Tamiya vs. Trumpeter kits- quality comparison

All my models are Tamiya with the exception of a couple of Dragon. Recently I bought my first trumpeter kit and it was the worst experience of my life. With Tamiya and Dragon everything fit with no gaps. With the Trumpeter (Marder I Hotchkiss) I had to trim stuff to make it fit, and in the instructions things seemed to magically change between diagrams. I almost gave up and threw it out at one stage!

I did build the Trumpeter Wessex Wyvern,it was of very good quality and fit.However in general Tamiya fit and ease of construction are really great

I mostly make trumpeter, 9 times out of 10 they are fantastic but perhaps you got an older kit? I have had the usual problems you get with kits with them but nothing that's not easy to fix, just minor issues. They dont come in a box as nice as a Tamiya kit but they are just as good, and I can tell you now their 1/32 Mig-23MF kit is flawless no filler whatsoever exactly as good as Tamiyas F-16 CJ (1/32), I have heard this about many of their newer kits They are mostly superb sounds like you got an exception.

Yes, perhaps I have an older Trumpeter kit.  I'll check for copyright dates on it-  but this one is really lousy quality.  Thanks to all for your comments.

im building an AS-90 from trumpeter and its going together well, i am using the eduard etch as well though.

Building an older Trumpeter P-51D in 1/24, the only problems I've run into were caused by me. Very nicely engineered kit really, I have to imagine their new kits are cutting edge. I think the kit I'm building is from 2004, maybe older. This is my first Trumpeter and it won't be my last.

I will never fault Tamiya really, but I have a hard time spending the money they want for their new kits, namely in the bigger scales (1/32 is my new standard, with as many 1/24 as I can find). I've only built 1/48 Tamiya kits and they were are perfect for fit and their design almost always makes perfect sense. They do make great kits.

It just seems I can get some larger stuff at a decent price from Trumpeter if I look. The 1/24 Mustang set me back $40, I can live with that. At that price I could easily justify buying aftermarket stuff for it. The new 1/32 Tamiya P-51 is what, $130? I simply refuse to pay that.

Trumpeter kit quality is all over the map. In the beginning, they were extremely poor copies of other companies' kits. Their quality increased sometime after 2002, but their old stinkers still pop up from time to time.

I doubt their quality will ever reach current Tamiya kit quality. Maybe on par with early 80s Tamiya quality (maybe). They do have quite a range of subjects that Tamiya doesn't carry though.

I'm currently building the Trumpeter 1/48 Warhawk, and while it is no Tamiya kit, I have found the fit of the pieces to be generally fairly good. The shallow cockpit defies explanation though and that is what I find with Trumpeter in that they sometimes fall short in the research department.

I really enjoyed their T-62 and ASLAV which I thought were wonderful kits and their Abrams wasn't too bad except for the strange little section missing from the front of the turret and some slightly softer details.  I wouldn't say Trumpeter are one of the best ones out there, but they aren't far off and I find their prices generally reflect this so I won't complain about them too much.

I have to say I made the Hobbyboss A-10 and it was perfect iin every aspect, all the lines were there so perhaps you get soft lines only on an occasion. As for Trumpeter in my personal experience it depends what you like to make. For me its cold war and post cold war soviet jets and believe me they are great kits though the box art does not inspire enthusiasm to want to make the kits like a Tamiya kit would, but that's really besides the point. You have to take a risk I guess but their Mig-23's are easily, easily as good as any Tamiya 1/32 jet. In fact in one instance better than a Tamiya kit I have made.

I have to agree with Dean, relative to the HB A-10...as superb build.  Also agree with comments that the newer Trumpy kits are very nice.  The F-100s are nice and I am currently building a 1:32 Trumpy P-51B...a very nice kit.

Hutch

Watch Squadron on "Black Friday".  Last year they had a tremendous sale on everything in stock, and I picked up the 1/32 Tamiya P-51D, for $90 and got free shipping, too!  Don't know if they will do it again, though.

I really like Trumpeter's 1/32 aircraft line as they're making kits that no one else is doing in that scale.

In my experience the fit and engineering can be a challenge at times but nothing that can't be overcome without a little effort.   Their MiG-3 was the best fitting kit I've ever worked on even though the details were a little lacking and in places, just plain primitive.

They truly are hit or miss depending on the age of the kit but they are my preferred source of modern-era Russian jets.   If they don't make what I'm looking for, only then do I look to Tamiya or another manufacturer.

Trumpeter's decals beat Tamiya's everyday, all day and in their newer releases they are including some very nice full-color paint profiles for both the aircraft and the weapons.   Speaking of weapons.. if you get one of their new Russian jets then you'll have more ordnance sprues than you can ever hope to use.  In fact, fully half the box will be ordnance sprues.  

