After reading a well-worn copy of Thomas Gallagher’s book The X-Craft Raid, I have been fascinated by mini-subs and the missions they completed or attempted during the Second World War. Three X-craft were to sink the Tirpitz at her berth in Norway, and the mission was moderately successful in that they were able to damage the German battleship in such a way she was out of action until spring of 1944. I learned that many countries produced midget submarines during the war, and Mr. Bauernfeind’s book, Midget Submarines 1939–45 covers these craft comprehensively. Molch, Biber, Seehund (Germany), Kaiten, Ha Series, Kairyu (Japan), Type Ca, Type CC (Italy), X-Craft, XE-Craft, and Welman (United Kingdom); these and more are midget submarines examined in this new Casemate publication.

This is part of a series of books by ShipCraft on warships and I have a few of these and are truly indispensable when building a model of the subject matter.

This book goes into great detail on the iconic USS Constitution 44-gun Frigate from 1797. It was known as Old Ironsides and become famous for its actions during the War of 1812. It is now preserved in Boston Harbor for all to see and visit.

The contents of the book are as follows: Historical Background

• Career Highlights
• Model Products
• Modelmakers’ Showcase
• Appearance
• Selected resources

I found the career highlights to be the most interesting section to me and learnt a lot about a ship I thought I knew well!

The modeling sections were also very informative, and has now led me to look for a wooden kit of this great ship to build using the information held within this book.

Thanks to ICM Holdings for the paint set for review!

ICM has broadened its paint sets into WWII naval colors. Item 3070 is for US Navy WWII, a set of six (6) acrylic matte paints, 12 ml each. The colors are pulled from their extensive line of acrylic paints. Colors are: Black (1002), Wine Red (1048), Dark Blue (1077), Dark Sea Grey (1034), Warm Grey (1031), and Sky Grey (1033). Pricing is around $10 for the set, which is reasonable.

These paints are designed for brush application, but can be thinned 40-60% with water or thinner for airbrushing. The colors can also be mixed with each other to achieve different colors if desired.

They all are matte (flat), and brush on easily to plastic and paper, and are more opaque than other paints, meaning one coat should be sufficient for brushing (see HMS Glorious aircraft carrier photo), even without a primer coat.

Hobby Boss’ 1/700 Type 094 Jin Class SSBN is composed of 18 injection molded styrene parts, 1 photo-etch part and a small decal sheet. One painting example is offered in full color. Assembly is broken down into two steps. Step one brings the hull halves and conning tower parts together. Step adds the conning tower to the upper hull, adds the photo-etch screw and places the supports of the display stand. Overall a very simple model.

This book is part three of a six-book series devoted to the destroyer class ships (DD) of the U.S. Navy from 1901 to 2019. Part Three covers the Somers, Dunlap, Benham, Sims, Benson and Gleaves class ships commissioned from 1937 to 1943, over 120 destroyers designated DD-381 to DD-648. A true labor of love, the author Venner Milewski cites the eminent naval historian Samuel L. Morison, who provided his research material and proofed the original manuscript. Ship histories were researched in the Library of Congress and the Naval History and Heritage Command, and hundreds of photos are provided from the Mariners' Museum in Newport News VA. Of interest to modelers will be 20 pages of original camouflage design sheets for measures 31 and 32, with a summary table by DD number.