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West Coast Models |
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Corvette Camouflage of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1941 - 1945 |
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by Keith Butterley |
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Reviewed By Ned Barnett, #5544 |
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MSRP: $20.00 USD available at www.warshipbooks.com
This high-quality CD is not in any way formatted like an e-book – in fact, it's not a book at all. Instead, it's a remarkable compilation of photo-reproductions of 15 original Royal Canadian Navy documents that traces the policies regarding Corvette camouflage from the early days of their service through the end of the war (these were selected out of more than 600 documents that were reviewed for possible inclusion here). The document section of this collection also includes a remarkably informative four-page letter on the subject of the application of Western Approaches camouflage to Corvettes, written during the war by serving officer Peter Scott. Taken together, these documents show not only the development of thought and intention regarding the camouflaging of what we mostly know as "Flower Class" corvettes (rendered in 1/72 model form by Revell) - and show that bureaucrats will be bureaucrats (one document expresses the policy that ships on anti-submarine patrol on the North Atlantic should repaint their camouflage every two weeks!).
Along with this fascinating and informative set of documents are two artistic color profiles rendered by noted ship-artist John Lambert - who's illustrated many noteworthy books on RN and RCN camouflage during World War Two. There are also reproductions of three official RCN camouflage diagrams (rough pencil sketches, but official from the time period), that show not only the approved patterns, but what Skippers were given to guide their paint crews (precious little, as it turns out, which helps to explain the diversity of camouflage from ship to ship).
Wrapping this up are 8 photos - the 4 color photos will knock your socks off, they're gorgeous!
All of this comes on a single CD/ROM disk, making the material easy to access and easy to print or reproduce for reference purposes.
I have always planned on building a Flower (though other projects have always taken a front seat); now, with this CD from Warship.com's Keith Butterley, I have all the research I need in order to apply proper, "official" camouflage to whichever corvette I finally decide to model.
Finally, a word about the author of this collection (and a bit of full disclosure) - Keith Butterley is a long-time ship modeler, and for years has sold often hard-to-find reference books on ship modeling, with a special focus on WW-II (and a bias toward Canadian and British subjects often difficult to locate or obtain in the USA). I've done business with Keith for years, as well as trading shipbuilding ideas on the SMML ship-modeling list-server. Along the way, we've become "list-friends" - but that in no way impacted my interest in this collection. As a some-time military historian (at least if you believe the folks at the History Channel), I have great respect for original documentation, and Keith has supplied these in plenty. If you want to go to the source for accuracy, or if you just want to see how military policy is made during wartime, this CD is a good investment. |
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