|
On
Deck Number 1: USS Alabama
by Al Adcock; Color by
Don Greer; Illustrated by Richard Hudson
Squadron/Signal
Publications
| Catalogue No.: |
5601 |
| ISBN: |
0-89747-399-X |
| Review Type: |
Book Review |
| Rating: |
Highly Recommended |
Reviewed by Cookie
Sewell
Contents:
|
80 pp. with color plates, illustrations, and
approximately 150 photos |
| Price: |
US$14.95 |
| Advantages: |
Great publication for ship modelers; concentration
on detail during the war and today is excellent; emphasis on small details is of great
value for builders in 1/350 scale |
| Disadvantages: |
only covers one ship (USS Alabama) and not South
Dakota class ships |
| Recommendation: |
for US ship fans, historians, and modelers |
Squadron/Signal is the "modeler's friend" when it comes to inexpensive,
modeler-friendly publications. The "Walk Around" series for aircraft has been
very well received, as has their inherited "Detail and Scale" series which
pioneered the detailed approach to a specific subject. This is the first volume in a new
series which performs the same duties, but for ship modelers. With the rise in the number
of 1/350 scale plastic and resin ship kits, a book like this is a great boon to the
hobbyist, who can both see and understand the "bits" of the actual ship as he
assembles it.
This volume examines BB60, the USS Alabama, as she was during WWII and as she sits today
in Mobile Bay, Alabama, where she has been preserved as a memorial. The ship is shown in
many photos from the National Archives and private sources in her several guises during
the war, and as she sits now with the most current paint scheme. A good number are in
color, but due to lighting and weather conditions, it is recommended that modelers only
use them for general color breakdown and use their best choice of paints, and not the
color photos.
Having personally seen the Alabama 15 years ago, I was impressed with the way the ship has
been kept up. The photos here show that she has not been permitted to become shabby, but
has been put back into a variation on her last wartime paint scheme (Measure 22) with
oversized numbers.
Most of the detail shots cover problem areas for modelers, such as the radar details, the
gun directors, the armament, and some of the deck fittings which tend to get scrimped on
in kits. There are also a large number of thumbnail sketches of the bits and fittings as
well, which aid in seeing how they work and more importantly, how they fit together on the
ship.
Overall this will be a nice series of books, but the hope is that it can cover more than
just preserved vessels, or it will be a somewhat short series!
Thanks to MMD for the review sample.
Review Copyright © 1999 by Cookie Sewell
Page Created 28 March, 1999
Last updated 22 July, 2003
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