Military Model Scene

Title: Midway-class Aircraft Carriers 1945-92
Author: Mark Stille
Publisher: Osprey
ISBN: 978-1-4728-6048-4

This is number 331 in the New Vanguard series from Osprey. A 48-page soft-cover book, with artwork done by Adam Tooby.
This tells the story of the 3 Midway-class carriers, that is the Midway, the Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Coral Sea. They started building these during WW2, as even larger successors to the famous Essex-class fleet carriers, although none were completed before the end of the war. All three remained in service for many years, and just one still here today as a museum ship. All three started out as straight deck carriers, now with armoured flight decks, so unable to launch and recover aircraft at the same time, until a later modification added the angled flight deck, couple with other changes. These are all detailed, and there are some marvellous colour artwork images to illustrate the carriers as they underwent these changes during their career. The design details, the aircraft they carried, their refits and their service careers are all included. From service in the Vietnam war to finally supporting the Gulf War in 1990. These ships were a link between the Fleet carriers of WW2 and the modern Super Carriers.
An interesting read, describing not just the good things about these long serving ships, but also mentioning the poorer elements of their design. Greatly modified over their service careers, these were impressive ships. The book is well illustrated thanks to plenty of archive photos plus the first class artwork that is included. I found it a very interesting read and think that a mix of ship and aircraft enthusiasts/modellers will enjoy this one, also being great value for money.
Thanks to Osprey for the review copy.

Robin