The second volume in this series lives up to the promise of the first and like the first is set out by camouflage scheme and a sampling of the ships that wore it. The book contains approx. 200 profile schemes (32 in colour) of various ships. The artwork accompanying the schemes is broken down into three categories: detailed drawings of destroyers etc; less detailed drawings of cruisers; and simple outline drawings of aircraft carriers and battleships. It also includes 15 photos of various ships.

By 1942 the RN had a wide range of schemes in use and many new ships entering service, not least the O-Z class Destroyers and Flower class Corvettes, among others. The schemes covered are as follows: Admiralty class Disruptive Designs; USN Designs for Escort Carriers; Admiralty Special Types; Unofficial Designs;

Special Emergency Fleet Scheme; Western Approaches and it's origins. It's also good to see more on the colours used by the RAN in this period.

Alan Raven has also added addenda and errata from Vol. 1 throughout this book where required. This shows that the series is an evolving one, when new material or errors come to light they are published/corrected. Alan is to be commended for this approach, although one thing I would like to see in future issues would be an index of ships featured in each issue.

As with the first volume, I cannot recommend this highly enough for RN modellers. It is tempting to say that you need two copies, one for constant thumbing and one kept safely away in the bookshelf . This series as I have stated before is best read in conjunction with the author's Camouflage series in Plastic Ship Modeler. In particular for those modellers who are interested in modelling the O-Z class, this book is a must buy. The photos and schemes of the class will prove most helpful and this volume is easier to find than the Ensign on the O-Z Class.

Published by: WR Press
Review copy supplied by Warshipbooks.com

Additional links:
Plastic Ship Modeler
War built Destroyers O-Z class RN destroyers