The British Royal Navy entered the Second World War with 160 destroyers, ranging from some holdovers from the Great War to recently commissioned vessels of vastly improved capability. In this volume, naval historian Angus Konstam describes the attributes of over a dozen classes of destroyers.

The opening chapter gives a general developmental history of the early destroyers of the Royal Navy, their design and development, roles and uses, weapons and general modifications, as well as their appearance and habitability. The author then goes on to describe, in as much detail as is possible within these limited 48 pages, the various classes of inter-war build vessels from earliest to latest, including:

The Kits

These are Round Two’s re-release of the Lindberg company’s re-release of three old Pyro molds that appeared under many guises, such as the Nina was once boxed as a Barbary Pirate and the Santa Maria appeared as the Mayflower. They were part of a series of kits called “Historic Sailing Ships” that included twelve ships, many actually duplicates with different names. When first released, the kits were of a standard box scale, but “The Ships of Columbus” are touted as being 1/144. In reality the three ships varied in size yet the kits have all the same dimensions, so the scale issue is “iffy” as each ship has a hull about 4.5 inches long.

For ship modelers looking to improve the look of their USS Independence (LCS-2) or USS Coronado (LCS-4) in 1/700 scale, the folks at Master Model now offer a set that includes aerials and a replacement gun barrel that look fantastic. The folks at Cyber-Hobby/Dragon did a great job of representing the kits in plastic, and these brass detail parts add a very nice touch. Modelers with experience handling small items should have no issues with utilizing this set.

Model Art Issue 63 is typical of other Model Art magazines in that it is written entirely in Japanese, with occasional English words, usually in article titles or in captions. The Vessel Model Special is a quarterly issue that focuses on naval subjects. Each issue leads off with either short articles on a finished build or an in depth step-by-step ‘how to’ on the build and painting. The finished model photographs are of high quality in brightness, color, and depth of focus. Advertising comprises the inside covers (and back cover) along with another four pages showing what is available and new, always useful for building up that wish list. I counted 537 photos and drawings (mostly in color) along with eighteen 1/700 scale drawings. You will find throughout this journal, period photographs of the real ships and aircraft involved in battle. Additionally there are a lot of color scrap drawings highlighting details in the Ship Construction series.

Robert R. “Boom” Powell grew up in Long Island, New York, the son of a World War II B-24 Liberator navigator who later became known as a comic book artist (Sheena, Mr. Mystic, Tales From the Crypt, etc.). He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania on an ROTC scholarship before going to Naval flight training. He flew Douglas A-4 Skyhawks in Vietnam and later as an instructor pilot in the Skyhawk. Robert transitioned to the RA-5C Vigilante and ended up as an adversary pilot based at NAS Oceana. He also spent time as an LSO for an RA-5C training squadron for three years. Robert retired as a Commander and transitioned to civilian life flying Boeing 747s for Pan American. He remains an active flier today and often flies WWI replicas at the Virginia Beach Military Aviation Museum. It was in the Navy that Robert began writing where he had a regular column in The Hook. His first book was Ben Drew: The Katzenjammer Ace (2001).