Right off the bat the 2 inserts are going to grab your attention! The color Sheet C is a large 16”x23” profile and top view of the ship as she was in 1944. Additionally, it has a profile showing the armaments for 1944 as well. This color version is obviously to reflect the camouflage scheme and will be the perfect reference for painting. The flip side of this is sheet D, the planes arrangement on the stern deck, which includes 3-view and technical data for the OS2U Kingfisher and SC1 Seahawk aircraft.

Sheet A & B is black and white views of the ship. Sheet A provides armament arrangement and an uncluttered view of the hull without superstructure. It’s an interesting view but it’s duplicated from the profile view so it serves mostly to fill out the page. All 3 views on Sheet B are unique; showing the top view of the hull in 1944, the starboard side profile in 1945, and the port profile in 1945. This is good reference for changes in armament and configuration. Of value to the modeler is going to be the aerials and rigging layout in the profiles.

The book itself is 24 pages in length. 2 pages of history and technical specifications, 3 pages for the hull, 14 pages for the superstructure, 3 pages for artillery, and the last 2 pages for antenna, rangefinders, radar, boats, and trawls. Each sheet specifies 1944 or 1945 arrangements. One of the most helpful elements for the modeler is going to be the aerial runs shown on the details section views. These are often hard to find or hard to pull from pictures given the fine rigging not showing up in pictures often taken at a distance. Scale and section views are clear and helpful. For the modeler looking to show plating on the hull the simplified longitudinal cross-section of Sheet 1 may provide a unique layout to set the ship apart from others.

The intro is done in 2 side by side columns, the leftmost in English and rightmost in Polish. The background of the ship is portrayed in a generalist fashion. The author provides their opinion based on what I would assume is additional information available beyond what is included in the book. For instance, there is a one-sentence paragraph that says “Ultimately, the Japanese forces were crushed, which was largely due to the battleship California.”. A history of the battleship’s task group inclusion is given in sentence form as opposed to in a table and then a table is used to show her battle Star awards. The technical data is standard fare. The one call out I observed was the idiosyncrasy of listing all the armament in millimeters when the US standard is to list the main gun sizes in inches.

Overall, the Top Drawing books are a superb reference for modelers wanting to add detail to their kit. This book will be a valuable resource for a number of modeler needs.

Many Thanks to IPMS and Kagero for the opportunity to review this excellent reference book!