Classic Reference Books: Arco-Aircam Aviation Series

[gwb123]

My main goal in visiting the 2022 IPMS show this year was to visit the book vendors.

 

They not only had new releases but there were a few that had some used copies of various classics that had come from some hobbyist's bookshelf. 

 

I ended up coming home with five volumes of the 1970's era Arco-Aircam Aviation Series.  

 

"The Arco-Aircam Aviation Series of books were the US editions of the British Aircam Aviation Series from Osprey Publishing. Each title took a largely pictorial look at a classic military aircraft type, or the camouflage and markings worn by various military air arms and flying units.

After 5-6 pages of concise text introducing the subject, the remainder of each book comprised b+w photographs, 8 pages of color profile artwork and 3-4 pages of small plan-view tone drawings, showing the upper and lower surfaces of the aircraft illustrated in color. The original editions of the first few titles were printed entirely on glossy paper, but later titles and reprints appeared with matt paper for all except the color profiles. This resulted in rather poor reproduction of some of the photographs."  http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/biblio/series/aircam/arco-aircam.htm

 

These were made for modelers, and reflected a number of aircraft that were popular builds at the time.

There is a reason I remember these so fondly.

 

Back in the day (1960's), there was a lack of resources for the average modeler.  Most of us just stuck with the decals that came with the kit.

Color schemes were usually based on a black and white drawing in the instructions.  Your only clue of what the correct colors might be

was the painting on the box, which could vary widely from what the aircraft actually looked like.

 

One of the improvements manufactures made to sell more kits was to start including decal sheets for more than just one aircraft.  I was 

thrilled when my HAWK P-51 kit came with decals and color descriptions (in black and white) for an Israeli version.  Of course, I built the 

USAAF version first and then later used the Israeli decals on historically inaccurate Aurora USAF F-51, an error that was further complicated

by the fact that Aurora sold the kit as part of its "12 O'clock High" line. 

 

Eventually, since catering to the hobby was till profitable back then, more resources became available.  You had magazines like Air Classics

and Scale Modeler publish aircraft profiles by an artist named Chivers that gave creative options outside of what came in the box.  From 

Britain also came the Aircraft in Profile series.  These were at first published in an inexpensive pamphlet form, later to be printed into more expensive books.

While giving new options for color schemes, they were somewhat limited to only one page of color profiles plus a three way view.  The other

problem was, at least at my hobby shop, the supply of these was sporadic and limited in number.  

I remember the ARCO-AIRCAM series showing up around 1970 or 1972.

 

They were (are) full of period photographs, and featured a whopping 8 pages of color profiles!  This was augmented by black and white drawings that completed a three way view of the aircraft.

 

I can't remember if I bought mine off the shelf or mail ordered them.  But they seemed to be in more ready supply than the Aircraft in Profile series, and they were more durable than the modeler magazines.  I remember spending hours paging through them, and planning what my next project would be (which always depended on what paint and decals were stashed away on my work table).   

 

You could literally spend a decade building all of the various aircraft illustrated in the color profiles, let alone the period photographs.

 

 

My point in writing this is that these books are still out there on the secondary market (eBay, etc.).  

 

Depending how they have been stored and cared for, they still bright and colorful on the inside and full of information. 

 

Having said that, the covers tend to take on a brownish tinge over time.  I can only assume that has to do with the plastic material

used to coat the covers.  But once you get past that, these are still a good resource for your building projects.

 

As noted, while some of the early editions were printed on glossy paper, others only printed the profile pages that way.  For the photos

that were printed on plain paper, it does take away from the sharpness of them a bit.  But an experienced eye can still pick out 

a lot of interesting details. 

 

 

One oddity in collecting these is the numbering of the volumes, and figuring out what was actually published. 

 

As noted on this webpage, for some reason the US and UK editions had different volume numbers for the same book.  Also, ARCO-AIRCAM also had this odd habit of changing volume numbers for no apparent reason.  (See the webpage.)

https://www.ipms-seattle.org/newsletters/Exchange/Marietta/Marietta 2017-11-4-Osprey Publications Aviation series.pdf

 

There were two books on Luftwaffe camouflage that were originally intended to be volumes 25 and 26, only later to be rechristened as Specials S6 and S8.  This can complicate your search for these books. To add to the confusion they later came out with similar books on the same subject as Specials S10 and S11.  If that were not enough I recently discovered a fifth volume (S19?) that was apparently only sold in the UK.

 

This led to confusion with one of my eBay vendors. From the photo on his listing I was ordering #30 which was on the F-4 Phantom II (Vol. 1) (UK numbering system).  What I got instead was #30 Czechoslovakian Air Force 1918-1970 (US numbering system; see the photo below).  I have yet to get this sorted out with him.

 

There were books that were planned, but never published, such as ones on the Ju-87, Polish Airforce, Regia Aeronautica, and the Netherlands East Indies Air Force. The list attached below is from the back cover of one of their later series books.  Earlier versions had fewer titles and often had different numbering for the volumes. 

 

It appears that in the end there were 44 of their regular series and 16 of their specials.

Another thing I have noticed is that the books in the lower volume numbers tend to be the most numerous for sale.  I suspect as they came out they sold great numbers of books 1 through 15, but after that people slowed in their buying.  Thus the books in the higher range of numbers seem to be harder to find. 

 

Online prices for these books generally range from about $8 to $12.  However, you will find some booksellers who are exceptionally proud of their stock and price them at $35 or higher!  My suggestion is to wait until you find one at a more reasonable price.

 

Do look carefully at any photos that are posted.  Be cautious of broken spines, bent edges, or overly yellowed pages.  I've done fairly well in buying online, but I did have one that came through that I'd prefer not to infect my bookshelf. 

 

So, if you are looking for "new" inspiration for your projects, it may be worth taking a look in the past.  Or, if you are like me, just enjoy them for nostalgia's sake!

 

(Viking not for sale.)

 

 

[Proud Kraut]

I must admit, I don´t know if I have ever seen these books over here back then, they seem to be very informative.  I wasn´t aware of their existence but will look out for them in the future. Thanks very much for taking the time and posting them here.