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by Martin J Quinn |
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| HISTORY | |
| Variously designated over her long career as CVB-41,
CVA-41 and CV-41, U.S.S. Midway was completed in late 1945, just
after the end of World War 2. She was the first US Navy aircraft carrier
to have an armored flight deck. At 45,000 tons standard displacement she
was much larger than the previous Essex class ships. Midway
and her two sister ships, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Coral Sea,
were the US Navy’s frontline carriers through the rest of the 1940s and
the early 1950s.
They were the only ships able to operate the Navy’s nuclear bomber, the AJ Savage. Cancellation of the super carrier U.S.S. United States and the design of the new strategic bomber, the A3D Skywarrior, meant that the Midway and her sisters would need to be modernized and the plan was designated SCB-110. The modifications were extensive. Early in the 1950s, the British Royal Navy had devised two crucial improvements in carrier design – the angled deck and the steam catapult. These made operating faster, heavier jet aircraft more practical and much safer. Midway’s reconstruction included a landing deck angled 10.5 degrees to port of the centerline, two C-11 steam catapults with a 211-foot length and a third, shorter C-11 on the angled deck. Midway’s 7” armored waterline belt was removed and the hull was blistered to maintain freeboard. The bow was completely enclosed and the number of 5”/54 and 3”/50 guns reduced. The aft centerline elevator was replaced with a new deck edge elevator aft of the island and the forward centerline elevator was lengthened to accommodate the A3Ds. A new Primary Flight Control station was built onto the after end of the funnel and, after 1960, a new mirror landing aid was added to the port side of the flight deck. Midway’s modernization was completed in October 1957 and her first air group included FJ Furys, A3D Skywarriors, AD Skyraiders, F3H Demons and the new F8U Corsair as well as a detachment of HUP helicopters. The above history comes from the kit instructions. For more information on the Midway, check her Wikipedia page here, or the website Midway Sailor, here. |
| The
Tom's Modelworks USS Midway
As a follow up to their earlier multi-media releases of the US battleships Oklahoma and USS Nevada, Tom's Modelworks has produced; in collaboration with Black Cat Models, Model Monkey, Corsair Armada, Northview Foudry and Starfighter Decals, a 1/700 model of the USS Midway after her 1957 SCB-110 modernization. Enough parts are included to make Midway in all her configurations, up until her second rebuild in 1966. They have also released, separately, a USS Franklin D Roosevelt of the same vintage. The kit is boxed in a sturdy white flip-top box, with a photo of Midway at anchor on the lid. The contents are well packaged, with everything secured in separate plastic bags. This kit is a true multi-media kit, using brass, resin and 3D printed parts. Inside the box you'll find a hull, flight deck, over 20 print rafts of various sizes, photo-etch and decals. While this kit is specific to Midway, Tom's Modelworks sent along some FDR specific parts as well. We will talk about those below. |
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| THE HULL | |||||||||||||||||
| The hull - which was re-mastered by Corsair Armada from what was originally an HP Models hull - appears to scale out very close in length and beam. The hull is one of two resin parts included with the kit. Overall, it is well cast in light gray resin, with decent details. There is some slight over pour on the bottom of the hull, as well some voids that will have to be filled in. On the port side of the model, there are a few areas that will need some cleanup as well. The interior has some ribbed detail along the bulkhead wall, and the hangar doors have details on both sides, but once the flight deck is on, you won't be able to see much. | |||||||||||||||||
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| THE FLIGHT DECK | |||||||||||||||||
| This is the second of two poured resin parts included. It is one large piece, with some over pour on the bottom (or hangar overhead) side. On my sample, the over pour was more pronounced at the bow. Catwalks and some other details are cast integral to the part. There are some recessed lines for the catapults and arresting gear cast as part of the deck. The bridle catchers are the weakest part of the flight deck, but photo-etch replacements - that are apparently more accurate - are included in the photo-etch set. This part was also reworked by Corsair Armada, in part to allow the flight deck to fit properly to the hull. | |||||||||||||||||
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| 3D PRINTED PARTS | |||||||||||||||||
| The rest of the kit is predominately
made up of 3D printed parts, which were designed by the following collaborators:
3D PRINTED PARTS DESIGNED BY Black
Cat Models
3D PRINTED PARTS DESIGNED BY Model
Monkey
3D PRINTED PARTS DESIGNED BY Tom's
Modelworks
3D PRINTED PARTS DESIGNED BY Northview
Foundry
Let's take a look at the parts... |
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| THE ISLAND | |||||||||||||||||
| The island is multi-part affair.
This will help with painting, but also allows for any differences between
Midway and FDR to be captured.
Overall, the island is really well done, with nice details. There are open windows on the various bridge levels, W/T doors, piping and platforms with finely printed supports. In the photos, some print lines are evident, but I don't really see those with the (admittedly old) Mk 1 eyeballs. |
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| WEAPONS | |||||||||||||||||
| There are two print rafts of weapons
included. The first is the 5"/54cal gun mounts. These are listed
a "A" and "B" mounts, so follow the instructions carefully, to place them
in the correct location. Detail is good, with sighting hoods and
hatches printed as part of the mounts.
