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Hi all! For this build I'm going large with Trumpeters 1/24 Fw 190D-9. I'd been umm-ing and ahh-ing about getting this kit then I saw one on display at the model show last weekend and it looked fantastic fully built and like I said in my K-4 post I'm very much into my late-war german aircraft at the minute. Upon opening the box I immediately realised I'm going to struggle to find somewhere to display this when I'm done, its some size- though it doesn't look any more complicated than my 32nd scale kits which is nice. I have the Red Fox Studio instrumental panels on the way and some Montex paint masks as I don't want to risk decals silvering on something this size, the scheme is 'Brown 10' of 7./JG26 flown by Waldemar Radener- I was able to find some useful drawings by Arkadiusz Wróbel. And some artwork I found on twitter posted by The Aviation Art of this Dora. Excited to start- thanks for looking in!

Well I had some luck at the model show and picked up the Trumpeter Bf-109K-4 in 1/32 for this GB. Never really been much of a fan of second world war German aircraft but I've been playing a lot of War Thunder and the late Bf109s and Fw-190s are growing on me so looking forward to building this. Ordered the Red Fox studio 3D cockpit decals and a decal sheet by Aims with a few late Bf-109 schemes. The plan is to build this as Ernst-Dieter Bernhard's K-4. Be starting this soon, going to be quite an airbrush intensive paintjob which should be a nice challenge. I'm off work for two weeks so hoping to make nice progress with my builds for the GB. Thanks for looking in!

Well I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for someone to release a new challenger so I set about correcting the available kits. Fun fact #1 If you want a challenger that has been sat for a while, you need the Revell kit, if you want one that has been moving for a while, you need the Trumpeter kit. Anything in between the Revell kit will let you play with the wheel position. The Trumpeter turret is slightly better than the Revell in shape and some details (especially the TOGS housing) it is also slightly taller than the Revell one. To make a Mk2/3 the front upper glacis of both kits need to be altered, (although the kit is correct for an early model, and could be found on later upgraded models, they are rare rather than the norm) the step in the glacis needs to be removed. This is easier to do on the Revell kit as the Trumpeter has some internal bracing, the glacis should be straight all the way across, ( the RHS one is just one that I have been playing with as regards to paints and weathering. I have started the strengthening braces on the front joints, Trumpeter has them depicted on the turret sides but not anywhere else, Revell are totally lacking in any. I also started modifying and rebuilding the rear turret stowage bin. Fun fact #2 The cutouts marked in red on the kits, should only be there for tanks designated to carry a dozer blade otherwise they should be the full width and the moulded on tools were either located to the rear top of the turret or some bin somewhere but not mounted where shown.

So, now that the Peruvian Tucano is almost finished, it´s time for an Ecuadorian counterpart. DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr using either Aztec or Armycast decals DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

I had thought I had finished this GB, but today an item arrived in the post. When I was building the BMP-2 I mentioned that there was a considerable debate about the relative merits of the expensive tracked BMP and the cheaper wheeled BTR, and that in the end it was decided to use far more BTR than BMP. At the time I placed a kit on back order, and here it is. I decided against the original open topped BTR-60 and went instead for a late version of the improved BTR-70, and it seems I should just have time to build it before the GB finishes. Pete

Hi All, Here is my recently completed Type 23 Frigate of the Royal Navy, HMS Westminster using the Trumpeter kit. Built mainly OOB that included a PE fret but unfortunately doesn't have any railings, so the Atlantic Models PE was used too and like London buses, Jon aka @Faraway supplied me with more railings, thanks Jon. Building the plastic wasn't a problem, some nice detail and went together well but the origami needed on some of this 1/700 PE took a bit of concentration and nimbleness. Painted using mainly Colourcoats paints, my go to paints for maritime. Kit decals were nice and thin and settled well. The build was completed by putting her on a simple calm sea base, it's not always roughers ya' know. Build log here: Thanks for popping by. Stuart

