Kagero Super Drawings in 3D, USS Arizona

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USS Arizona
Kagero Super Drawings in 3D

The USS Arizona must rank as one of the most famous battleships of all time, not because of any heroic actions, but remembered due to the manner of her demise on that fateful day, 7th December 1941. This new publication from Kagero is in the same format as the previous titles in the series, some of which have been reviewed here on Britmodeller.

The first few pages include the introduction and quite a comprehensive history of the ship plus an interesting analysis of what happened to her at Pearl Harbour, including a couple of theories on how the foreward magazine was penetrated, causing the massive explosion which sank the ship, taking many of her crew with her. The rest of the book is filled with full and half page computer generated renditions of the ship from top to bottom and stem to stern. The details shown will be an absolute boon to any modeller wishing to add as much detail as possible to any of the current kit releases, particularly the big Trumpeter 1:200 where such details have more chance of being seen.

The 3D renditions take up the last 18 pages and look quite weird initially, but really do pop out of the page when using the 3D glasses included. This may be a bit of a gimmick, but it really does work gives a good view of how the ship looked in the metal. Another nice inclusion is a set of plans on both sides of an A3 sheet. One side shows close up drawings of the foreward superstructure, main and secondary control stations on the foremast, the funnel and the searchlight batteries and weapon control stations on the main mast. On the reverse are the main plans in 1:350 scale. These show port side, starboards side, top view, bow and stern on views, and are particularly useful as they show the full rigging, which is not always easy to find.

Conclusion

This isn’t a book for a quick flip and to put it away. I’ve been through it a few times now and am still seeing new details and bits I didn’t see first time round. The forward and history were also very interesting and I learned some information about what may or may not have happened at Pearl. So if you have a kit of the USS Arizona you’d like to build or are just interested in these great ships, then I can highly recommend this book for you.

Review sample courtesy of