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There's a great selection of new Trumpeter items covering various subjects coming out this June/July, check them out below and see our amazing range of Trumpeter Model Kits on our Website!

KV-5 Soviet Super Heavy Tank 1:35 Trumpeter The KV-5 was a still-borne dead-end offshoot from the KV project that took its name from the initials of the Defence Commissar Kliment Voroshilov, and were a range of (mostly paper) projects coupling heavy armour with heavy armament. The successful KV-1 and KV-2 are the only variants that saw service due to changing requirements, doctrine and projects falling out of favour at the whim of the higher-ups. The KV-3 and 4 suffered a similar fate, which was never reaching even prototype phase before being passed over in favour of more advanced alternatives. The KV-5 was in the Super-Heavy class, and would have weighed around 100 tons, sporting ridiculously thick armour varying from 120-190mm and a 105mm Zis-6 gun inside its blockhouse of a turret. Soviet doctrine called "Deep Battle" required heavily armoured less-agile tanks that could apply pressure to a besieged enemy without significant fear from the opposition's outbound fire. The KV-5 would have been one of the ultimate answers to that need, with a crew of six servicing the 105mm gun in a large turret, protected by heavy armour. The series was ended with the KV-7 consigned to the "paper project" bin and subsequent developments suffering the same fate after Voroshilov fell out of favour, with the alternatives renamed to JS prefixes after their leader Joseph Stalin. The Kit The kit arrives on 10 Main plastic sprues, 4 sprues for the link and length track, 2 part hull and large main turret casting. All the parts are well moulded and free of flash and defects. A small PE fret and a small decal sheet finish off the contents. Like many a tank model before it construction starts with the running gear. 16 main wheels are mad up, these are 4 part each. Each side wheel has its own hub to attach, then the left/right are joined. There are two idler wheels, and two drive sprockets. The drive sprockets have a separate hub on the put side only. Next up the suspension components (20 parts each side) are added to the main hull. Once these are on the main wheels can be added. four return rollers are added to each side (each with 3 parts). Following this eyes and towing shackles are added to the front of the hull. Construction then moves onto the tracks. Here link & length has been provided by HobbyBoss. There is a main length with induced sag for the top run, a shorter main run for the lower section. Individual sections are then included to go around the wheels at each end. The upper hull can now be attached to the tank. Air intakes/cooling grills are added to the engine deck, the front left hand copula is built up and added. This is followed by the front left hand machine gun turret. The upper plates over the tracks with their attachment brackets can then be added. The modeller now moves onto the large main turret. This is a single moulding which is added to the base plate. The two external hatches and upper gun turret are added followed by the gun mantlet. The gun can elevate using the kit parts. There is a top cover to be added once the mantlet is attached to the tank. The only item to be added then is the main gun which is a single part not the dreaded two part barrel. It should be noted that even though some hatches can be posed open there is no interior in the tank at all. Markings A very small decal sheet just provides red stars and a Cyrillic slogan for each side of the main turret. Conclusion This will build up to make an imposing model. It is a pity these tanks never made it into production as they would have made an imposing sight. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

Sukhoi Su-9U Maiden 1:48 Trumpeter The Su-9 was a late 50s development of the very similar Su-7, but had a delta wing in place of the earlier aircraft's swept wing because it gave better handling at supersonic speeds, and could therefore carry a little extra fuel. Its NATO reporting name was Fishpot, as it was a fighter, or interceptor that was to take off, climb and intercept Allied incursions at high speed. It was an unforgiving aircraft that took constant concentration to fly, and was very thirsty into the bargain, which gave it a limited range even with drop-tanks. The Su-9U was a two-seat trainer that could also be pressed into service if needs be, as it was still fitted with all the same systems as the single-seater. NATO gave it the codename Maiden to fit in with their coding system. Only 50 were built, and the extra cockpit gives the aircraft an ungainly look and probably did little for the short range too. It wasn't the most capable aircraft, and was soon replaced by more modern designs and more lethal weapons systems, with the last operation airframe drawn down in the 1970s. The Kit This is a revised tooling of the Su-9 kit from last year that we reviewed here. It arrives in the standard Trumpeter box, and inside are most of the same sprues as the earlier version, seven in grey styrene, one in clear, a decal sheet and landscape A4 instruction booklet with a separate colour markings sheet on glossy paper. The additional tooling relates to the fuselage, the doubled up cockpit and the extended canopy. Two identical sprues have been included for the cockpit, which seems at odds with every other two-seater cockpit that almost always have differences from each other – online references are a scant for this sub-variant however. The two tubs, which are quite well detailed are built up alongside the exhaust tube with fan face and afterburner unit, plus the nose gear bay, made up from individual panels for detail. The nose gear is also placed inside the bay before fitting, which shouldn't be too problematic due to its sturdy nature. Everything is then trapped between the extended fuselage halves along with the radome/intake bullet, and the wings are built up from two main parts with landing gear bay detail moulded in, plus flaps and ailerons. The main gear is added with its two outer doors, one of which is captive to the leg, the other attaching at its root. The inner doors of both bays are added once the wings are mated to the fuselage slots, the tail fin and elevators also being added with the numerous intakes that dot the sides of the fuselage. The canopy is a two part unit, which is a little disappointing as it means that your only choices are to leave it closed, or cut it into sections with a fine razor saw. Patience will be a virtue there, and adding Blutak to the inside to add some strength will help avoid disaster. It's a shame that it couldn't have been split, but it's not the end of the world. The Maiden was often seen with two tanks on the offset centreline pylons, and these are supplied in halves with additional sway braces and separate pylon parts. Four beam-rider R2-2US Alkali missiles are included in the box for the four wing pylons, which are built from two halves, two separate fins, a tiny exhaust part, and separate pylons. Nose gear bay doors, the long pitot probe and a few other small parts finish the build. Markings The Su-9U was a bare metal tube with wings, so you'll be breaking out your metallic paints without doubt. There are two markings options included on the decal sheet, in the form of Blue 42 and Red 75, plus the usual Red Stars, and a smattering of stencils. There are also a pair of instrument decals, which include just the dials and faces, so detail painting us up to you. The decals are printed anonymously but seem a little better than some of the recent lower profile releases from the Trumpeter stable in terms of register, sharpness and opacity. The thin, glossy carrier film could do with a little trimming around the large aircraft codes, but that's the work of minutes with a sharp blade. Conclusion With my gripes about the cockpit and canopy aside, it's a nice looking model that should build into a nice replica. References are hard to come by online and off, but the information will be out there somewhere. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

