Reviews of products for scale ship models, including submarines.

Review Author
Bill Kluge
Published on
January 14, 2023
Company
Squadron
Scale
1/350
MSRP
$70.00

Loren Perry’s recent retirement and subsequent closing down of the Gold Medal Models photo etch line produced many long faces in the modeling world, particularly in the model shipbuilding community. For many of us, Gold Medal photo etch was, and is, the “gold standard” for ship detailing sets. When Squadron Hobbies purchased Gold Medal Models remaining stock, and announced resumed production of Gold Medal sets, there was, as they say, much rejoicing.

Book Author(s)
Kerry Jang
Review Author
Gino Dykstra
Published on
January 12, 2023
Company
Seaforth Publishing
MSRP
$28.95

If you’re even just a passing fan of classic sailing ships, you should be familiar with the unforgettable H.M.S. Victory, the famous ship-of-the-line that Lord Nelson commanded at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. More readily recognizable by the novice than even the U.S.S. Constitution, this ship has been a subject for virtually every major model maker in the last century, manufactured in metal, wood or plastic.

Review Author
Bill Kluge
Published on
December 17, 2022
Company
Gallery Models
MSRP
$830.00

Initial Construction

Now that I had the kit in hand, I had to once and for all decide into what time frame to build it. Most of the parts you need to build the ship at any point in her career are in the box, but much of the build will be determined by what point in time you choose to place the ship. I finally decided to depict Yamato during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October, 1944. I had good references that showed her differences at various points in her service history, with illustrations highlighting in particular her deck and superstructure arrangement of small and medium caliber weapons.

Book Author(s)
Witold Koszela
Review Author
Luke R. Bucci, PhD
Published on
December 15, 2022
Company
Stratus
MSRP
$52.00

The author, Wikold Koszela, has written 25+ books on warships – mostly British, United States and German battleships/cruisers, and modern Polish and Soviet Navy warships. Twelve of his publications are in the Kagero Top Drawing series. For this and other books, Witold also supplied the line and color drawings, and they are top quality and very helpful for modelers. I could not find additional information on Witold.

What You Get

You get a hardbound book, 11.875 X 8.5 inches (A4 size), 136 pages – not counting the covers and blank pages fore and aft. Unlike the 1st Volume, there is no 3-D photos or glasses. Cruisers of the Third Reich Volume 2 is loaded with 141 B&W photographs, nine tables and 24 line drawings. The last two pages of the book have four color plates, showing starboard and overhead profiles of Nurnberg, Admiral Hipper, Blucher and Prinz Eugen. After one Title and Table of Contents page, the book is arranged by ships:

Book Author(s)
Witold Koszela
Review Author
Pablo Bauleo
Published on
December 9, 2022
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$24.95

The HMS Furious started its service with the Royal Navy towards the end of WWI, converted from a “great light cruiser” as it combined a flying-platform (for take-off) and one very heavy gun of 18-inches. In the interwar years it was modified and the flying platform was extended to allow both for take-off and landing, including a brief period in which the take off and landing platforms were installed but the superstructure was still in place. Eventually the superstructure was removed and reinstalled on the starboard side, the funnel was rerouted to the side and in this configuration the carrier saw service during WWII mainly with the Home Fleet and in Norwegian waters.

Book Author(s)
Witold Koszela
Review Author
Marc K. Blackburn
Published on
December 3, 2022
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$24.11

Kagero Publications, a publishing house in Poland, has continued their series of top drawings of military equipment. This edition, number 129, covers the Russian cruiser, Moskva. In the spring of 2022, the Moskva made the news. The ship was a casualty in the recent war between the Russia and the Ukraine. The ship was hit by two anti-ship missiles and was sunk, though the Russians denied it. The top drawing series provides two double sides sheets with color profiles and drawings of the ship in 1989 and 1998. The book provides a series of black and white drawings of various parts of the ship. The modeling plans and drawings are crystal clear. Captions and text are in English and Polish.

Review Author
Orlando Reyes
Published on
December 3, 2022
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$47.99

The Motoscafo Da Turismo, also known as "Barchino" was an explosive carrying motor boat used by the Decima MAs (10th. Light Flotilla) as a special assault craft during World War II. This craft served in both in the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Approximately 20 crafts of this type were built during the war. The boats were designed as a "one-way" mission against enemy vessels. The Barchino would explode once it impacted the side of the enemy vessel, as the warhead was strapped to its hull and thus denoted. The operator, in theory, would jump the vessel prior to hitting the enemy vessel. Because in some cases the mission being extremely risky, it was implied that the pilot would not return. The vessel would carry 330 kg. (728 lbs.) Warhead and the warhead would be detonated by a water pressure fuse. This type of attack was used successfully against the HMS York at Suda Bay, Crete. The ship was sunk.

Book Author(s)
Mariusz Motyka
Review Author
Luke R. Bucci, PhD
Published on
November 3, 2022
Company
Kagero Publishing
MSRP
$24.95

Thanks to Casemate Publishing & IPMSUSA for the review copy!

Kagero Publishing, from Poland, in TopDrawings No. 128, details the appearance of the apex of WW2 Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers, the Akizuki class Suzutsuki (Calm Moon) in 1945. The TopDrawings series is designed for modelers to have an accurate reference for detailed appearances of individual ships and aircraft. TopDrawings consist of glossy color covers with matte black & white (B&W) line drawings of the ship, particular features, and equipment, especially armament. But the main attraction is the separate, large foldout of B&W scale drawings – 1/200 in this book. Suzutsuki looks huge (over two feet long) in the foldout, supplying plenty of tiny details I have not seen before. This book is the benchtop companion to the SuperDrawings in 3D book on Suzutsuki, also by Mariusz.

Book Author(s)
Les Brown
Review Author
Ron Bell
Published on
October 25, 2022
Company
Pen and Sword Books Ltd
MSRP
$28.95

This is not really a full history of these ships. Rather it is a brief overview of their design and development. It starts with sections giving brief descriptions of the various classes, then moves into a section on all the products, kit and aftermarket, available to construct models of these ships. After that are twelve pages of some excellent models of the ships in varying scales. The next section deals with camouflage patterns and has four pages of line drawings of assorted patterns then three pages of photos. Then comes several pages on the different modifications made to the ships, listing each ship and what was done to it, and winding up with seven pages of line drawings of sample ships from each class.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
October 17, 2022
Company
Schiffer Publishing
MSRP
$24.99

David Doyle's book on the USS Intrepid [CV-11/CVA-11/CVS-11] is one of the latest entries in the 'Legends of Warfare' series with entries in Ground, Naval, and Aviation. The Legends of Warfare series has expanded rapidly since its 2017 debut in the market with now over 100 titles released. This hard cover series covers a wide variety of monographs at a good price point.