Trumpeter 1/32 P-40F Soon to be Released??

[VMA131Marine]

35 minutes ago, esarmstrong said:

At first glance, this looks like....     ... junk.  In this case, the box art appears to have been an accurate harbinger.  What exactly is going on at Trumpeter?  Sometimes they release some very nice kits and then at other times, this happens.  It's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

I suspect it comes down to the quality of the plans they use to design the kit. They clearly don't, or at most rarely, do original research into the kit subjects they are producing. Frequently it's possible to identify which plans were used from the errors in the kit. With a few exceptions, they also seem uninterested in getting outside assistance from subject matter experts even when it's offered for free. 

When they have good reference material, they can clearly produce good, even great products. 

[Bill M.]

12 minutes ago, VMA131Marine said:

I suspect it comes down to the quality of the plans they use to design the kit. They clearly don't, or at most rarely, do original research into the kit subjects they are producing. Frequently it's possible to identify which plans were used from the errors in the kit. With a few exceptions, they also seem uninterested in getting outside assistance from subject matter experts even when it's offered for free. 

When they have good reference material, they can clearly produce good, even great products. 

What surprises me is that they apparently did not even look at Derek Bradshaw’s excellent P-40F/L conversion set for the Hasegawa kit offered by GME. Derek took great pains to get it right, and he did get it right. 

Bill M.

[D Bellis]

Any minute now we'll have someone telling us how lucky we are to have plastic kits at all, let alone a (deformed) P-40F... 

 

Grey Matter to the rescue. 

 

D

[VMA131Marine]

6 minutes ago, D Bellis said:

Any minute now we'll have someone telling us how lucky we are to have plastic kits at all, let alone a (deformed) P-40F... 

 

Grey Matter to the rescue. 

 

D

But they already have the conversion for the Hasegawa kit and, depending on the base kit you choose, you can get a short or a long tail F. Trumpeter's kit, even with the dodgy nose, is only good for the first 699 P-40Fs with the short tail, out of over 1300 produced. All 600+ L's had the long tail.

[D Bellis]

Just now, VMA131Marine said:

But they already have the conversion for the Hasegawa kit and, depending on the base kit you choose, you can get a short or a long tail F. Trumpeter's kit, even with the dodgy nose, is only good for the first 699 P-40Fs with the short tail, out of over 1300 produced. All 600+ L's had the long tail.

Exactly my point. 

 

D

[alaninaustria]

19 hours ago, VMA131Marine said:

I suspect it comes down to the quality of the plans they use to design the kit. They clearly don't, or at most rarely, do original research into the kit subjects they are producing. Frequently it's possible to identify which plans were used from the errors in the kit. With a few exceptions, they also seem uninterested in getting outside assistance from subject matter experts even when it's offered for free. 

When they have good reference material, they can clearly produce good, even great products. 

That is the point I don’t get... there is so much enthusiasm for certain subjects here including very detailed and intimate subject knowledge. Yet, there is no interest in tapping into those resources... defies any logic actually... 

Cheers

Alan

Edited November 25, 2018 by alaninaustria

[VMA131Marine]

22 hours ago, alaninaustria said:

defies any logic actually... 

Actually, I think it suggests that their logic is entirely driven by financial considerations. Once they decide on a project, they probably allocate a lean budget for it which eliminates the possibility of detailed research. I'm sure they don't tolerate cost overruns. While other companies are scanning the real subjects with LIDAR and getting the complete set of manufacturing drawings, Trumpeter seems to base most of their aircraft kits on three views and section drawings off the Internet. Obviously, there are exceptions: A-6 Intruder series, MiG-31 series, I think the MiG-3s are quite good. As long people keep buying the kits and oohing and aaahing at the surface detail, I suppose they have no incentive to improve. How else to explain why they put out a new series of 1/48 A-4 Skyhawks without making the leading edge slats, which are always extended on the ground unless they've been pinned up (or wired shut in the case of Blue Angels aircraft), separate parts from the wing.

Edited November 25, 2018 by VMA131Marine

[Gerhard]

9 hours ago, D Bellis said:

Any minute now we'll have someone telling us how lucky we are to have plastic kits at all, let alone a (deformed) P-40F... 

 

Grey Matter to the rescue. 

 

D

Stop complaining, we are lucky to have plastic kits.....oh...wait......

Edited November 25, 2018 by Gerhard

[Rick Griewski]

On November 23, 2018 at 1:58 PM, LSP_K2 said:

Aside from the silly looking box art, I have high hopes for this kit.

 

I think the box art is creative but I did catch myself talking to the plane to give it encouragement to get those wheels up and get going faster. LOL

 

Rick

[LSP_K2]

I'm not really sure who's seeing what, but it looks fine to me.

[MikeMaben]

On 11/24/2018 at 10:32 AM, esarmstrong said:

 What exactly is going on at Trumpeter?  Sometimes they release some very nice kits and then at other times, this happens.  It's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

 

Years ago someone took a tour of Trumpeter with either video or photos of

the tour. They found that they worked in teams. That's why you'll hear references

to some Trumpeter kits as coming from the A team instead of the D team.

Don't know if that's still the case but it sort of explains the difference in results. 

 

 

[alaninaustria]

7 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

 

Years ago someone took a tour of Trumpeter with either video or photos of

the tour. They found that they worked in teams. That's why you'll hear references

to some Trumpeter kits as coming from the A team instead of the D team.

Don't know if that's still the case but it sort of explains the difference in results. 

 

 

...and, when Mr. Song left my sources told me that Trumpeter was left in a vacuum for a while... a key designer and team leader departure can do that to an organization... I will actually prob buy and build this kit... sometimes it is just nice to build a kit for the sake of building one and enjoying the experience!

Cheers

Alan

[ade rowlands]

I dunno but is it a coincidence that the ‘A team kits’ also have 1/48 kits that came out before them from other manufacturers and are also highly regarded in that scale, thinking along the lines of the Accurate Minatures Avengers and Dauntless and Tamiya 262. Not sure if it’s a case of all the Trumpeter A Team kits or not as I am not sure which ones are regarded as A, B or C team kits in their entire catalogue. 

[esarmstrong]

11 minutes ago, ade rowlands said:

I dunno but is it a coincidence that the ‘A team kits’ also have 1/48 kits that came out before them from other manufacturers and are also highly regarded in that scale, thinking along the lines of the Accurate Minatures Avengers and Dauntless and Tamiya 262. Not sure if it’s a case of all the Trumpeter A Team kits or not as I am not sure which ones are regarded as A, B or C team kits in their entire catalogue. 

And don't forget their "A" effort on the Fairey Swordfish that followed on the heels of the Tamiya 1/48 effort.

[phasephantomphixer]

26 minutes ago, esarmstrong said:

And don't forget their "A" effort on the Fairey Swordfish that followed on the heels of the Tamiya 1/48 effort.

An unfortunate case in this matter being my intro. to Trumpeter - Their A-10 and the use of the ancient 1/48 Tamiya kit (oh how I dream they used the Monogram instead...)

Good they used the 1/48 Hasegawa F-8 for their Crusader.

This confirms I will be sending $$ to Grey Matter.

Edited November 26, 2018 by phasephantomphixer
added text