Hi, guys... this is my recent conversion build of Trumpeter's 1/32 scale Me262, from the fighter variant to the reconnaissance version. A good kit to build, although most of the parts have a very tight fit. The conversion set is from AIMS, which provides resin and PE parts. With a little care, everything goes togther well with few issues. The biggest problem I had was of my own making... messing up the underside colour paint work, and had to spend a few days reviving it. Paints were Humbrol enamels and the wave-pattern was applied in both variations of the late-war RLM83 Green shade. Some small access hatches were opened up and new access panels for these were made from plastic card and attached with Tamiya tape using Krystal Klear so as to avoid getting adhesive on the paintwork. All of the additional wiring behind the instrument panel, on the engine, in the wheel and camera bays was made from various thicknesses of fuse wire. None of the detail is intended to be 100% perfect, but I wanted to make it a bit more interesting than just OOB. There are no plastic wheels with this model, only black rubber ones, although having said that, they're probably some of the better offerings I've encountered. I scuffed them up and took the glaring black shade away by applying a cream shade oil paint mixed with a little pale grey onto the tyres and into the tread detail. I left this for 10/15 minutes, then removed the excess, which gave the desired effect. The finished kit, showing 'White 29', was supplied direct to III./EJG2 in early 1945 for training purposes; a small batch of similarly-painted 262s had been delivered to the reconnaissance unit NAGr6, but were almost immediately passed to III./EJG2 for their pilots to get familiarised on the type. I hope you like the images below, and if you want to see the YouTube video build instalments, then the last of four is available here and you can navigate backwards from there to the earlier episodes if you choose. Thanks for looking in... ;-). Paul

With the completion of the Batch 1 Type 42 destroyer, thought I'd jump to a Type 23 Frigate - HMS Westminster before doing a Batch 2 Type 42. Usual stuff... Box art Plastic, no waterline here . Instructions, clear sprue for helicopter, decals and some PE. Unfortunately, there are no railings which is a little disappointing. White Ensign do a set PE but the cost to get it be more than the kit and that wasn't cheap, so no railings . 'Cos I'll want to put her onto a sea base, not sure if I'll cut the hull down to waterline or make a hole in the base . Stuart

Bless my soul it’s a Fairey Firefly in 1/48 by Trumpeter Hello and welcome to my next aeroplane build. This kit Was sat at Ian Allen in Birmingham city Center since it’s release in 2018. Collecting dust. She was just out of reach price wise but When the 75% off closing down sale occurred I snapped it up along with a few other choice kits. ( Double edged sword of joy and sadness. I was excited to have it and looked forward to making her. As she wriggled her way to the top of the stash I began to look for builds on line. Lots of “special hobby” Fireflys but no Trumpeter. Then I start reading the reviews. It seems there is a lot of hate for this kit. The more I read the more disappointed I got. The more disappointed I got the more I read and the more I looked at the kit. She looks like a firefly, smells like a firefly, heck it even has firefly written on the box. I was well on the side of the under Dog. Yes there seem to be some issues and I’m not looking to build this under the eye of Sauron or anyone for that matter. I’m just here to have a good time. The issues that are most relevant to me I think I can fix with some old school modelling work / 3D printing and a rather lovely big dollop of enthusiasm. I’ve opened the box now so there’s no going back. Join me if you will in another adventure, I’d be glad for the support. Pawing through the various bashings this poor kit has had I have picked out a few things I’ll definitely be fixing along the way. And probably more as the build unfolds. They are: A new tail rudder. Cloth instead of metal. New wheels. Deeper and more details New wheel wells. Squared and detailed. Detailed cockpit. Just a little more. Nose vent things. You know if you know. Cockpit mirror. Yeah that. That’ll do for starters. I’m confident I’ll get a lovely looking firefly at the end of this but one can never tell. I might just spoon it. Regardless if you’ve ever wanted to build this or ever wondered who on earth would then now’s your chance. Tag along and watch what happens after I open the box. Welcome friends. Johnny.

Something really new in quarter scale as unexpected ! Trumpeter is to release in late June a 1/48th Mil Mi-4 "Hound" kit - ref. 05816 Source: http://www.trumpeter-china.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=232&l=en Box art V.P.

A dusty Challenger 2 from the Iraq war, Trumpeter 1/72. I think I started this during the big and British group build last year but I wouldn't actually weather it until recently. I believe it is a Royal Scots Dragoon Guards vehicle. Trumpeter are pretty rubbish at telling you what their Decals represent especially in 1/72. Built OOO except the fibreglass antenna which are nice but expensive for what they are. Painted with Vallejo Acrylics, some enamel washes, oils , a bit of free hand chipping and pigment powders. And lastly a size comparison with a one Lizzie coin and my recently posted TKS. In terms of size and real world tonnage I think these are the opposite ends of my finished 1/72 collection. Cheers and thanks for looking. Calum

Trumpeter is to release a 1/48th two seats MiG-21UM "Mongol-B" kit - ref. 02865 Source: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2804557302 V.P.

