Scale: 1:192. Corporal A. G. Sargent, RM, made this model ‘on the mess deck’ of HMS ‘Kent’ (1926) during her second China commission from 1931–34. We know that the model depicts the ship post 1931 because a Fairey Flycatcher aircraft has been added. This waterline model has a solid wood hull and superstructure with applied fittings, which is the most straightforward way of building a model and it is a competent attempt, taking into account the maker’s limitations of working in a cramped environment.

The actual vessel was built at Chatham dockyard, 630 feet in length, 9750 tons displacement, and a complement of between 685 and 710. Although apparently inferior to contemporary cruisers of their size built by foreign navies, the five ships of the ‘County’ class, launched in 1926, in practice equalled, and often proved superior to the opposition. They had excellent sea-keeping qualities, able to sustain their designed speed of 30 knots for long periods and in all weathers. ‘Kent’ served in the Atlantic and Mediterranean in 1940, the Arctic in 1942–43, and Normandy in 1944. She was scrapped in 1948.