general aviation enthusiast and the scale modeller, this latest addition to the Warpaint range follows on the heels of newly-tooled kits from Czech manufacturer Special Hobby, and is designed to help add both detail and context to a modelling project.