Shipcraft County Class Cruisers

Title: County Class Cruisers
Author: Les Brown
Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-84832-127-4
 
This softcover book on the County Class Cruisers of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy is number 19 in this excellent series of books.
 
Although one ‘Class’, they were further split into the Kent, Norfolk and London Classes.  Among the Kent series, two were funded by the Australian government and named ‘Australia’ and ‘Canberra’.  The first few pages cover the design for the different ships, and identifies the differences between them.  All were completed during the 1920s.  That then leads into a section covering the careers, Refits and Modeifications that all the ships went through during their service history.  As well as giving a comprehensive account, this is very well illustrated with archive photos.  The section is split, so it is divided in two by the other sections describing the models that are available.
 
The first past of this lists all the various models that are available, in a whole variety of scales, and in plastic, resin, and metal.  An interesting range of manufactureres is covered in this survey.  These are followed by a Modellers Showcase, with a number of built examples.  These are all nicely done and illustrate a good variety of coloour schemes, from the dazzle camouflage of the Atlantic to the white and buff colours they wore on the ‘China Station’.  Then you get to 7 pages of colour profiles illustrating the various cam want to choose from for a model before it returns to the second section on the careers of the actual ships.
 
All in all a very complete coverage for any modellers wanting to try their hands at one of these famous heavy cruisers of WW2. Nicely arranged and with some excellent modelling, there is a lot in here to tempt you into having a go for yourself as well as general ship modelling tips that amny will find very useful.
 
Thanks to Seaforth Publishing for the opportunity to have a look at this new book.
 
For details of this and other books by Seaforth Publishing, do check their website.