Shigeo Koike, known outside Japan for his box art of Hasegawa aircraft kits, is considered by fans to be the finest aviation artist in the world today. And they have a powerful argument: While maintaining an almost photographic accuracy in his subjects, he still manages to keep his works very much in the realm of fine art. In particular, his work with the lighting of the aircraft that he paints is nothing short of masterful, and he takes liberties with color (purple skies!) that sound outrageous but look beautiful when executed by his skilled brush.

Koike has been painting for well over 30 years, and this new book is a collection of his latest work from the Fuji Heavy Industries calendar that he does every year, box art from Hasegawa, and a series of prints. 60 aircraft in all are portrayed from all eras of aviation. The text in the book is fully bilingual, with the original Japanese commentary on each aircraft and painting by renowned aircraft researcher Toshio Fujita translated into English by HLJ's own Scott T. Hards.

This book is a limited release with a print run of 2,500 copies only. Softcover; printed on heavy gloss art paper. 38cm x 28.5cm format. Includes dust jacket and matching cardboard sleeve. Copies ordered from HLJ will also receive, as a special free bonus, a matching cardboard sleeve for the previously published Flying Colors 2 (still available!), which does not include a box or sleeve.