Good evenin' folks, from Middle Earth. This was supposed to be my Kittyhawk OV-10A review/build thread, however I'm waiting on some EZ Line getting here and this 109 has been waiting patiently for three-and-a-half years for me to finally notice it, so this afternoon I started hacking at it: Hopefully at the end of the process it will look a little like this... hopefully !! In the meantime, I put the block together to a point where it's ready for a splash of paint and started filling/sanding the myriad of sink holes in the cowl covers. Couldn't resist taping together, just because... The moulding are superbly detailed and the rivets/panel lines very delicate indeed. Also they match exactly the drawings in the old but still good IMHO AeroDetail book from Bunrin-Do, published in the mid 1980's. Stay tuned, folks, I don't think this one will take-up too much time on the bench... or I could be completely wrong and still be working on it in eighteen months time !! AFN Ian.

After the Su-9 "Fishpot-B"(http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234953191-148-sukhoi-su-9-fishpot-b-by-trumpeter-released) and the Su-11 "Fishpot-C" (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234975584-148-sukhoi-su-11-fishpot-c-by-trumpeter-released), Trumpeter is to release in late February 2016 a 1/48th Sukhoi Su-9U "Maiden" - ref.02897 Source: http://www.trumpeter.cn/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=65&l=en Box art V.P.

The first delivery of Trumpeter's 1/200 scale HMS Hood model kit is due in this week! For full details, please see our newsletter.

Having got my build of HMS Phoebe out of the way, it is time to move on to my third and favourite ship; HMS Somerset on which I served from December 1994 to May 1998. Somerset is the 11th Type 23 Frigate (although her yard number was T23-12). I joined the ship whist she was in build in Glasgow and had the privilege of being part of the team that brought the ship to life. I am intending to model Somerset as she was in the period 1997 to 1998 and the starting point is the Trumpeter 1:350 HMS Kent kit and White Ensign (now Atlantic Models) Etched brass. I am hoping that unlike my model of HMS Phoebe that this will be a more straight forward kit build, although there are subtleties in the ships of the class which will no doubt require some attention. I will point these out during the build but I know there will be very little need for scratch building. I need to say at the outset this is my first build at 1:350 scale and I am hoping the larger scale will be “easier” than my previous attempt at 1:600. First steps, building the hull; I had previously started the model with the intention of having a full hulled model and then I abandoned it. But having successfully built Phoebe in the intervening period I have changed my mind and I have decided to convert the model to waterline as I think ship models look best when they are portrayed in their element. Unfortunately this necessitated a serious hack, once the waterline had been established. Before hack: After hack: and cleaned up:

A lot of mods, scratch-building and corrections went into this one (please see list at end of the post), far from perfect but it'll do. Here's a link to the build in the Work In Progress forum: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235000785-trumpeter-172-beriev-be-6/ Here's a list of the mods I ended up making: Engines: Remove ventral nacelle/wing panelling and scratch-build cooling air ducts from plastic-card. Replace kit cowl front with inverted B-29. Modify shape of cowl upper intake mouth to Be-6 shape using plastic-card and filler. Scratch-build cowl intake trunking to prevent see-through. Scratch-build small scoops in cowl mouth and add drain pipes outside this. Use R-3350 from B-29 after removing ignition harness and scratch-building magnetos. Scratch-build new inlet mouth for air intake scoop underneath cowl. Hollow out rearwards facing vent on top of nacelle. Scratch-build rear part of exhaust pipes. Replace kit propellers with B-29 items. Do not use kit parts ? & ?, they represent turboprop exhausts! Wings & Floats: Reduce size of circular inlet in starboard wing, add matching inlet to port wing. Fit fuel-dump pipes and cut way when dry to fill their locating holes as not required. Shorten fuel-dump pipes and re-locate further back along wing chord. Cut rounded tips off pitots. Fill engraved leading edge-lights located mid span. Scratch-build clear landing lights in leading edge near tips. Round off and refine slab-like wing fences near tips. Replace slab-like kit float struts with scratch-built streamlined section items. Drill holes in back of weapons pylons and wing to attach weapon release cables made of wire. Fuselage: Scratch-build left side control column (not supplied with kit). Move pilots’ seats closer to control columns. Remove TV-style antennae represented by solid blocks moulded either side of cockpit. Scratch-build new TV-style antennae and their mounts. Remove port-side vent below cockpit and carve new open-mouth example from scratch. Drill out mouth of air-scoop mounted on canopy. Dill out mouth of air-scoop mounted on rear fuselage. Remove rear of small vent on fuselage rear and replace with open mouth made from cut tube. Replace nose cannon barrel with scratch-built item using hypodermic needles. Replace kit mid-upper turret with B-29 item with modified Soviet style gun mantlet. Replace turret cannon barrels with scratch-built item using hypodermic needles and plastic tube. Raise rear gunner’s seat from keel to correct height to look out of his canopy. Add plastic-card rear wall to rear-gunners compartment to hide seams where tail-plane joins. Scratch-build rear-gunner’s gun-sight. Replace rear cannon barrels with scratch-built item using hypodermic needles and plastic tube. Remove and refine sea-rudder, and add bottom hinge structure. Replace several antenna masts with scratch-built examples (kit ones look like power-poles). Don’t fit APU exhaust part F63, it’s a feature of the turboprop version, but fill in engraved lines marking its location.

