The beauty of modelling post-World War 2 aircraft can be summed up simply: jets, helicopters and missiles.

Unlike World War 2 where almost everything was prop-driven, the post-war years are the years of the jet. In the post war years the jet has developed into a superlative power source enabling post-war designers to go to places barely imaginable in 1945. Attack helicopters, V/STOL (vertical/short take-off), variable geometry wings - and what weaponry. Modern aircraft are always groaning under a fascinating array of pods and dispensers - heat seeking Sidewinders, anti-radar HARMs, ECM and ESM pods, anti-tank missiles, gun pods and drop tanks. The twelfth in Osprey's Modeling Manual series looks at the attention to detail required to model today's jet aircraft realistically, from Harrier to Hornet, 'Frogfoot' to 'Flanker B'.