After finishing my Tamiya Archer spg I have decided to come more up to date vehicle so enter the 1/35 Trumpeter AS90 self propelled gun. I found on that well known auction site this Trumpeter AS90 advertised as having been water damaged but complete so having decided to take a chance made a silly offer which was accepted. As the pictures show the box and instruction sheet are water damaged but functional, the parts are still in there bags as was the decal sheet to there shouldn't be any problems. Hoping to scratch the interior as in the past as I was involved with the base overhaul of the AS90 so time will tell if my memory is still any good. If you have an interest please feel free to tag along, this will not be a fast build and as always comments and information welcomed Thanks for stopping by your time is appreciated Stay safe Roger

It was written in the stars. Trumpeter has just announced for late November 2022 in China a 1/48th Mil Mi-8MT/Mi-17 "Hip-H" kit - ref. 05815 Source: http://www.trumpeter-china.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=241 V.P.

Hello all, Picked up Trumpeters 1/72 M2A2 Bradley kit recently after it was announced my country has donated a good number to Ukraine. I know very little about this vehicle, but my understanding is its an effective weapon and will be very helpful in the near future as Ukraine attempts to remove their enemy from their country. I've never built any Armor kits before, so this will be a first for me. I also plan to learn how to apply panel washes and weathering to the finish, something I actively avoid and have little experience with. However, 2 weeks ago was my local IPMS show, and a majority of the tanks there (well over a hundred) had weathering, which looked great. I've started watching some videos on youtube about it, but if anyone has advice, im all ears. Hopefully I can finish this before I have to add ERA

My other build is a kit thats been in the stash for quite a while, picked up for $8 at a local show. USS England, a Buckley class Destroyer Escort, was quite successful serving in the Pacific. Between May 19th and May 31st in 1944, she sank 6 Japanese submarines.

Hello gents, just finished this, my fourth completion of the year: Trumpeter's MiG-3 in 1/32. Quite a simple kit, went together pretty well. Painted in Colourcoats ACUS37 - WW2 Insignia White ANA601 and ACS01 - A.II Blue. Kit decals were used. Thanks for your attention Cheers, Stew

Trumpeter is to release a 1/32nd Douglas TBD-1 Devastator kit in 2016-2017 - ref. 02226 Source: http://www.themodellingnews.com/2015/12/trumpeter-catalogue-2016-2017-lets-see.html#more V.P.

I’ve finally beaten this into some sort of submission, it’s the Magnifier nee Trumpeter US Sports Car issue. It has several well-known detail short comings, mainly in the chassis, engine, suspension areas but having built it I can see why the designers did it this way, for despite my detailing those areas are pretty much invisible on the completed model. The consensus is that the body shape is pretty much spot on but the separate panels don’t fit together very well, this was my experience too. So despite spending quite a bit of time during assembly to try and get a snug fit they still refuse to fit very well. My builds all reflect drivers or cars that I’ve seen race and although I never saw the Ford race in anger I did see Mario drive several times during the Seventies and Eighties so his number 6 car from Le Mans 1966 lets me include the model in the collection. Mario’s car was chassis number 1031 and was one of three cars prepared by Holman Moody for Fords push to win Le Mans. These cars differed in details from the three prepared by Shelby Racing and certainly different to the car in the kit which is a mish mash of MKII & MKIIB cars along with a good pinch of Trumpeter imagination. The colour scheme is also a change to all those Ken Miles and Bruce Mclaren finished models. Unfortunately, the car retired after 6 hours with a blown engine cutting short Mario’s first visit to La Sarthe. Anyway, here’s a couple of pictures of the real thing and one of Mario as a young gun, 26 years old fresh to Le Mans after success in USAC stock cars. The model is finished in an approximation of Ford Night Mist Blue using Halfords rattle can Nissan Indigo Blue, in retrospect it’s a bit light. The dayglo yellow race markings are again Halfords rattle can and do glow in the dark! The markings and paint masks are from Indycal and were fine but the roundels aren’t pure white and show grey printing lines in them under close examination. I used parts from a 3D printed 427 engine but again, the extra detail isn’t really visible. The spare wheel is from Renaissance with a homemade bungee cord! Now onto Gunnar Nilsson's Lotus 78. Dave

After the F-35A (link) and F-35C (link) here's the Trumpeter's 1/32nd Lockheed-Martin F-35B Lightning II - ref. 03232 Release expected in China in late June 2023. Source: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=article&a=show&id=230 Box art V.P.