With a few builds to clear off the bench at the moment so I'm not getting straight on with this. However, here's the plan for thi very exciting GB. The kit: Trumpeter's 1/72 F105G Thunderchief. Extras: Eduard's "Big Ed" PE detailing set. Others: Hasegawa ground crew and equipment. CMK Vietnam era pilots (standing). In the group chat I heard the fin needs modifying to be accurate so if anyone knows how to go about doing this let me know and depending on how much time I have, I might give it a go.

Technically this is not 100% done given I still need to add the photoetched seatbelts, the mirrors and the navigation lights. But I won't be able to get back to it for a couple weeks (deep into finishing up an Eagle Transporter right now for a convention), so I felt it was decent enough to post it as is. I took on this project as a quickie build to get my modeling mojo back. Lately I didn't feel like working on much of anything as the long projects just seemed to get longer with not much reward to show for it. I also recently picked up Trumpeter's NASA T-38C kit and while it is a good kit, it still needed some modifications and I didn't feel comfortable with doing the work just yet. What I needed was an out of the box build. So, I ended up with this to help my creativity and help me get a handle on what was needed for when I tackle the NASA T-38N I want to build later. I know, the Wolfpack kit is better. But this one fit together very well and looks good. The canopies are the biggest issue, but their shape problems aren't as noticeable with the canopies open all things considered. The rest of the model captures the classic T-38 lines rather nicely and I am more than happy with the results. Tamiya Fine White primer was used and over that I sprayed on Gunze Mr Base White 1000 as a base coat. Before adding the gloss coat of Tamiya Pure White spray TS-26, I used a mechanical pencil to draw on the panel lines and a Sakura Pigma Micron black pen with a .005 tip to accent the control surface splits as a form of pre-shading. It worked reasonably well as you can see it far away, but it is visible up close. The markings I used came from SuperScale sheet 48-905 and I selected this scheme because my local club was having a SAC contest at the next meeting. I finished it for the meeting and it took first place. T-38s were used by the 9th SRW as both proficiency trainers and chase planes and they looked good in the yellow striped livery they wore in the late 1980s. But, the decal sheet I used had some problems as the colors weren't quite right for the yellow, the stripe shape was off and even the USAF titles and national insignias weren't right. So I ended up having to use some proper lettering from other sheets. The national insignias came from a Testors F-5A kit. The decal instructions also had some errors, meaning I had to really scramble for references (which are surprisingly few for these specific planes). But I think I pulled it off. All the markings went down just fine with Microsol. Even the candy stripe decal on the pitot tube isn't quite right as it is too skinny. But, live and learn for next time. One thing I am very happy with though is the off-white coloring of the windscreen border. I know, it should be inside, not outside. But, application of a little 0.7 mm Aizu tape (same as Tamiya, just cut into finer widths) represented it nicely. I brushed on a little thin white glue to keep it from curling up with age. I was going to paint it in a pale tan coloring, but the yellow coloring of the tape looked close enough and I kept it as is. Now I'm on a T-38/ F-5 kick, so expect a few more builds of Northrop's nimble birds in the not too distant future, starting with a NASA T-38 or two.

Trumpeter is to release 1/48th Chengdu J-7G & J-7GB kits - ref. 02861 et 02862 Source: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2804557302 V.P.

Hi guys, I'd like to present you my very first tank model(s) I've ever done. Airbrushed with Vallejo paints and weathered with pastel washes and dry pastels. Some dirt+PVA glue mud applied. As on my previous diorama I've done some photoshop work to blend it with the background. Models are untouched. Here they come, somewhere on the eastern front: Hope you like it

Trumpeter is to release a 1/48th GAIEC Guizhou JL-9 kit - ref. 2879 Source: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2804557302 V.P.

There's a massive list of great new Trumpeter brand kits available to order or preorder right now. For full details, please see our newsletter.