The second print raft has the 3"/50cal AA guns. These are really well done. You can find a review of these guns, which are available as a separate accessory set, here. |
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| DIRECTORS | |||||||||||||||||
| The kit comes with two different types of directors (and associated platforms): Mk56 and Mk 37. Both are solidly printed, I especially like the radar dishes on the Mk56. The Mk56 directors are on their own print raft, the Mk 37 directors are on a print raft with other parts. | |||||||||||||||||
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| STERN BULKHEAD | |||||||||||||||||
| There is a separate stern bulkhead included. This allows for a high level of detail than if it was cast integral to the hull, or offered as a cast resin part. Thoughtful inclusion and nicely printed. | |||||||||||||||||
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| FLIGHT DECK ELEVATORS | |||||||||||||||||
| The three ships elevators - 1 centerline and 2 deck edge - are included as 3D printed parts. You can pose these either up or down - guides for the deck edge elevators are also included on another print raft. The deck-edge elevators will be dressed up with photo-etch (more on that below). | |||||||||||||||||
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| OTHER PARTS | |||||||||||||||||
| Along with the parts listed above,
there are other parts which are common to both Midway and FDR,
on a number of different print rafts. Included are masts, bow
& stern antennas, platforms with boats, boat booms, crash barrier supports,
flagstaff, director bases, deck edge elevator guides, radar supports, a
flight deck crane and more.
While all the parts are well done, the flight deck crane is especially nice, in my opinion. It has more definition and "mass" than a photo-etch crane, and comes with already attached to the kingpost. The supports for the large radars and the deck-edge elevator guides also stand out. Also include are over 70 3D printed floater net baskets, which will save you the pain and tedium of assembling that many photo-etch baskets - though not only are photo-etch versions included with the model, there is a 3D printed guide tool that will help you bend them into the correct shape. |
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| AIRCRAFT | |||||||||||||||||
| Midway carried the following aircraft as
part of CVG-2 in 1957/58:
F8U-1
The aircraft all look good for this scale. Some of them have folded wings, while others have ordinance hanging off the wings and centerline. There are a total of 14 aircraft included with the kit. That's not a lot of aircraft for such a big deck, so check out the Tom's Modelworks website additional aircraft, so you can fill up that big deck. The aircraft below appear to be common to both Midway and FDR. As there were two separate bags with Midway and FDR specific parts included in my kit (please note: this was for review purposes only. When you purchase a kit, you'll only get what's specific to your purchase), the aircraft in those bags will be shown farther along in the review. |
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| MIDWAY SPECIFIC PARTS | |||||||||||||||||
| Included in the box was a bag of parts labeled "Midway parts". Among these are a mast specific to Midway, jet blast deflectors and aircraft specific to Midway's air group. I especially liked the mast and the blast deflectors. | |||||||||||||||||
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| FDR SPECIFIC PARTS | |||||||||||||||||
| Included in the box was a bag of parts labeled "FDR parts". Among these were masts specific to FDR, jet blast deflectors, an additional level to the island, and aircraft specific to FDR's air group. | |||||||||||||||||
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| PHOTO ETCH PARTS | |||||||||||||||||
| Midway comes with four photo-etch
frets, of varying sizes. Three frets are from TMW, one from White
Ensign Models, which is part of the overall TMW photo-etch empire.
Among the items included are: Railings
The photo-etch is all up to the usual TMW/WEM standards. Use caution, as some of the frets (especially the floater net baskets) are very thin and can easily be distorted, if not handled carefully. |
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| DECALS | |||||||||||||||||
| There are four decal sheet included. Three are labeled as "TMW", on "Corsair Armada". The artwork on the two sheets with the aircraft and flight deck/island numbers are credited to Starfighter Decals. Everything looks well printed and in register. There are enough decals to do the aircraft specific to the kit you are building. | |||||||||||||||||
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| INSTRUCTIONS | |||||||||||||||||
| The instructions, which are 24 page long, are quite extensive. There is a parts manifest that shows the parts broken out by which collaborating partner designed them. The rest of the instructions provide clear step-by-step details on how to assemble your Midway, including many historical photos for reference. At the end of the instructions is an overhead view of the flight deck, for decal placement, and a page showing the painting and decaling guide for the aircraft. Here's a selection of some of the pages from the instructions. | |||||||||||||||||
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| CONCLUSIONS | |||||||||||||||||
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With this release of Midway (and the concurrent release of Franklin D Roosevelt), one of the gaps in USN carriers available 700th scale has been filled. Overall, I think this model of Midway is quite nice. As with their earlier battleship releases, this is an ingenious way to update an older release with new technology. The quality of the 3D printed parts included is very good. There is also a good decal set, a very robust set of instructions and a high quality photo-etch set. In summary, there is a lot to like, and USN carrier fans will, I think, be very happy. I would have, however, liked to see a few more aircraft included, and the price point might be out of range for some modelers budgets. Considering the work that went in to develop and produce this kit, I think the price is reasonable. Recommended, especially for Cold War USN fans. This is Tom's Modelworks’s 1/700 USS Midway, kit number 700-15. The model lists for $205.00 and is available directly from Tom's Modelworks. This is an in-box review only. Your mileage may vary once you commence constructions. |
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