The Light Cruiser Yahagi (Super Drawings in 3D) Paperback – September 19, 2015

Good reading on Japanese war ships design and weapons good for modeling of these ships

very good books for detaling

This is the 36th (No 96036) book in Kagero's "Super Drawings in 3D" series. In common with all the others it is a stapled card cover measuring 8-1/4" x 11-3/4". The interior page count is 88 pages, the interior qualifier being necessary because Kagero counts the card covers in the page count for no reason I can discern. Perhaps it is the stapled binding. The subject is an interesting one, a small light cruiser intended to lead destroyer flotillas. The closest allied counterpart would be the British Arethusa class. The ship (and its three sisters) are fairly obscure, designed before but built during the war. Yahagi's claim to fame is that she escorted Yamato on her final fatal sortie and suffered the same fate.There are four pages devoted to the text which is brief but comprehensive enough given the ship's short history. The text is supported by a fairly detailed table of characteristics.The meat of the book are the 64 pages devoted to the computer graphics which show the exterior of the ship from many angles and various distances. These are superb and my complaints are few. I would have loved to have had better views of the torpedo loading arrangements but these are obscured by the aircraft handling deck. Some views underneath this deck would have been welcome. Also, as usual in this series, captioning is not as accurate or comprehensive as it could have been. There are numerous features which had me scratching my head. What were those loudspeaker looking things just forward of the Type 22 radar horns? I'm guessing radar warning receivers of some sort. And there is a wide range of lookout equipment, none of which are identified. The foremast is always referred to as the main mast and the main mast as the aft mast. Does this reflect Japanese (or maybe Polish) terminology? If so, it is confusing to the native English speaker. But these are minor quibbles.There are 18 pages of "anaglyphs", the 3D images that you need special glasses (included) to get the proper effect. These are a waste of space in my opinion but apparently others like them.Very welcome is the return after an absence of many volumes of the unbound foldout with many conventional line drawings in 1/350th scale and some perspective drawings. I hope this return is permanent but the cynic in me is convinced that they are only included because Kagero doesn't expect to publish a Top Drawings book on the Yahagi. In any event I'm happy to have them.Highly recommended for fans of this series. I always enjoy the books in this series about ships that are not well covered (in English at least) elsewhere.

I don't care for the 3D images. Maybe its okay for watching a movie, but not for seeking details and perspectives of different parts of the ship. A waste of space when so many other areas weren't covered. I don't see any benefit.