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3D-Wild |
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Reviewed
by Robert Apfelzweig |
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| This subject of this review is a 1:350 upgrade set for the CV-41 USS Midway Aircraft Carrier model kit by Trumpeter. This 3D printed upgrade set is designed by Small Designer (Belgium) and manufactured/distributed by 3D-WILD (USA). | ||||||||
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This "upgrade" is just one component of a package of parts that this company offered. Besides the bridge, the tripod mast and shorter radar mast in front of it, the package included the two inner screw shafts, all 18 5-in. gun mounts in 9 "left-handed" and 9 "right-handed" gunhouses (the only differences being on which side of the roof the sighting hoods were located, but the Trumpeter kit had them all identical), and several upgraded fire control directors. I used the gun mounts and screw shafts because they were corrections, not upgrades, that were useful for the original 1945-46 design. The photos below show the 3D printed island as compared to the (finished) kit part. |
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| CONCLUSIONS | ||||||||
| The problem with the "upgraded"
bridge is that there were no enclosed windows (photos
from 1947 clearly show two levels of enclosed windows
behind wind baffles) and no indication as to which small
photoetch or even plastic items present on the 1945-46
bridge should be retained, or if moved, to which
location. There would also have been modifications to
the radar suite, but no information at all on how this
would differ from that provided by trumpeter in their
photoetch frets.
Another, non-bridge issue is that the flight deck-edge antennas of 1945-46 all seem to have been removed and replaced with what look like many whip antennas for the 1947 upgrade. But again, none were included in the 3D-Wild set and no indication of how many there were and where they should be placed. The major structural differences of 1946-47 were in the lengthening of the bridge forward and moving the fire control director to a new location from the flight to atop the front of the new bridge. Attached are a pair of US Navy photos from 1947 showing these modifications to the bridge. This is 3D-Wild's 1/350 USS Midway CV-41 1946-48 Island and Masts update set. It retails for $90.00 USD and is available exclusively from 3D-Wild. |
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