trumpeter/hobbyboss bad press? are they this bad

[thepureness]

I've returned to model making after a near 10 year and I've seen some great kits of some fantastic aircraft being released, and I've noticed some new companies on the market, I do slightly recall trumpeter though not 100% sure but not this hobby boss, checking around on forums the 2 companies seem to be linked. Been checking reviews and posts on forums but some number of people are really giving these 2 Chinese companies really bad reviews and press.

Are they accually this bad, do they have any good kits and is it worth me spending £100+ on a 1/32 su-25a Frogfoot, or a A-7E corsair for example. I like my kits big so these just seem to be right. But looking for some more opinions.

First post btw

[Shar2]

They have both produced some great kits and some not so great. I believe they are linked which is probably why they both produce some kits that could have been great but have had some inexplicable problems with shape etc. I've got both Frogfoots, (Frogfeet?), and they are superb, the Corsair does have a nose problem which has been rectified by Zactoman HERE along with a seamless intake. You might want to try Trumpeters Sukhoi SU-27/30s, lovely kits, although early examples also had a nose problem.

What you will also find is that some websites have a real downer on anything Chinese, so it wouldn't matter if they released the most perfect kit they would still get slated for something.

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

Generally speaking, the accuracy can be a bit hit or miss but I think most people wouldn't spot the issues. Apart from that, they are mostly well engineered and nicely detailed kits.

thanks

Mike

[CockneyCol]

As with all manufacturers they have their good and bad products some on a major scale, some with just some small details, so take your pick. The actual fit and build tends to be pretty much okay on the newer kits. I've built a few and found them quite enjoyable, even more so if you can live with a few minor errors. If you're an accuracy freak then do your research.

Some of the winges will be down to Snobbery I'm afraid.

Enjoy

Col'

[Enzo the Magnificent]

I find that Trumpy and Hobby Boss kits are, without fail, an absolute joy to build. Sadly, some of them aren't as accurate as they could be. The 1/48 Hellcat and 1/72 A-7 spring to mind. Both have cockpits which are far too wide. The 1/48 Vampire was a complete and utter mess - nothing was the right shape, but once again it was a joy to build.

On the other hand, some kits are perfectly accurate - the Sea Hawks and Wyverns spring to mind.

[Doug Rogers]

I think if you want a large impressive looking aircraft, then they're pretty good, If you can get around some accuracy issues then you'll be fine, but if you are concerned with accuracy you may drive yourself mad!

I've only ever made one Trumpeter kit, the 1/48 Seafang. Went together like a dream, but I am aware that it isn't a totally accurate reproduction of the real thing. Personally I don't mind as it's 'near enough' for me.

[Jennings Heilig]

It all depends on what you're going for. As noted, some of their stuff is stunning. But in almost every case of where something is stunning (and BTW, the two companies are one), it's almost inevitably the case that there was an existing really good kit that they were able to copy and extrapolate from. Their 1/32 SBD, Me262, TBM, and a couple of others were essentially copied from, sometimes with improvements (sometimes not) from existing kits by other manufacturers. I'm not saying their kits are rip-off copies like we used to see from Korea, but they were able to utilize the basic homework done by other companies on those types. In almost *every* case where they've had to do their own homework (aka research), they've fallen short. And they've fallen short, often dramatically short, on projects where there *were* existing kits that were very nice (their 1/48 and 1/32 A-7s are an abomination, and all of their Bf109s are laughable).

Clearly, they employ some very talented CAD designers. But being a good CAD designer is not the same thing as being a talented aircraft (ship, tank, whatever) kit designer. The designer *has* to know a lot about the subject, and if he doesn't, he has to be provided with extensive research material so that he can become intimate with the subject in order to produce a really good kit of it. Some of the bone-headed mistakes they've made that could have been avoided with *very* basic research prove this to me beyond a doubt. Interestingly, Google, Bing, etc are banned in China. They have their own versions of them, but the Chinese versions don't provide access to what you or I could come up with in a matter of minutes of searching. And it shows. But given the fact that Chinese are allowed to travel abroad more or less freely these days, I don't see the lack of at-home connectivity as an excuse. A quick trip to Hong Kong or Macau would allow them to have access to anything you or I do. And it's obvious they don't do that.

