Kagero Super Drawings in 3D, FN Battleship Richelieu

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FN Battleship Richelieu
Kagero Super Drawings in 3D

The Richelieu was a French battleship, a scaled-up version of the Dunkerque-class battleships and the lead ship of her class.
Ordered in 1935, and designed to counter the Italian Littorio-class battleships, Richelieu was the first French 35,000-ton battleship and the first modern battleship built after the 1922 Treaty of Washington. She featured a main armament of eight 380 mm guns in two quadruple turrets in forward super-firing positions. Her armour and underwater protection were equal to her contemporaries, except for the Japanese Yamato-class battleships, but she was limited by a weak anti-aircraft artillery suite and optical-only fire control. In trial runs her speed was a little higher than her European contemporaries, and only surpassed by the U.S. Navy's modern, fast battleships.

She left Brest in north-western France for Dakar in French West Africa (modern-day Senegal) in June 1940 to avoid capture in the shipyard where she was nearing completion. She served during World War II, first on the Vichy Regime side, notably fending off a 1940 Allied attempt on Dakar, and then later joined the Allies in 1943. After refitting in New York Navy Yard, she operated with Royal Navy forces in the Indian Ocean in 1944 and 1945. She took part in the return of French forces to Indochina in 1945, and served into the 1960s.

Another book in Kageros series of 3D titles, this follows the standard format, with eight pages giving details of the design origins, build and operational history of the ship. This section also gives information about the weapon, electrical and radar systems. The rest of the book is crammed full with 3D diagrams of every part of the ship. Each drawing is accompanied by a well written descriptive text. The colour scheme and indeed the build state in which the ship is depicted throughout the book is that she wore after the refit in the US and her incorporation into the Home Fleet between November 1943 and December 1945. This scheme differs considerably with that shown on the Trumpeter 1:350 kit. In addition to the book there is a pull out double sided A3 sheet with rear quarters, plus fore and aft views on one side, the other side showing port, starboard and overhead views, all in 1:400 scale.

Conclusion
So, Kagero have done it again with a very useful and well put together book. The diagrams are superb and the text illustrative, just a shame that the pullout diagrams are in 1:400 rather than 1:350. Recommended

Review sample courtesy of