The Japanese Aircraft Carrier Taiho (Super Drawings in 3D)

very good books for detailing.

Hands down the best ship manuals out there

Kagero's Superdrawings in 3D series rolls along with its 41st book (#16041) which covers a ship that, along with their German contemporaries, forms the bread and butter of this series, a Japanese warship of the Second World War. This 8-1/4" x 11-3/4", 88 page, stapled card cover is devoted to the short lived aircraft carrier Taiho, cut down by a submarine torpedo before it could make any impact on the course of the war.The text is very brief, only four partial pages with not even a table of characteristics. The translation seems adequate with some quirks. For example, the carriers superstructure would be called an island in English; it is rendered throughout this book as the conning tower.The computer graphics are stunning as always; one wishes there could have been more. The drawings start at the bow, work aft along the port side galleries, swing around the boat deck at the stern, work forward through the galleries on the starboard, do full justice to the "conning tower", and arrive back at the bow. The drawings were well chosen for the most part with a number of nice touches. Since Taiho has a enclosed bow we are treated to a rare (for this series) interior view of the ground tackle underneath the flight deck. This is also the only time I can recall the paravane chains shown actually rigged to the forefoot. On the other hand the flight deck itself is rather neglected. Unmentioned are the arrestor gear and barriers and what is presumably a windbreak forward. I also would have liked some explanation for the barrier right at the bow. What deck park could it have been protecting?Also, I am pleased to report that the book continues the reinstatement of the unbound foldout with conventional line drawings. We get 1:400 scale five views of the ship and two unscaled perspective drawings. Make sure this is included if buying secondhand.Highly recommended. The Kagero releases of the past two years or so are hard to come by without buying from foreign distributors. This one is worth the trouble.

great

Fantastico.... da avere ASSOLUTAMENTE

これだけ謎の多い艦をよくチョイスしたもんだと、まずは感心。断片的にしか残されていない図面、資料からここまで実体化したのは冒険か？学研の歴史群像シリーズなどの、写真を中心に考証したものとはその姿はかなり趣を異にしています。新資料が出てこない限り、正解は誰にも判らないわけではありますが、あえて気になった点を上げれば、１,高角砲シールドの形状　２,艦首形状でしょうか。高角砲に関しては旧説通りの秋月型駆逐艦の砲塔に類似したものとなっていますが、有名なタウイタウイで撮影された写真では、少なくともその形には見えません。　艦首形状ですが、既存のプラモ、既知の線図、手元にある大鳳乗組員の描かれたイラストとも様子が違います。エンクローズドバウ、装甲飛行甲板という共通点のあるイギリス空母、イラストリアス級に似た感じとなっています。途中のページには、あ号作戦時の舷側迷彩が施されたイラスト（もちろん推測の域を出ませんが）もあったりして、想像と考証を膨らませる素材としては楽しい本になっていると思います。同シリーズの加賀は「日本人でもこんな感じに表現するだろうな」という感じですが、この本は外国人のセンスで見たイメージと感じます。ともあれ、外国の人が大鳳の書籍を出版するだけでも驚きなわけで、これを機会に隠れた資料が出てこないか期待したいと思います。