Greetings everyone I thought it about time that I post some of the latest of my ship builds. The trouble is I rarely know when to stop on a ship build, so although they are classed as RFI there is still a bit of tinkering to go. If I waited until I completed them then I would never get them up here! So first up is HMS Bligh, which was a Capatain Class Frigate, on Lend/Lease from the US, originally a Buckley class Destroyer. She is the USS England release from Trumpeter in 1:350. I also used the GMM models etch fret which is excellent and also has conversion parts and notes to convert to a Captain class. I did also buy the WEM boat set for the Captain Class but I have only fitted the life dinghies so far (see second sentance!). Paint is from WEM (when they existed) and the rigging is very fine black thread which was a total . It worked out fine apart from the flag stay(?) which need a bit of tension as it seems a bit flappy! I started this build probably about 8 years ago and it spent many years on the shelf until I felt up to the rigging. The base was once a nice shiney brass but has tarnished over time, maybe need to get the brasso out! Any way here she is! Apologies for the poor photos, I did try to use flash but it kept causing shadows behind, it is only a point and shoot after all! Thanks for looking Bob Edit: Just noticed the missing anchors

At Nürnberg Toy fair 2013. 1/48th MiG-21MF "Fishbed-J" by Trumpeter - ref.02863 Source: http://www.primeportal.net/models/thomas_voigt7/trumpeter/ The test shot For my part I don't see the interest of this future kit as the Eduard MiG-21MF is not only top but readily available and at good price. V.P.

