Trumpeter USS Yorktown 1/350

Comparing Trumpeter ship kits to Hasegawa aircraft kits is a pure case of apples and oranges.

You'll find ship kits contain a huge number of parts compared to aircraft, the Yorktown kit contains some 800+ parts. By the time you add photoetched details, you're well up over 1000 parts easily.

While I typically don't direct folks away from FSM for reviews, we don't have one posted here, so I'll recommend reading Steve Backer's review of the Yorktown on Steelnavy.

http://www.steelnavy.com/trumpeter_yorktown.htm

Mind you, this is NOT the Battle of Midway Yorktown, this is the Essex-class Yorktown II.

If you want the original Yorktown, you'll have to convert a Trumpeter USS Hornet.

Jeff

Aggieman wrote:

Hi everyone, Mostly I build aircraft kits, but I'm considering laying down some big $ to get the Trumpeter 1/350 USS Yorktown kit as well as a bunch of additional aircraft.  Since I've never built a Trumpeter kit, my questions are: 1.  Are Trumpeter kits worthy of this kind of financial expenditure?  Do these kits compare favorably with Tamiya or Hasegawa (which tend to be among the most expensive at least in aircraft kits)? 2.  How detailed are they, in particular the Yorktown kit? Thanks!

Trumpeter's carrier kits are very nice.   I would encourage you to look at the FSM which is just on the newsstands (P-47 on the cover).  It has a very nice build of a Trumpeter carrier as the USS Intrepid by Wally Bigelow.

The kits out of the box are buildable but sorta plain.  They really need aftermarket PE to make them pop.   Much of the fine detail just cannot be done in styrene and needs to be replicated in brass.  This ends up increasing the overall price.   You are also then met with the hundreds of small parts which might not scare you if you were an armor modeler who is used to individual track links.   Things may appear different to an aircraft modeler ...

I do not recommend a big carrier or battleship to a self-professed first time ship modeler due to the number of small parts and additional details which require you to learn new skills.   I typically recommend the Tamiya Fletcher destroyer.   It is not as intimidating,  it is not as expensive, the aftermarket details are available and relatively inexpensive, and it can be painted into some unique camo patterns.   The new Trumpeter destroyer, USS The Sullivans is due out real soon and it may replace the Tam Fletcher as my recommended first kit.  (Mine is on pre-order).

You cannot really compare Trumpeter's large ships with Hasegawa.   Hasegawa has entered that market with their IJN Mikasa.   It too is a very nice piece of work.   It is smaller than a carrier - and inch-for-inch probably more expensive (Victorian-era iron ships have a lot of small "gack").  

Trumpeter's 1:700 scale ships are probably better than the Hasegawa offerings, but the Hasegawa stuff is probably 25 years old.  Trumps are newer.

Comparing the Trump carriers with the large Tam ships (BBs and Enterprise) -- the Tam ships are sort of dated.  They are well engineered for fit.   There are some issues as to where large pieces get broken for decks and the like.

Comparing the small Trump ships with the Tam 1:700 ships -- there are two groups.   The old kits are rather dated.   Many of the 1:700 IJN ships are simplistic.  The Tam 1:700 Hornet/Enterprise is incorrect.  The newer Tam Indianapolis is very well done.  Some of the Tam kits started life under other labels.   The new Trump Hornet is an improvement over the old one -- while some purists knock its bow shape.   The Trump Pittsburgh/Baltimore cruisers are excellent as are many of their more modern ships.

Bottom line - if you are set on doing a Trump carrier as your first ship.  Go for it, but be aware of potential pitfalls in the Dark Side of the hobby.    If you think you want to go into ship modeling deeper -- consider the "learner" kit of the Fletcher (or Sullivans) and develop your skills for the big project.

 

I have sold several of the Trumpeter Carriers at our shop and from my customers feed-back, they love them! I have sold model ships for over eight years and I have never seen a response like this when Trumpeter came on scene. I have to say that the kits are equal to if not superior(in some ways) to Tamiyas model ships. At our hobby shows these kits make an impressive presence on the table. I haven't heard of any build problems and the detail is very impressive. Their 1/350 carriers and Battleships will definatly give other companies a real run for the money. A little competition never hurts and maybe we'll get some new kits of vessels that we've always wanted out of the competition for superiority. Trumpeter has the Hood, North Carolina, and many others in 1/350 that have never been done before. So give Trumpeter a try, I think you'll like it. I think that carrier sold for about $110.00 from us, I'm pretty sure that was the price.

The Trumpeter kits can not be beat for subject matter.  Where else can you get 1/350th scale CV kits in plastic?

To get a great finished product, however, be prepared to invest some time in filling and sanding.  Their fit is no where near what Hasagawa or Tamiya have achieved.  They aren't bad, but require a bit of fitting, testing, and filling afterwards. 

-Devin