SPA Modeler

Ah. Gotcha!

Shape issues aren’t too big a deal to me as long as they’re not heinous or glaring. Like the cowl on my Stuka. To my eye, and the pictures I’ve seen, it’s fine. But it has been lambasted by more than a few builders and review writers. For me, it’s not that evident and it’s a fun kit to build. And the fun, enjoyable part is indeed like Stuart said, the point.

As long as you're not a super rivet counter, they're great kits. And you can get them cheap a lot of the time from Squadron.

Yeah, Trumpeters gaffes tend to get them a bit of a rep online, so they don’t sell as well as they would if they got it right the first time... which often works out to our benefit as modelers with clearance sales...

I’ll say this about Trumpeter. They make a decent kit in my opinion. Taniya makes a superior kit. And Eduard makes a vastly superior kit.

Yes, Trumpeter does make nice kits. As do all the other companies that you listed. And many others as well. But every one of them has their kits that are gems, while others are lumps of coal. Just take each kit on its own merits, no matter who makes it.

Stikpusher wrote:Just take each kit on its own merits, no matter who makes it.

TRUTH.

Trumpeter makes the best F-100 in 1/48.

Well there are only three choices... the Lindberg Hun, which probably dates from the early 60’s or so,.. The Monogram kit, from the late 70’s... or the more recent Trumpeter kit...

In all seriousness, upon reflection I like Carlos’ original point, and don’t mind me, I’m just deeply butthurt over what Trumpeter did to the cockpit in their 1:32 Emil offering, and I’m being really immature about it.

Truth be told, I like Trumpeter’s 1:32 Stuka kit quite a lot, and it is every bit as enjoyable to build for me as my revered Eduard kits. And I especially like how Trumpeter went completely balls-to-the-wall with this kit by providing such an accurate engine in 1:32.

Medicman71 wrote:The ones I've built have been great. A few minor fit issues but nothing I can't handle. Their problem is shape issues. The rivet counters bash them all the time for it. Apparently the A-7, F-111 and Tornadoes have shape issues but to my eye they look fine.

The A-7 being near and dear to my heart...Trumpeter and HobbyBoss A-7's bug the heck out of me.
Almost all of their kits have had something that bugged me, but not enough to not build em! I've done 4 1/72 H/B A-7s, and have another 6 in the stash, plus 2 in 48th, and Trumpy's big 1/32 offering. They are all pretty much the exact same kit, just different sizes.
Truth be told, I've probably built more Trumpy/HobbyBoss kits, than I have Tamiya. I have 45 Trump-H/B kits in the stash...and only 3 Tamiya.