HMS Rodney Trumpeter 1:200 HMS Rodney (pennant number 29) was one of two Nelson-class battleships built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s. The ship was named after Admiral Lord Rodney. The Nelsons were unique in British battleship construction, being the only ships to carry a main armament of 16-inch (406 mm) guns, and the only ones to carry all the main armament forward of the superstructure. As her superstructure was located aft of midships like RN fleet oilers whose names carried the ...'ol' suffix, she was sometimes derisively referred to as "Rodnol". Rodney was laid down on 28 December 1922, the same date as her sister ship Nelson. Construction of the ship was carried out at Birkenhead by Cammell-Laird shipyard, Launched on 17 December 1925 by Princess Mary Viscountess Lascelles after three attempts at cracking the bottle of Imperial Burgundy. Ship trials began in August 1927 and she was commissioned in November 1927, three months behind Nelson. The construction cost £7,617,799. The commissioning Commanding Officer in 1930 was Captain (later Admiral) Andrew Cunningham and Chief Engineering Officer was Lieutenant Commander (later Admiral) George Campbell Ross, son of Sir Archibald Ross, a marine engineer and pioneer of shipbuilding. From commissioning until World War II broke out in September 1939, Rodney spent the entire time with the British Atlantic Fleet or Home Fleet. In 1931, her crew joined the crews of other ships taking part in the Invergordon Mutiny. In October 1938 a prototype type 79Y radar system was installed on Rodney's masthead. She was the first battleship in the Royal Navy to be so equipped. In 1940 the type 79Y radar was replaced with type 279 and UP AA rocket projectors were fitted to 'B' and 'C' turrets, but removed in 1941 after concern about their safety and effectiveness. These were replaced by 35 single 20 mm Oerlikons over the next three years. Following the sinking of armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi on 23rd November 1939 by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Rodney hunted the enemy ships but developed serious rudder defects and was forced to return to Liverpool for steering gear repairs until 31st December. Rodney was damaged by German aircraft at Karmoy, near Stavanger on 9th April 1940, when hit by a 500 kg (1,102 lb) bomb that pierced the upper deck aft of the funnel, but did not explode and exited sideways after striking the armoured deck. On 13th September, she was transferred from Scapa Flow to Rosyth with orders to operate in the English Channel when the German invasion of Britain was expected. In November and December, Rodney was assigned convoy escort duties between Britain and Halifax, Nova Scotia. In January 1941, Rodney joined the hunt for the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, without success. On 16th March, however, while escorting a convoy in the North Atlantic, contact was made with the German battleships, but no battle followed, as the German ships turned away when they realised that they were facing superior firepower. In May 1941, while commanded by Captain Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton, Rodney was ordered to sail to Canada, along with the ocean liner MV Britannic and four destroyers. Rodney was intended to travel on to the United States for repairs and refits; the ship carried a number of passengers, as well as additional materials, such as boiler tubes and anti-aircraft guns intended for use in her refit. Britannic was taking civilians to Canada and would be bringing Canadian troops and airmen back to Britain. It was during this run on 24 May that she was called on by the Admiralty to join in the pursuit of the German battleship Bismarck, leaving the destroyer Eskimo to escort Britannic and taking Somali, Mashona and Tartar with her in the search. Despite Admiral Sir John Tovey in the battleship King George V heading north-west due to a misinterpreted signal from the Admiralty, Dalrymple-Hamilton and his own 'Operations Committee' consisting of Captain Coppinger (newly appointed captain of the battleship Malaya, which was undergoing repairs in New York); Navigator, Lt.Cmdr. Galfrey George Gatacre RAN; USN Naval Attaché, Lt.Cmdr. Joseph Wellings; and Executive Officer, Cmdr. John Grindle, decided that Bismarck was, most likely, headed to Brest and so set course to the East to head Bismarck off, 'at some stages exceeding her designed speed by two knots', despite her engines being in need of an overhaul. On 26 May, she joined up with King George V, as Admiral Tovey had realised his mistake and doubled back. Tovey then sent the three remaining destroyers home because they were low on fuel, and had Rodney fall in behind King George V for the battle against Bismarck the next day. Early on the morning of 27 May 1941, along with the battleship King George V and the cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire, she engaged Bismarck, which had damaged rudder machinery due to a torpedo launched by the aircraft carrier Ark Royal's Swordfish bombers the day before. Unable to manoeuvre and listing to port, Bismarck scored no hits before her forward guns were knocked out, after which Rodney closed with Bismarck until she was firing on a virtually flat trajectory, and spotters could actually follow the shells to the target. One 16-inch shell was tracked from the gun to where it hit the face of Bismarck's turret Bruno and exploded, blowing out the back of the turret, with the resulting splinters killing most of the crew on the bridge. Rodney fired 340 16-inch shells, some in 9-gun broadsides, and 716 6-inch shells during the battle, scoring many hits from a range of under 3,000 yards (2,700 m) and inflicting most of the damage suffered by Bismarck, whose stern was blown off. During the battle, Rodney also fired twelve 24.5-inch (622 mm) torpedoes at Bismarck whilst zig-zagging across her bow; most of the torpedoes missed, but one hit Bismarck and exploded amidships on the starboard side, making Rodney the only battleship in history to have torpedoed another battleship, although Bismarck survived the hit by Rodney's torpedo. Rodney and King George V finally broke off the action; Dorsetshire was then ordered to finish Bismarck off with torpedoes. Rodney and King George V, running short on fuel, were ordered home, and were attacked by Luftwaffe bombers, who sank Mashona, but missed Tartar, with whom the battleships had rejoined. In September 1941, Rodney was stationed with Force H in Gibraltar, escorting convoys to Malta. In November, she returned home and was stationed in Iceland for a month and then underwent refit and repair until May 1942. After the refit, she returned to Force H, where she again escorted Malta convoys and took part in Operation Torch, the invasion of Northwest Africa. She was subsequently involved with the Invasion of Sicily and Salerno. From October 1943, she was in the Home Fleet, and took part in the Normandy invasion in June 1944, where she was controlled from the headquarters ship HMS Largs off Sword Beach. Her tasks included a 30-hour operation firing an occasional shell 22 miles (35 km) inland, to prevent a Panzer division from crossing a bridge. She also destroyed targets at Caen and Alderney. On 7th June 1944 a collision between Rodney and LCT 427 resulted in the loss of 13 Royal Navy seamen. In September 1944, she performed escort duties with a Murmansk convoy. During the entire war Rodney steamed over 156,000 nautical miles (289,000 km) with no engine overhaul after 1942. Because of the frequent machinery problems and the fact that Rodney had not been upgraded to the extent of her sister Nelson, starting in December 1944 she became the flagship of the Home Fleet based at Scapa Flow and rarely left her mooring. HMS Rodney was scrapped at Inverkeithing, starting on 26 March 1948 The Model The kit comes in a very large box with an artists impression of the ship at sea in its distinctive camouflage. In side all the sprues and other parts are contained in four additional boxes, each with a line drawing of the ship on the tops, whilst on side of the main box contains the large single piece hull held in place by two card supports and covered in a cardboard flap. As anyone who has seen this series of ship kits from Trumpeter will testify, they are big, really big. Even this kit of HMS Rodney, not the largest battleship by any means, is still over a metre in length. Although very similar, naturally, to the earlier HMS Nelson kit in the same scale it does feature the specific features of the original. The nicest addition is the catapult on C turret and the superb looking model of the Supermarine Walrus aircraft that sits on it. The ships crane is also a distinguishing feature when comparing the two ships; one is straight, whilst the Rodney's one has a cranked jib. The single piece hull and deck mouldings are pretty darn impressive and must take one heck of a mould to produce. Whilst both parts are nicely detailed, the hull plating is still a little too prominent, as with the Nelson kit, and the deck planking too symmetrical. The first is easily overcome with a little sanding, and once you have some primer and paint on the effect with be further diminished. The planking though, is something you will either have to live with, or buy one of the superb wooden decks that will surely be released for this kit shortly. The rest of the kit comes on twenty two sprues of medium grey styrene, with an additional six parts that are packed separately. There are also ten sheets of etched brass, two lengths of metal rod, a length of chain and a decal sheet. All the parts are beautifully moulded, with no signs of flash or other imperfections, but there are a fair few moulding pips which will add to the cleaning up of parts. Whilst the mouldings for the main and secondary armament have been produce using slide mould technology, the addition of turned brass or aluminium would have been something that could have been included. Theres not even an add-on set that includes these items, as produced for the USS Missouri and the forthcoming HMS Hood releases. Im sure it wont be long before the aftermarket companies will take up the challenge of producing them though. Construction begins with the drilling out of the holes in the main deck that are required to add the different parts required to build the Rodney, rather than the Nelson. Then its onto the assembly of the four searchlights, two light AA directors, six eight barrelled 2pdr PomPoms, ten winches, ten