The 'ShipCraft' series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeller through a brief history of the subject class, highlighting differences between sister-ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring colour profiles and highly detailed line drawings and scale plans. The modelling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the ships, and provides hints on modifying and improving the basic kit. This is followed by an extensive photographic survey of selected high-quality models in a variety of scales, and the book concludes with a section on research references - books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites.The subject of this volume is the seven-ship New Orleans class, probably the US Navy's most hard-fought heavy cruisers of the War - three were sunk in action but others survived massive damage, and by 1945 three out of four of the navy's most decorated ships were of this class. Although designed within treaty limitations, they proved powerful and well-balanced ships, and their unparalleled fighting record makes them popular modelling subjects.

The 'ShipCraft' series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeller through a brief history of the subject class, using scale plans to highlight differences between sisterships and changes in their appearance over their careers, then moves to an extensive photographic survey of either a high-quality model or a surviving example of the ship. Hints on building the model, and on modifying and improving the basic kit, are followed by a section on paint schemes and camouflage, featuring numerous colour profiles and highly-detailed line drawings. The strengths and weaknesses of available kits of the ships are reviewed, and the book concludes with a section on research references - books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites. The subject of this volume is the Fletcher class, often considered the most successful of all American destroyers. Built to the first design that was freed from treaty restrictions, they came into service near the beginning of the Pacific War and fought with distinction through all the most ferocious of the campaigns against Japan. They were constructed in large numbers, with a number of variations, and their popularity is reflected by the wide range of available kits.