The Heavy Cruiser Prince Eugen from Kagero
- Details
- Published on Mon, 6 Feb 2012 Peter Buckingham
THE HEAVY CRUISER PRINCE EUGEN
Super Drawings in 3D
Waldemar Goralski and Grzegorz Nowak
Published by Kagero and Distributed by Casemate UK
295 x 210mm Paperback, with separate A3 technical drawing sheet. 90 pages
ISBN 978-83-61220-97-8 £18.99
"While Bismark was the best known battleship of the Kriegsmarine, Prince Eugen was certainly the best known cruiser of World War II. The fact that she survived the war reflects a considerable amount of luck that she and her crew enjoyed. She met her end after the war, far away from Europe – near the Kwajelein Atoll, after the series of nuclear weapon tests. Her wreck remains there to this day". So says the opening paragraph of this beautifully illustrated book published by Kagero and distributed through Casemate UK.
But first of all I must apologise for the crease on the front cover which was inflicted by the delivery company – it shows up in the photograph above, but it certainly doesn't detract from the contents of which much more later. However, I was rather concerned by the sub-title 'Super Drawings in 3D' as, when I examined the photographs, they didn't look like any 3D pictures I had seen before -they were certainly computer generated - and there weren't any anaglyph glasses accompanying the book sample. However, when I checked out the Casemate UK website it definitely states that anaglyph glasses are included! Whether these photographs would 'jump out' at you with anaglyph glasses, I just don't know, but they are just superb as they are.
This really doesn't matter one iota as the book is a ship modeller's dream, especially if you are planning to build the 1/350 kit of the Prince Eugen, or, if you are like me and have the similar sized kit of its sister ship, the Admiral Hipper, in your stash, then this is definitely a 'must have' especially if you are interested in detail.
There are 90 'action packed' pages with the first 15 pages taken up with text describing the following sub-headings which gives the reader a very informed and detailed resumé. Further reading, if required, is mentioned in the Bibliography.
- Design and Construction
- General characteristics of the hull
- Armour protection
- Ship's architecture
- Machinery and propulsion
- Armament
- Torpedo armament
- Radar equipment
- Ship's boats
- Aircraft facilities
- Complement
- Commanders of Prince Eugen
- Operational history
The illustrations (photographs?) really do have to be seen to be believed. There are 164 in total and they have been created by using modern computer technology and detailed technical drawings which results in CG photography giving an impression that you are actually standing in almost every nook and cranny observing the ship from every angle. As an aside, being an Arado Ar196 float plane fan, I was particularly interested in the detail of the catapult and the surrounding area, but whatever your field of interest, it seem to me that this book has it covered and from almost every angle!
I particularly liked the mono technical drawing sheet which was folded loosely inside the front cover. This unfolds in all its glory to a set of 1/350 scale drawings printed on both sides of a sheet of paper measuring 480 x 675mm. One side depicts the full ship with port, starboard and plan views, while the reverse side shows areas such as the stern superstructure, bridge superstructure and funnel together with other sections – 16 separate 1/350 scale drawings which will be invaluable for the modeller.
Other books in this series include, 'Takao', 'Kongo', 'HMS Repulse', 'Battleship Scharnhorst', 'Protected Cruiser Varyag', 'The Battleship Bismarck' and 'The VIIC Type U-Boot'.
So what do we think?
I really liked this book. OK, some of the translated text in the opening 15 page 'overview' could be improved, but for this modeller, 'The Heavy Cruiser Prince Eugen' represents excellent value for money.
Recommended.
Our thanks as ever to Casemate for the review sample. To purchase directly, click THIS link.
Casemate UK, 17, Cheap Street, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5DD
Peter Buckingham
