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.

I have previously reviewed a few other ICM kits, and I would say that this one was perhaps the hardest kit I have attempted from them. Let me first say that this kit has the extremely high quality and detail that I have come to expect from ICM. The reason I say this was the hardest for me would have to be the scale of the kit. This is a very nice and well detailed ship in 1:700 scale, which is quite common for ship models. This is the first 1:700 scale ship I have built. The scale itself is not bad at all. The part I have extreme difficulty with is the small details ICM produced for this scale. This was far more detailed than I expected for this scale (more detail than a 1:350 ship I had built previously), and some of those details were just too small for me to manipulate and fit as they are supposed to. Therefore, my completed example had some “strategic omissions” as I gave up on trying to put some items in place.

This is part of a series of books by Kagero on warships and I have a few of these and are truly indispensable when building a model of the subject matter. I was glad I got to review this book now as I am in the middle of building the Very Fire 1/350 Deluxe Edition and it was invaluable in helping with the Photo Etch and finals details on the build.

This book goings into great detail via illustrations of the Imperial Japanese Navy Battleship Yamato as it was in 1945.

The book is lavishly illustrated and includes a few 3D drawings, many of which are stunning.

The illustrations give so much details as one could wish for as a modeler or history buff.

I cannot recommend this book enough as its gives as much details as available on Yamato. Thank you to IPMS USA and Kagero for allowing me to review this great book.

TopDrawings18 is a magnum opus of research and detail. Oddly, but luckily, this older Top Drawings from Kagero Publishing from 2013 was up for review. No complaints, and had to bring out the drool cup again. Kagero's Topdrawings softbacks are legendary for scale modelers. For ship modelers, they are an ultimate reference of appearance at a particular time, or sometimes several timepoints. Glossy color plates from covers and inserts are welcome, but color renditions of more views are found in the hefty companion 3D Drawings books of the same subjects. TopDrawings are specifically handy for scale modeler workbenches. Scale line drawings can be easily resized to fit whatever scale the modeler is building by modern copiers, a boon for scratchbuilding or replacing inaccurate parts.

This TopDrawing of HMS Warspite from WWI to WWII is larger than most, perhaps because of the illustrious career Warspite enjoyed. Even the history is two pages instead of one.

For some time now, I have been wanting to check out a Kagero publication. I see them for sale at the IPMS shows from time to time and I can’t believe I waited this long to get my hands on a copy. The only Aircraft Carrier I have in my stash is the Akagi so I thought this a fitting edition to start with. First of all, I have to say I was gob smacked at the quality of the print. The book is softbound, and contains amazing color images on a full color, gloss A4 sized paper.