ammunition ready use lockers, two quad .5 machine gun, thirteen 20mm Oerlikon mounts and six 4.7 mounts. Each of these sub-assemblies is made up from a mixture of plastic and brass, some parts of which are still tiny, even in this scale, so patience will still be a virtue during the build. The build then moves onto the two Walrus aircraft, with each one being assembled from twenty one plastic parts plus six brass parts which make up the rigging wires. The six ships boats are also made from both plastic and brass parts with the exception of the two 32ft motor cutters, followed by the two main armament directors, and nine cable reels. The secondary armament, consisting of six twin 6 turrets are now built up, each from separate turret, turret base and two barrels, and then detailed with a variety of vertical ladders and Carley floats. The aircraft handling crane is built up from no less than twenty three parts and is probably as detailed as any plastic assembly can be, with the only PE part being the access ladder and platform. The catapult fitted to X turret for the most part is also all plastic, with the centre section being made up from fifteen parts, the aircraft cradle from an additional six parts and only the folding ends each being made up form two brass sections folded to shape. The big main armament turrets are next to be assembled, with each of the trunnion mounts, the three gun barrels and the trunnion bar being fitted to the turret base along with a bulkhead that sits behind the guns, followed by the fitting of the turret itself. This is then detailed with PE ladders, the rangefinder caps and in the case of B turret a Pom Pom mount, and C turret with the fitting of the catapult, two ships boats and a Walrus. Before fitting the main deck to the hull, there are three bulkheads fitted, to give both strength to the hull and some more support for the deck. With the hull upside down, the two bilge keels, single rudder, two shaft supports, the two metal shafts and the propellers are attached. Turning the hull over, the modeller then fits the multitude of windlasses, cleats, bollards, cable guides onto the foredeck, and ventilation trunks around the front of the B turret barbette. The main breakwater, three two piece anchors, secondary breakwater are then attached, whilst the ventilator trunking for around the rear of B turret barbette are fitted with PE grilles before being glued into position, followed by the third breakwater sections either side of B barbette. The fifty six small mushroom vents, are then fitted around the foredeck, followed by thirty five large vents, two 20mm gun tubs, and numerous deck hatches and lockers. Staying on the foredeck, the torpedo handling mast and two davits are fitted just aft of the first breakwater, followed by the jack staff, eight boat booms, two either side of A turret, two either side of C turret, eight cables reels six winches and two Oerlikons are fitted into the respective positions. Moving right aft, the procedure of fitting the various bollards, cleats, and mushroom vents continues, although there aren't quite so many of them. There is a chimney fitted between X turret and the superstructure and the Ensign staff at the stern. The Queen Annes Mansions, or bridge structure to most of us, is made up from a single piece main section, to which the side platforms, internal bays, four aldis lamps and six binocular stations are fitted. The next bridge level is attached, along with its six supports, and aldis lamp platforms. Some etch details are then added to the tower, with the addition of two inclined ladders, railings, and platform supports, followed by several sub-assemblies, including two Oerlikons, the two AA directors and two more aldis lamps. On the top of the bridge structure, there is a small tower, made up from three plastic parts and six PE parts. There is a tub at the top into which the seven piece Type 284 radar mounting. The tower is further detailed with the fitting of a two piece office to the rear, with associated railings and two other unidentifiable parts to the front. The foremast is the attached to the office platform and fitted with a gaff, railings and topped out with the forward Type 281 radar aerial. The main and secondary fire control directors are then attached to their respective mounts and fitted to the bridge roof, whilst to the rear, two more blocks and support beams are fitted. Further detail, such as the two .5 quad machine guns, yardarms, navigation lights, PE vertical ladders and railings are also attached. The build now moves onto the funnel, which is made from two halves, and internal structural part, base and funnel top surround, onto which the two piece PE funnel cap is attached. Near the funnel base, there are two lookout posts, each with PE support legs , whilst further up there is a double searchlight platform, with searchlight sub-assemblies, fitted to the rear of the funnel, a walkway to the front and then further enhanced with various vertical ladders, railings and the auxiliary exhaust chimneys. Moving further aft and the construction of the main mast begins with the fitting of the two rear legs to the main pole, between which a double platform is fitted, followed by another double platform glued to the rear of the twin support legs. The star platform is mainly plastic, with all the support braces in PE. This is then fitted to the top of the pole along with a large yardarm, two 0.5 quad machine guns, and two searchlights. The top mast is then attached and fitted with the rear Type 281 radar aerial, vertical ladders, and the Type 272 radar lantern, for which you will need to carefully role the PE parts to shape. The build now moves to the superstructure elements, with the fitting of 02 deck to 01, followed a lot more of the smaller, medium and large mushroom ventilators. The aft director block is assembled and topped out with two of the secondary directors and several vertical ladders before being glued into position. To the rear of the superstructure a Type 282 radar array is mounted, whilst in the centre section the cradles for eh ships boats are fitted. On 02 deck, yet more mushroom vents are fitted, along with five large engine intake screens, followed by the mainmast assembly which is finished off with the addition of a large PE inclined ladder. The large inverted cones in the kit are in fact the mountings for the forward pair of eight barrelled PomPoms and are fitted, along with the gun mounting bases and centrally fitted support structure, between where the funnel and bridge assemblies are fitted. The aft PomPom structure is more conventional and is fitted with a director tower before begin attached just forward of the Type 282 array. At the fore end of 02 deck the armoured director hood and control block are glued into position along with two more lookout stations on either side of the bridge position. The bridge and funnel assemblies are now glued into place along with two more intake screens and the large boat handling boom, which is fitted to the mainmast. A smaller deckhouse is fitted to eh aft Pompom platform and topped off with a double Oerlikon platform, whilst to the front of 02 deck three more Oerlikon tubs are fitted. Several areas are now fitted with PE railings. Four of the 4.7 guns, four PomPoms, and eight Oerlikons are fitted, along with the rear main armament director. The ship boats are fitted to their respective cradles and the various Carley floats are attached, as well as the two flag lockers on the bridge. More Carley floats are then fitted around 01 deck, plus ready use lockers, vent hatches and railings. The superstructure is then fitted to the main deck, although the build described above is the way the instructions tell you how to do it, I might add the superstructure first then add all the parts, but its entirely up to you how you build it. With the superstructure in place there are still plenty of smaller items to add, such as more vents, inclined ladders, hatches, the ships dinghy on its support cradle on the port side of the bridge structure, two more Oerlikon tubs and their guns, the rear mounted splinter shield for the aft 4.7 guns and the splinter shield mounted right aft for the rear PomPom. The rear 4.7 guns and PomPom are glued into position, along with two more chimneys, five ready use lockers and two more winches. Finally the 16 turrets are fitted into their respective barbettes foreward, and the 6 turrets fitted to theirs aft. The sturdy display stand provided in the kit comes with a nice name plate with raised lettering which will look great when painted up. Decals For the size of the model, the decal sheet is actually quite small and contains decals that are mostly for the two Walrus aircraft with roundels for all positions along with the fin flashes. The ship only has the two nameplates for the rear quarters and a selection of Union Jacks and White Ensigns in different sizes and in straight or wavy form. They are nicely produced and appear to have a nice thin carrier film and to be in register. Conclusion Well, what can I say, apart from the fact that I never thought wed see a Nelson and Rodney produced in anything other than 1:700 scale, we now have both in 1:200 and the prospect of having both in 1:350 too, soon. This kit has either been produced by Trumpeters A team, or by the likes of Merit International, as they seem to have got the hull shape and details pretty much spot on from what I can see from researching through my R A Burt books, amongst others. Yes the hull plating is a little overdone and the main deck planking doesn't look right, but these are fairly easy to overcome with a bit of elbow grease and a nice wooden deck. You shouldn't need to buy anything else for it, unless you are a real detail masochist like me, and will wait for the new Mk1 Design release specifically for the Rodney, which is due out pretty soon or something from one of the other detail manufacturers. You are limited to building her form the period of 1942 to the end of 1943, after which the catapult was removed and the 4.7 guns had shields fitted, (although, saying that, the shields are in fact included in the kit, just not mentioned in the instructions), but she never got the upgrades that her sister-ship received. Overall though, this kit will build into a superb looking model, that wont look out of place in a museum or collection, particularly with its spectacular colour scheme, if built with a bit of care and attention of course. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