Edited July 15, 2013 by Jennings Heilig

[Shar2]

Perhaps the best thing to do is check out our Ready For Inspection area in the aircraft forum and have a look at some of the builds by our members.

[JohnT]

I think the answer is they are a bit like the Scottish football team. When they do well they do incredibly well. Then the next model they produce is pants. As has been said they don't get called out that much for poor build issues. It tends to be that they don't get shapes right. To a degree I understand that for some modern western types but they have made obvious simple errors on aircraft they can see at home, take the Mig 15 canopy for instance. Having said that I get the impression that they are getting better all the time and wish them well.

[crobinsonh]

As others have said the issues is consistency. For a long time it felt like there was an A team (262, Dauntless, SU-25, Hurricane, P-38, HMS Hood, HMS Repulse) and then the B team (Lightning, SU-24, SU-27 original boxing, F-105, Vampire, Typhoon, Harrier). I will still buy Trumpeter and Hobby boss but not until others have checked over them first. I made that mistake with 4 x 1/32nd Lightnings on pre-order!

As much as I would dearly love a 1/32nd Buccaneer I must admit that I would not trust them to get the complex shapes correctly. And as was seen with Harrier - even after being given a lot of additional information from the Harrier SiG they just ignored it and made the same mistakes again.

All models are a compromise and no one model is truly accurate - case in point the Fisher Sea Fury (which I have 3 off) much lauded but not as accurate as the AKI 1/72nd Sea Fury. But as I said at the start the biggest issues is consistency and the number and size of errors where they occur on a B team product.

In summary - I still support and buy Trumpeter and Hobby boss and I sincerly hope that competition from other Chinese Manufacturers will ensure that they raise their game to the level of Kittyhawk's latest and GWH.

[D1fuN0]

Can I just say something... (and apologies upfront, but im not trying to rattle the paint can)

Trumpeter, in the last few years have given us kits, especially the afv crowd, that we have been waiting for, well, since I can remember. There was a time that basically the only 1/24th scale Aircraft were from Airfix, and they have swelled those ranks, as well as the 32nd scale kits.

There is a lot of bad press about Trumpeter and Hobbyboss, but if you look at overall releases compared to mistakes made, I think that you will find that there arent really that many. Yes, some people are just anti the two companies, maybe because they are chinese, or maybe because they dont produce kits they like, who knows.

An interesting comment I heard the other day, certainly rings true: Take this forum back 20 years, would these same people then have slagged off Airfix and Matchbox kits the same way for being inaccurate, wrong shape etc etc.

Overall, and I dont care what anyone says, Trumpeters AFV kits are some of the best on the market, they produce kits that are not the normal run of the mill, sometimes esoteric subjects and they are hard to beat. One pathetic comment (in my opinion) Why do they produce so much Chinese armour, Im sure its not high on the wants list of most western modellers...

Face it, there are a lot worse out there, but strangely, You dont hear a lot about them.

Steve

Edited July 16, 2013 by MAD STEVE

[XL929]

As others have said, the fit of their kits is usually very good but accuracy is sometimes a bit hit and miss. Seems to be more pronounced on aircraft but then that could be due to more people building aircraft kits compared to AFVs and ships.

They do seem to get more than their fair share of people moaning about their mistakes compared to other compaines though.

[Wolfpack]

It depends how pedantic you are about accuracy. The bottom line is with all their kits, they look like what they're supposed to be. Regardless of the odd inaccuracy, which to be honest, 99.9% of modellers wouldn't notice, they are very good value models.

Kits of the real thing we thought we would never see, abound. A 1/72 Bear? DANA SP gun? Chinese BMPs? A 1/48 Wyvern?

I suggest you try a cheap one to start and see how you get on. My first was Trumpy's MiG21 Mongol, in Stress Team markings. I really enjoyed the build, searching for photos of the real thing and correcting the odd mistake or omission. The decals are what lets that kit down, but it was such an unusual and colourful subject, it didn't spoil my enjoyment.

