The Ship Model Forum

linux wrote:Thanks for that Dave.


But both these trends have now receded. Maybe there is no new technical information to be published (although someone urgently needs to plug the gap left by the unavailability of the Raven/Roberts/Burt titles). And clearly plastic kit models have receded in popularity.

So should we expect little new information to be forthcoming and little demand for that which does? Maybe we will look on the 1970s and 1980s as the golden age of technical naval writing.

What you say may well be a fact. Sadly no really new material has been forthcoming on British warships particularly post WW2 that has a modelling slant at least in resent times. Is it down to lack of those willing and able to produce this material or the diminishing market? Like you it's a question I�ve pondered but the answer doesn't appear to be so clear-cut. Whilst it may be rather nostalgic to hark back to a more productive time re-warship/modelling publication the truth of the matter is appearances can be more persuasive than fact.
Dave Wooley

No doubt we did go through a 'golden age' during the 70s and 80s. Every year brought a whole new batch of technical and historical books on the subject of warships. One thing may be that after a long series of books the subject matter was getting thinner on the ground, so to speak. Once the great books on the Royal Navy BBs were printed, and a some large volumes on other navy's BBs came out there wasn't a need to revisit those subjects. Crusiers never got quite the same coverage although the RN Crusiers got their volume comparable to the BBs. Foreign language books coverd the French and Italian ships, would be nice to translate them into a single english volume on both navies. German ships got a nice series in english by M. Whitely, plus german language books covered the same subject. I guess what I am trying to say is, there are only so many warships of interest to people and once they get a definitive history written authors are reluctant to duplicate others works. This is especially true in the technical history field. Historical works on ships at war seem to keep coming out as new sources and fresh insights keep coming up. I find a rich new look at WWI and WWII naval warfare and ship histories coming out every year. Could it also be that we are not seeing young people take up the interest in warships from the 1880 to 1945 era like we old timers whose parents fought in WWII?? I find modern warships , post WWII, to lack the interest of the big gun ships. Still there is room for alot more books on WWI and WWII ships. Someone must write a definitive technical and operational history of the Royal Navy's Abdiel class minelayers!!

Bob B.

Thanks for that Dave.

My only connection to this industry is as a consumer! And yes, "Send a Gunboat!" was the reprint I mentioned in my original post.

I would tend to categorize an increasing proportion of recent titles as "historical", dealing with people and events. And I would tend to categorize the more modeller friendly titles as "technical", dealing with function and design. And as you say, it's this latter category that seems to be dying out.

My perception is that a couple of trends came together in the 1970s which led to the prolific publication of technical naval titles. One was the declassification of WW2 documents under the 30 year rule. The other was the popularity of plastic model kits. These combined to produce the great titles of that period.

But both these trends have now receded. Maybe there is no new technical information to be published (although someone urgently needs to plug the gap left by the unavailability of the Raven/Roberts/Burt titles). And clearly plastic kit models have receded in popularity.

So should we expect little new information to be forthcoming and little demand for that which does? Maybe we will look on the 1970s and 1980s as the golden age of technical naval writing.

Forgot to mention that the book "Send in the Gunboats" is a revised edition not a new publication sorry about that.
Dave Wooley

Linux wrote:Thanks for that Terry.

I wasn't aware of a depressed UK publishing industry. But the lack of new technical naval titles is noticeable. Maybe that's a reflection of the depressed model making industry, or of the retirement and passing of the authors who came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s.

There are still plenty of new historical military titles being published, witness the output of Pen & Sword Books. Just not so many technical naval ones. As for Conway, their annual Warship series seems to be all that remains of an excellent tradition.

Sorry to be downcast.

Having spent years close to this industry I think what is taking place could be symptomatic of the times we live in and the change of attitudes of many plus as you say the retirement of some authors that have contributed in the past. However you make no mention of the part the Internet has played in this sea change. Much is available on line for free and that has had a profound effect on peoples/modellers/enthusiasts attitudes to what is required. Personally my fear is and I�ve made this known on a number of occasions, whilst the Internet is now one of the major disseminator of information it can be seen as transient and remains venerable, were as books are forever. So on the one hand you still see a flow of new Naval titles coming on stream like Brian Lavery�s �Churchills Navy� and �Send in the Gun Boat� by Anthony Preston and John Major to name but two. Yet on the other less NEW modeller friendly titles and this is a worrying trend.
Dave Wooley

Thanks for that Terry.

I wasn't aware of a depressed UK publishing industry. But the lack of new technical naval titles is noticeable. Maybe that's a reflection of the depressed model making industry, or of the retirement and passing of the authors who came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s.

There are still plenty of new historical military titles being published, witness the output of Pen & Sword Books. Just not so many technical naval ones. As for Conway, their annual Warship series just serves to remind one of a once prolific output.

Sorry to be downcast.

Dear Linux, I can confirm that Conway's Maritime Books is still alive, as are the Publishers Anova. Don't always trust what Amazon says, and don't be afraid of contacting the Publishers direct....

Any apparent lack of titles is a symptom of the depressed UK publishing industry.....

All best, Terry (Caravellarella).

I'm increasingly concerned about the lack of new titles forthcoming from Conway Maritime Press.

Looking at Amazon UK, only 5 new titles are scheduled to be published. Of those 5, 2 (Conway Plan Portfolios series) were announced maybe a year ago, 2 are regular issues of Model Shipwright, and 1 looks like a reprint. And the next in the AOTS series - The Athenian Trireme (ISBN 1844860256) which was due earlier this year - seems to have been quietly dropped.

Did Conway's absorption into Anova Books finally kill it off?