Hello, Colleagues! I want to present you one of my new models. I hope you like it! Thanks for looking.

OK it's just a box art, but from a future 1/72nd Sukhoi Su-27 KUB "(Sea) Flanker-D" kit - ref.01669 In it's 2014-2015 catalogue ( http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234953185-20142015-trumpeter-hobby-boss-and-mrcmerit-catalogues/?p=1510523 ), Trumpeter announced a Sukhoi Su-33UB "(Sea) Flanker-D" - under ref.01669 - but not a Su-27 KUB. The box art Source: http://us.weibo.com/view/user/trumpetermodel/3732508631732848 V.P.

I thought I'd try my idea of an instant diorama. Heh, might need some improvement. As pointed out in my WIP thread here, I found some issues with the kit, but maybe other builders will fare better than me in that regard. I think the rubber wheels was the biggest issue for me. Couldn't fix it. Poor fit. I was unable to figure out how to best paint the shell's warhead. Any color image of this type of shell seemed elusive to me, finding mostly drawings. I thought I'd experiment a little with this model, so I airbrushed on 'Vallejo Russian Green primer' on a single layer, with no other color added afterwards, except a little bit of black Tamiya panel line accent color, which is hardly seen, if seen at all. There is a single layer of Humbrol Clear, over the primer, and after adding panel line accent color and decals, I finally added a layer of diluted Vallejo Matte Varnish. I think in retrospect, that at least having two layers of Humbrol Clear would be ideal before applying a wash, otherwise the surfaces remain a little bit rough. The brass shell casing: thinned 'Vallejo Black Glossy Surface Primer' (for metal colors) + heavily thinned 'Vallejo Air Bright Brass'. Note to self: Some time later, figure out a pipeline for having all photos match the same lighting and the same color, with my photo editing software.

We've got some great new Trumpeter kits available to order now, with highly detailed items from the Trumpeter Aircraft, Military and Ships categories. This month we have the 1/72 MiG-29C Fulcrum (Izdeliye 9.13), 1/35 Russian Object 199 'Ramka' BMPT, a 1/700 Scale USS Tennessee BB-43 1941 and more! For full details, please see our newsletter.

