Kagero, the prolific Polish publishing company, has released the newest addition to their series, Top Drawings. This is number 86, the German heavy cruiser, Prinz Eugen. Distributed by Casemate Publications, this 28 page paper book provides drawings and a color profile of the famous German cruiser. I imagine most of you know the ship’s history. It accompanied the Bismarck on its first and only voyage, accompanied the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in their famous channel dash, and ended her career in the Baltic.

For those of you unfamiliar with this series, the book provides a series of profile drawings of famous warships, warplanes, and armored fighting vehicles. Other ships in the series include the Japanese battleship Nagato in 1944, a whole host of Soviet warships, HMS Royal Oak, etc. The drawings are 3-D black and black line Illustrations that show the ship from stem to stern with some additional close up drawings of fittings and armament. The back of the book provides a color profile of the ship that is illustrated in the book. The drawings provide the level of detail that ship modelers would appreciate. The production quality, though, is a bit spotty, with some illustrations very crisp and others not so much.

For ship modelers and amateur historians, the level of detail is fantastic. The focus of the book is on what the Cruiser looked like close to the end of the war. If you would like a more detailed technical and operational history, you will have to look elsewhere. There are also no dates associated with the various drawings of profile. I can only assume that given the radar rig and number of anti-aircraft guns, the ship is depicted as late war. In spite of these minor quibbles, it is a nice addition to any modeler’s book collection.

My thanks to IPMS and Casemate Publications for giving me the opportunity to review this book.