Constructed using lessons learned from the famed Essex-class, the class-leading USS Midway started its career wielding World War II props and ended with the latest Navy jets in 1992. It now serves as a museum ship. In between, Midway had numerous configuration changes, including the installation of an angled deck. Trumpeter chose the early, as-launched configuration for its new 1/350 scale USS Midway CV-41 plastic model kit release. While straight decked, this release represents a short-lived pre-Korean War carrier, so many changes would be required to arm it with a deck load of first-generation Navy jets.
Impressive in both size and detail, the kit includes more than 300 photo-etched metal (PE) parts. The large radar antennas can be built from injection-molded parts if you wish. The hangar deck fits well to the huge, one-piece hull; it required just a smear of filler in a couple of spots to hide the seams. You’ll find a metal anchor chain included, but the instructions aren’t particularly helpful with placement, and you won’t see attachment points on the kit. I drilled my own and snipped the chain in two for installation.
I finished the numerous deck fittings on the sprues and then removed and installed them later in the build. Study the instructions carefully because several assembly options depend on how and when you decide to paint parts. Some illustration angles make part orientation difficult to determine.
I found assembling and painting the weapons separately was the best option, and I attached the shields for the 20mm guns while the latter were still on the sprues. The kit includes six each SB2C Helldivers and F4U Corsairs with nice details and options for folded or unfolded wings. The Corsairs should really have four-blade propellers, however. You build the hangar deck galleries from numerous small items and some PE details — the fit is impressive. I would recommend adding the mounts for the lattice work deck edge antennas at this stage to ensure correct alignment when attaching them near the end of the build. Attaching them later and getting the antennas vertical was the hardest part of the build for me.
I painted the PE on the frets and attached the elevators directly to the deck to avoid possible fit issues with the included “stilts” to suspend the elevators from the hangar deck. I waited to attach the latticework PE under the deck-edge elevator near the end of the build because it was so fragile. The deck received paint and decals before I attached it to the hull, and it fit well to the “box” formed by the galleries.
The island is another complex assembly with numerous decks and fragile, hard-to-shape PE. I found the main mast quite fiddly and wish I’d used the attachment points as a jig to better align the cross arms — learn from me!
To paint the large hull, I used Krylon Fusion Matte Glacier Grey, a close match to Tamiya Sky Grey (No. XF-19) used on the galley sides and details, while the hull bottom was painted Tamiya Dull Red (No. TS-33). Tamiya Dark Grey (No. XF-24) covered all deck surfaces. The decals went down nicely, although the deck elevator outlines are difficult to place without cutting them into sections. A coat of clear acrylic flat-sealed everything.
The Trumpeter 1/350 scale USS Midway CV-41 plastic model kit took me just under 90 hours to finish, and while I’m disappointed it isn’t in Korean War configuration, it is a well-executed kit and impressive when completed. However, it is complicated and detailed, so it wouldn’t be suitable for beginners, and some intermediate builders may find it a daunting build.