Background

The website description of this title, “Written by US Navy expert Mark Stille, this book offers a unique insight into the Standard-type classes of US battleships. It provides a detailed investigation into the histories of each of the warships in the Standard-type battleship classes, the first three of which, the Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Mexico, formed the US Navy's main force in the inter-war period. The Standard-types reflected a new design philosophy: by designing each class to meet common standards of maneuverability and handling, vessels of different classes could operate as a single tactical unit without being limited by the performance of the slowest and least maneuverable ship. At the time of their construction, these ships incorporated the latest design features such as triple gun turrets.

Master Model from Poland specializes in metal turned parts for aftermarket kits. In my personal option they are among the best in the market. I really like their products.

This set is devoted to the USN 16in/45 Mark 1 cannons (with blast bags) and it includes a set of 8 metal barrel which is very nicely detailed down to the holes on the end of the barrels. It can be used for the USS Colorado, USS Maryland and USS West Virginia.

The instruction sheet clearly describes where to cut and how to modify the plastic part to receive the aftermarket detail part. It is a very easy task and any modeler with a bit of experience modifying parts will run into no problems.

This aftermarket set will enhance the looks of your finished model.

Recommended to the average modeler due to the need to replace plastic parts.

I would like to thank Master Model Poland and IPMS/USA for the review sample.

Master Model from Poland specializes in metal turned parts for aftermarket kits. In my personal option they are among the best in the market. I really like their products.

This set is devoted to the HMS Belfast and it includes a set of 12 replacement metal barrels for the 6-in guns and a set of 12 replacement metal barrels for the 4-in guns. The parts are very nicely detailed down to the holes on the end of the barrels. It also includes resin correction parts for the 6-in mountings, including some metal pins to keep the parts in place and to allow variable elevation of the guns.

I have to apologize for not being able to get good pictures of all the parts. They are so diminutive that my camera was not able to focus on them. I have included some screen captures from the manufacturer website in this review.

Thank you to Iwona and Piotr Czerkasow of Master Model and all those at the IPMS Reviewer Corps for providing me an opportunity to examine apply some superb parts for improving ship model kits. Master Model’s recent addition to their Sea Master Series is very welcome. The aftermarket world is greatly enhanced with the products Master Model offers.

ModelArt magazine is a Japanese publication that covers all genres of plastic models. Besides its regular journal articles, it also has special books covering a single subject, in this case IJN Battleships between 1913 and 1945.

Be aware that the full book is in Japanese. There are some very limited English captions, however they are very useful as they list the type of weapon, ship name, timeframe, etc.

This book is divided in 3 main sections.

The first section deals with the weapons of the different battleships, from the heavy cannons in twin and triple turrets, to smaller guns and finally anti-aircraft weapons. Each weapon includes some line drawing(s), period pictures and also an assembled plastic replica, typically in 1/700 scale.

The second section includes photographic, step-by-step builds of the Nagato (in the 1927 and 1944 configurations), the Yamato, the Hyuga, the carrier ship Ise, the Kongo and the Fuso, all of them in 1/700 scale.