I’ve been coming to this forum for awhile now, and I have noticed a trend against Trumpeter kits. I have built there 1/24 109 G-2, and am curently working on there K-5 Leopould. If these two kits are any indication, they have plenty of detail, fit well (not perfect, but none do), and seem reasonably acurate.
There only downfall is there price…eg. the dragon leo is $85 , the trumpeter is $140. From what I have seen though is the Trumpeter kit has twice the parts, and beter detail out of the box.
The 109 i did had a few things that needed fixing (engine mount), but was a wonderfull kit. I would put it almost as good as the Academy hornet. (built one of those too).
So why does everyone seem to dislike them so much???
from hearsay, trumpeter kits blow hot and cold. that might be why. but from where im standing here in singapore, they are a pretty good deal. distribution and tariff costs may make the costs escalate in the US though, im not sure.
the only Trumpeter I have built/am in the process of building so far is the HH-65 Dolphin. The kit is adequte with enough detail… a few fit issues but not too bad…
the only problem is I darn near have to clean the parts in gasoline (kidding, I dont go that far) to get paint to adhere… there’s some kind of residue that regular soap doesn’t bite through… I ended up using airbrush soap for acrylics and it does a good job.
This is the second identical HH-65 kit I have built and both have had the problem… really wierd…
Oh, and the main canopy assembly is odd… first it is not totally clear, even future doesn’t make it totally clear… and it is split vertically down the middle which is hard to fill and smooth since it is the clear plastic…
I looked inside a few other Trumpeter kits at the LHS and they looked to be fine so maybe it’s just this model or something… hasn’t turned me off of them… in fact I’m more determined to get it done as this is the only name in town for the HH-65.
Jim,
I’m currently building Trumpeter’s K-5 Leopold myself and am loving it. I can’t
say anything about their other kits because I have no experience with them but,
if the K-5 is any indication there can’t be too much wrong with them.
Ray
Their earlier models were very very crude in their appearance. Details were non existant and they looked more like toys than ships.
HOWEVER<
thier latest offerings are much much better, and I dare say on par with Tamiyas offerings, if not better. I have the Hornet (being converted to the Enterprise,) and the work put into it is superb. Their latest offering of the Nimitz in my personal opinion blows the Tamiya Enterprise out of the water in detail.
Hope this helps
Posts: 156
Just a few pics of my Mitchells, thought you might like em, they are the trumpeter offering with the Hornet kit
I personally like them a lot. I recently finished their F-105G and it went together better than the Tamiya F-4 I’m building now. I’ve also build their P-40B Warhawk and have a F4U-1D Corsair I need to finish sometime.
I haven’t noticed any bias against Trumpeter. Some of their early kits were a little rough, but they seem to get better with each release. The new released 1/48 P-40B and the scheduled 1/48 Vigilante are kits I will certainly buy. At least they are releasing a lot of new kits on a regular basis, unlike Tamiya.
I’m just working on the F41-U 1/32 kit.It looks impressive in the box but it has some oddities,e.g.transparent cowling,working flaps and tailplane.Do we really want it to work? The cockpit is a bit iffy too e.g.there shouldn’t be a floor,the negative instrument panel.And I had the very devil sticking the two sides of the fuselage together.But I guess it’s easy to find faults so I will say that it’s a brave attempt to do something different.But at the U.K.price (£39.95) perhaps we look for greater accuracy. Press on!
just seemed to me like some people think they are inferior. All of my experiences have been good with them (no bad canopies or anything). My lhs proprieter turned me on to the G-2 kit (I wanted it for Gunther Rahll’s markings), and was pleased. Maybe it was me reading things into what i have read , Its easy to do [:)]
I have seen the Zero kit finished it also looks wonderfull, and expect the Karl to be along the lines of the K-5.
I have their Mainstay A-50 kit and the Wildcat both are superb. And the fact that they keep the new stuff coming all the time. And if you notice, many of the kits have been on the Most Wanted lists for years and nobody else caught on!! Cudos to Trumpeter for listening!
