HobbyMan:
It Will Be Interesting To See How Trumpeter Of China Will React To This Because They Are Ahead Of The Competition.
Disagree. Dragon has already exceeded Trumpeter's quality in the design & production of ship model kits. Trumpeter needs to hustle to catch up.
Trumpeter's ship kits are decidedly hit or miss. Their destroyer USS The Sullivans is mediocre. The walkways are raised sidewalks, the 20mm guns are 10 feet tall, the 40mm guns are sticks on boxes, the grilles on the stacks are atrocious, the torpedo tubes, meh .... Need I go on? Conversely, their DE USS England is much better. Trumpeter's kits are often plagued with gaps and seams.
Dragons destroyer kits; the Buchanan, Laffey, and Gearing are better detailed and more accurate than Trumpeter's destroyer. Dragon includes PE in their kits. With Trumpeter kits they are an aftermarket purchase. Dragon's kits include crewmen -- not so from Trumpeter. Dragon's kits fit well with a minimum of tinkering.
The only rap against Dragon's kits, and if you've built any of their armor kits you may well agree, is their parts count. Why do something in 5 parts when 20 will do.