Started this little project Sept last year but then gave way for all other 1/48 and 1/72. Finally got everything else done and completed this 5th aircraft. Simple kit with very less parts, cockpit is simple and leave some room for modeller to improve, I did the basic addition and not in details. During the build I accidentally broke the plastic pitot hence changed to a metal one - BUT, I still managed to fell it down from my hand to the working table and blend it. WIP is here : Together with the F-22A Hope you like it, thanks for viewing. Comments are welcome. Regards Ernest

Hi, On my shelf for a while now is trumpeters UH-34. I am not a helicopter expert, but I believe this is the same as an S-58. I gather you should be able to build this as an S-58 as used by the Netherlands Navy. At the time I tried to get the “DutchDecals” sheet, but it had sold out. Did find a set from a company previously unknown to me by the name of Heli Scale. I also ordered a rotor folding set from Scale warships Ltd. designed for use on the Italeri kit. It is actually for the Wessex and I am not sure if they share the same rotor head as on the S-58. However, hopefully I can make it work. The trumpeter kit does allow to fold the tail rotor at first glance, so I hope to display it as shown in the National Military Museum in Soesterberg, The Netherlands. Also plenty of reference material on the IPMS NL website: https://ipms.nl/artikelen/nedmil-luchtvaart/vliegtuigen-s/vliegtuigen-s-sikorsky-s58 That’s all, thanks for watching. Rgds, Rob

Another 1/144 kit from Trumpeter which I previous completed the F-22A. F-16 has much less parts compared to the F-22A, partially because it comes with NO weapon. Much simpler in design of the kit. It has a 2-part cockpit, the ejection seat and the cockpit ! The panel lines are detailed in this scale but not deep enough. Covered the back of the seat with a thin plastic card as it might be seen after the build. Applied German grey on the inside of the fuselage and around the cockpit. Added other parts to the airframe - noted that most of them are in good fit except the nose cone does fit well but have a huge (in its scale) step between the front fuselage and the cone, need to sand it down. Test fit the canopy too, seems all good. Added a bit of color in the cockpit, dry brush enamel silver, and add a few of different color on the instrument panel and side panels. Also apply a layer of Gaia green color on the seat. Also fit a small piece of transparent green cut off from plastic file folder to make the HUD. Next, I cut a few very thin (less than 1mm) masking tape and make the harness, and brushed blue and silver. It is then time to close the canopy. Applied green stuff putty under fuselage where the wings joint and also in front of the canopy. After rounds of sanding, scribed the panel lines and installed pylons

Just started looking at my 1/72 Trumpeter Famo. The kit has a set of rubber band tracks and 100 2-part indy links. It looks like the indy links might be workable. The kit provides a jig for putting the tracks together. The track plates have two horizontal pins which look like they're to be held in place by the rectangular track blocks. It looks a tad fiddly. Has anyone ever tried this?

The long expected 1/48th fighter-bomber variants from the "Flogger" are in the 2015/2016 Trumpeter programme - ref.05801 - MiG-23BN "Flogger-H" - ref.05802 - MiG-27 "Flogger-D" - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234996487-148-mig-27-flogger-d-by-trumpeter-released-nose-correction-set-in-design-by-cold-war-studio/ - ref.05803 - MiG-27M "Flogger-J" - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235004894-148-mig-27m-flogger-j-new-variant-by-trumpeter-released/ Source: https://www.facebook.com/ScaleModels.ru/photos/a.632237406802735.1073741827.129310540428760/1008947572465048/?type=1&theater Next variant should be the MiG-27K "Flogger-J2" (ref.05804?). To be followed. MiG-27 pictures: http://www.16va.be/galeries_vvs/mig-27/imgcol/index.html V.P.