The only real fault I can place on trumpeter is that their cockpits are usually very weak in detail and are oftentimes better replaced with a resin set if available.

I second that, on one of my kits in 1/32 scale the box could not close properly due to the sheer amount of weapons included.

i got a few trumpy kits in the stash and never had a problem with one. their super sabre is a beauty.

Isn't it a little extreme to totally shy away from kits that don't slap together perfectly.

Would you truly give up on Trumpeters just because you had to do a little extra work to get it where you wanted it?

We are modeling, and it should take quite a bit of elbow grease to make that perfect kit, I feel this is the fun part of the hobby.

Good luck with your bird, I hope she turns into something you enjoy.

Personally I find Revell kits are a real challenge as there's always room for extra detail and they never fit too badly but usually require your skills to make a good model of them but you get so much more satisfaction from doing a great job of a difficult kit I personally think, anybody can throw a Tamiya kit together but some of the cheaper kits I believe are better simply because you get a lot more building time from them.

I actually heard that now I cannot confirm but the new Revell kit is apparently a Hasegawa re-box. The twin seat F-18F I know Revell have done this on their releases so I wouldn't be surprised. Might wanna check it out Professor death. I too like to sometimes literally throw a kit together though sometimes an easy build is preferable.

Check out this link, it Compares the two kits.

www.internetmodeler.com/.../hornetduo.php

I'm currently working on a Trumpy f-14 and the Tamiya a-1, While I haven't had any problems with the f-14 the tamiya a-1 fits so good it's practically putting itself together.

Professordeath it's the Revell F model thats supposed to br the Hasegawa Re-box, and its Diamondbacks.

www.revell.com/.../80-4509.html

I had heard thet it was a re-box but I cannot verify it so possibly just gossip. Still it looks like a very good kit.

FWIW, I started Trumpeter's 1/32 MiG-29M last night and it is one sweet kit.   Everything's falling together with no issues yet and the nacelles look like they'll fit on with no major gaps to fill.

True to form, I am replacing the kit cockpit with an Avionix resin set.

It may be a largish model, but it certainly isn't beyond anyone's skills to build it.

I made the Mig 29K excellent kit, massive scope for extra detail. But the Revell 1/32 Mig 29UB seems to actually hAve a little more detail, but the cockpit is rubbish in the Revell kit.

Professor, I'll be posting the MiG WIP in the BiG Russian Jet GB if you want to track it there.  I'll try to get some pics up tonight.

Fulcrum over Flanker?  That's heresy!

Trumpie has it's own drummer. It's a little bit like Academy, although I think they do more of their own models. Some of Trumpie's armor is very good: I did their KV-2 and it was a splendid kit. The ships seem to be all over the map in terms of quality - I've heard decent news about their San Francisco, and hope it's true because I have one.

OK: this may be considered heresy, but I would say that a good Tamiya airplane is as good as you're going to find in that genre. The oldies, raised lines and all, are well shaped and cheap. But anything done in the last twenty years is a worthwhile kit. And their new stuff is simply terrific. I've got a A6M3 and an IL-2 and each looks like a jewel. Their US fighters are very well thought of. Their armor lacks the complexity of Dragon but you can fix that with super-detailing. The fit etc is good and you'll get a perfectly good model with anything done in the last tweny years. But I don't think they've done much recently so DML (and Trumpie for that matter) makes better tanks. So it may be that Tamiya has gotten a lot of mileage out of some pioneering kits of years ago, but that should not blind us to the fact that in the aircraft world they're the best.

I built the 1/24 Bf109 K4 kit and overall I was happy with the built and it turned out better than what I wanted. I did have alot of issues with ejector pin marks and some fit issues. It seemed like the ejector pin marks were everywhere! Places where you don't want them. Aside from that if I had the space I would build another 1/24 scale Trumpy kit. If your prepared for the additional work they aint bad.

Hi.  I've been reading FSM Forums for awhile but have never replied.  I've built the Trumpeter 1/32 TBM-3 Avenger, P-40B/C Tomahawk and the F8F-1 Bearcat.  They are all excelent kits and just loved the Avenger kit.  I also purchased the Trumpeter F6F-3 Hellcat kit and must say this kit is a huge disappointment.  So much so, that I'm not sure if I'll build it.  The body shape is all wrong from the cockpit back to the tail.  The engine cowling shape also seems out of wack.  I am also finishing up the Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire Mk.IXc.  This is fun kit to build with great fit for all parts.  Not sure if their engine panels held by magnets works in practice.  Some of my engine panels are bulging and not wanting to stay put.  

Anyway, that's my two-cents.  BTW, I just got the Z-M 1/32 A1H Skyraider and their fit and engineering seem to be top notch!

Regards,

David