Hello boys, While penibly laboring on the never ending Hobby boss Mirage, I've been doing this week-end thingy, to keep my modjo in shape. Here is the 1/72 Trumpeter LAV 25, out of the box. Airbrushed free-hand camouflage and dusting with Gunze acrylics, a few micro paiting with Hansa acryl inks (brush). And a wash. Hope you'll like ti, comments and critics, as usual, most welcome. Best, Stef (#6) (click images to enlarge)

MiG-21MF Fishbed 1:48 Trumpeter The MiG-21 has probably been produced in greater numbers than any other jet fighter. Over the years they have been many variants. The M in MF stands Modernizirovannyy or Modernised. The F standing for Forsirovannyy or Uprated Engine. In effect the MF was the export version of the MiG-21SM where the S referred to the Sapfir-21/RP-22 radar. As well as an uprated engine an internal 23mm Cannon was provided alongside a considerably updated avionics package. The SM & MF were called the Fishbed-J by NATO. The MF had a greater arsenal of weapons available including the R-60, and later R-60M IR seeking AAM (NATO Name AA-8 Aphid) The Kit It is quite surprising how much plastic Trumpeter manage to get in the smallish box this kit arrives in. There are 10 sprues of grey plastic, a clear sprue, a small sheet of PE and a set of rubber tyres. Construction starts without any surprise in the cockpit area. The ejection seat is built up. This comes as nine parts and builds into a very fair representation of the real thing. The front instrument coaming is built up and the instrument panel added. The ejection seat is added to the cockpit tub, then the sidewalls and rear bulkhead are fitted. The control column is added and the front coaming completes things. Next up the wheel wells are built up. The front well is three parts and you have you add the front wheel/leg at this stage. The main wells are four part affairs and are built now as well. Following this the rear jet pipe is assembled. This has seven parts and again will build up to a good looking representation of the real thing. Once all of these subassemblies are complete they can be added into the main fuselage along with the nose radar bullet and the area in front of the cockpit. Once the main fuselage is closed up various intakes are added to both sides of the rear fuselage. The engine exhaust nozzle can then be made up and added to the main fuselage. The separate one piece vertical fin is then added, along with it's separate rudder. The brake parachute housing can then be added. This is able to be modelled in the pen or closed position. Moving on to the underside of the main fuselage the underside fin is added, along with the internal cannon. The main centre line air brake and two side front airbrakes are added. All the airbrakes can be modelled open. The main gear door on the fuselage are then added along with their retraction struts. The front gear bay doors are also added. A centre line pylon is provided if the modeller intends to use it. This can take either a large or small fuel tanks as supplied in the kit. Construction then moves onto the wings. These are conventional upper/lower parts for each side. The wings are supplied with separate flaps. Two pylons and a landing light are added to each wing. Once the wings are built up they can be attached to the main fuselage. Two PE wing fences are supplied in the kit. The tailplanes are also added at this time. The main landing gear is the next area for the modeller to concentrate on. Two hub parts sandwich the rubber tyres as supplied in the kit (no plastic alternatives are supplied). The prominent brake lines for main gear legs are also supplied. The main gear door which attached to the leg then needs to be fitted, this has to be bent to shape by the modeller. The main gear legs and their retraction struts can then be fitted. The last items to be made up and fitted are the underwing armament. Twin fuel tanks are supplied for each type though I think the large one was only ever fitted on the centre line so the modeller has a spare. References would seem to indicate that if fuel tanks were carried on the wings they were carried on the outer pylons only. UB032 rocket pods are supplied if the modellers wants some air-to-ground weapons. If air-to air is needed then a pair of R-3R and R-3S missiles are included. Markings Here Trumpter have provided markings for six aircraft but provided absolutely NO information about the markings what so ever. The six are; German Democratic Republic Bort #Red 511 USSR Bort #Blue 30 Poland Bort #Grey 6804 Czechoslovakia Bort #Black 8207 Iraqi Air Force - Unknown Aircraft Green/Sand Camo Iraqi Air Force - Unknown Aircraft Brown/Sand Camo Conclusion Whether it's another one to add to your brace of Cold War Soviet metal, or just an impulse buy, there's a lot of plastic in the box, and some nice detail. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

Hi Guys Well, first build post here on Britmodeller. This is Trumpeters rather nice Akatsiya 152mm Howitzer started back in late November and finally finished a couple of weeks ago. This was my first Trumpeter kit and I really enjoyed it. The level of detail was fantastic. I'd collected ref shots to add detail only to find most of it was already there. For the most part it was built OOB but I added a muzzle cover from green stuff along with a tarp on the rear of the turret Hope you enjoy the shots Incidentally, just wondering if anyone will spot the subtle reference? The last step was to add it to a Model Scene grass base set in a photo frame Thanks for looking Andy

BTR-60PB Upgraded Trumpeter 1/35 I thought it was about time I got a new year project started and, since this has been sitting in the stash for over a year, I thought I should get it done. I actually picked it up at the time, simply to use a couple of the decals that came with it on my Akatsiya build, to enable me to put a rather obscure reference on the model that, to this day, nobody has ever noticed. Yes, I am that sad. Fortunately, I love these big 8 wheel APCs so I knew I'd build it eventually and now seems as good a time as any. Not much progress so far. Just a few brackets and suspension mounts on the lower hull The kit comes with a full interior but, even with all the hatches open, you can't see that much, so I'll be leaving the internal details out and building it with everything buttoned up. I did think about getting some weighted resin wheels but decided against it. I want this to be a simple, out the box build to ease into the year. I'll probably try the screw through the bottom of the tyre method to give them a bit of a pressure bulge. The only slight mod I'll be doing is to put some turn on the front wheels which will require a bit of modification to the wheel mounts, but doesn't look to daunting. At least the two hull halves are a good fit, which isn't always the case with moulded sections of this size More soon Andy