Only thing I have heard is that their planes have inaccuracy… cockpit detail in wrong scale to rest of the plane… shapes and sizes off. In the words of another modeller we all know… “youre a modeler, deal with it”
I’ll agree with ya there! on the HH-65 build I am doing for the second time here… the foot pedals are about the size of the steel tubing of a playground jungle gym in scale terms.,… the joystick only as thick as 2 3/4" PVC pipe… but I live with it like I said because they are the only one producing this model…
I even bought the Eduard Super Detail set for this kit and not much more for the cockpit area than seat belts, seat backs and a nicer instrument panel… LOTS of exterior detail!!! which is good because the clear pieces are so cloudy even after Future you can;t see much anyway…
not to sound bitter… I have seen a few other Trumpeter kits out there I am interested in… and am actually trying to get a grass roots campaign together for them to model a LPH Amphib… but the one I have is lacking… even with the Eduard set…
and overall even this build is nice… if you look at it from a distance it is SHARP!!!
Trumpeter’s first offerings were pretty crude when they started out. But they made a lot of progress in a short time and their new offerings are very good. Let’s focus on the present, not the past.
i think the thing that sticks out so far is having a few details off, and cloudy clear stuff. I did notice that on the 109 they did have a few things in the cockpit off, I ended up getting a verlinden upgrade, and doing some scratch building in the engine bay. The clear parts on that kit were crystal. They did include a whole sprue of clear for the fusalage, plus the solid grey (that was kinda cool just in case you screwed up one you had another.)
I have been thinking about there HH-65 kit, I was in the coast guard, and got to ride in one of those once (what a kick in the butt).
I have noticed they go for the less produced kits which is cool.
I have also had problems with the paint not sticking. I curently work in plastics, and from what I know, it is probubly the release agent they use to get the sprues seperated from the molds. We use some silicone based stuff at work sometimes that doesnt come off (not even with acetone or anything else). I have found that a light coat of paint with the airbrush and then a hevier hand coat will cover it and it wont fisheye.
Well at any rate, I like there kits so far, shortcomings and all. And those are easily fixed with a little scratchbuilding and creativity. After all isnt that what this is all about [:D]
I think the Trumpeter kits aren’t bad… like every manufacturer they all have fit issues. I agree with Woodbeck, the instrument panel details are usually undersized. I’ve noticed big improvements with later kits though. The Nimitz that I have drooled over looks to be superior to the Tamiya in detail. Like some of the others Trumpeter is eager to put out kits that you can’t find… I would love to have the 1/32 Flanker… bottom line is I think they are all right.
Well i built two trumpeter kits the T55 ti 4 isreal ones.
(which i think if kit bash with tamiya T55 can produce a good Tiran 4 , a cheaper alternative from buying aftermarket parts to convert a tamiya T55 to ti 4 )
Ok but this was their earlier kits. Also have fits problem. then i bought another challenger kits , which got quite a heavy review of lacking details, however after couple of months they came out with some retool sprue. But not all are fixed. i built it too. Due to price comparison they are cheaper , not thier planes though, i bought some of thier planes but havent built it yet.
In short they improve over time , but as with other good manufacturer improvement may meant higher pricing though.
I do have the problem of paint not sticking to thier plastic , i have to wash them off with a heavy detergent.
well they do have good subject. which is good for us all modellers .
I recently finished their F4U in 1/32 scale and it was not a fun build. Scott and John take note. I found that the sprue attachement points were way to thick and large. Once you detached the part there was considerable clean up. To many sink holes. And, the clear nose cowling. What’s that all about? The worst part was the folded wing assembleys. What a mess! I was not happy about this at all. Finally, the instructions sucked! I found a lot of miss numbered parts, parts that were reveresed, or just plain difficult to figure out. Because of the price and the problems I experienced, I will probably not buy another Trumpeter kit…sorry! The plane turned out OK, in spite of the problems.
I immensly enjoy trumpeter kits. My first one was a mig 15, which was a bit lacking in detail but lots of room for scratchbuilt little bits, which is what I like doing a lot. Then I got the 1/32 MiG 19, and WOW that’s a nice kit. nearly perfect fit, resin included, WOW. and it’s very very accurate too. Now I’m working on a 1/32 MiG 21, and I enjoy that even more than the 19. everything works out perfectly. little touches that make the whole thing much better. and whats this? it’s only $29.99 at greatmodels.com. In the near future I plan on getting the 1/32 f7 [the cranked wings] the 1/32 series, amost the entire thing, and definatly the 1/32 flanker.