W

[Black Knight]

I like the Hobby Boss quick builds. They are fun and ....ummmmm....quick to build. Unless something is glaringly obvious to me that its not accurate I dont care. All models have some problems. I enjoy them for what they are, decent plastic kits that can be finished in one evening, or longer if one wants to 'detail' them.

[Caerbannog]

As was said before: The kits build up nicely but while some subjects are very close to the original other subjects are less well catured. So compared to other maufacturers there is no big difference. All maufacturers have good and less good products in their range. The reason for Trumpyboss rather poor reputation is maybe caused (well in my case at least) that they do release very interesting subjects which would be a "must buy" for me and for whichever reason release a kit like their Vampire, Tornado or Lightnings, etc. which look odd OOB even if you are no fanatic about the subject... Giving you the opportunity to scream out loud two times: First in joy when you hear that this or that subject is to be released at last and then second time in anger when you realize it was messed up completely. Btw. you realized these are all british subjects I mentioned? So one can feel a little let down by them from time to time. But as they do release also great kits and by buying these I will support their "A-Teams"...

[Will Vale]

I like them a lot, they don't always fit together perfectly but they aren't any worse than, say, Italeri in that regard in my (admittedly limited) experience. And like Steve says, they make diverse and interesting subjects at pretty good prices. Particularly if you buy from one of the Hong Kong retailers.

I suspect Trumpeter's willingness to take on some of these oddball subjects is part of the reason why we're seeing more variety of subject area from other manufacturers.

On the accuracy front, I'm not a stickler for correctness so I don't e.g. hold parts up to plans, but they do seem to catch a lot of flak. They seem to be unlucky with high-profile British prototypes like the Lightning and now the Vampire. I wonder if it's easier to see problems in subjects which are closer to home?

If you're looking for something cheap to test the waters, and don't mind a change in subject area, then the Hobby Boss subs are IMHO a bargain

Will

Edited July 16, 2013 by Will Vale

[Shar2]

I have agree with Steve about the AFV kits. I've built quite a few and the latest ones go together like a good Tamiya kit.

To the OP, another option for you is to browse through our review section and see what we thought of them. We try to be honest and will pick up on anything untoward.

[JohnT]

A further thought to my post above

I wonder if the underlying problem is that Trumpeter have done us all a huge favour and produced models which we had never expected to see mainstream. We can all have our own list but lets just pick on their 1/32 Lightnings as an example. I do so deliberately as that model does have some serious shape issues that are obvious in the areas that catch the eye, e.g. cockpit canopy and so on. It just "looks" odd and I can't get enthusiastic about the two I have to build still in their box knowing what the end product will look like.

Trumpeters problem may be that old business truism. Any service provider or manufacturer will tell you that to be successful in business you must "under promise and over deliver". Sadly in the case of the Lightning where enthusiasts were drooling with expectation Trumpeter got it the wrong way round. The expectation level was sky high and the delivery was, well lets just say Trumpeter dropped the ball. The disappointment felt was no doubt compounded in that now that Trumpeter have done two models, the early and late versions, its highly unlikely any other manufacturer will also do a 1/32 Lightning and probably do a better job of it. So we are stuck with Trumpeters version.

To balance things however Trumpeter are to be praised for tackling subjects in scales we would not have seen otherwise. Where were the 1/48 Wellingtons, vigilantes and so on and the 1/32 Frogfoot, Mig 21, F105, and so on and on. Plus when they get it right they produce a very good model indeed.

At the moment they remind me of an up and coming young sportsman (or sportswoman) who when on their game can produce a stunning performance but then in the next game play inexplicably badly. Once Trumpeter attains a level of consistency in their product frankly I think they will be very hard to beat on quality, price and choice of subject/scale. On balance then my feelings towards them are positive. If they can address their issues with getting the complex shapes right then I could see them easily becoming a market leader in the hobby for many years.

Meantime there is always after-market and Iain on the Lightning - poor soul !!

[Smiffy]

I think a good course of action would be to draw up a list of the kits that you're interested in and as Dave suggested, have a little look through the wip and rfi sections. I tend to be selective about what I buy from them, but that also applies to many other manufacturers too.

Taking 32nd scale as an example, I have their 262, MiG-21 and Bearcat, which are all excellent, but I also have their Lightning F.1a and Harrier GR.7. I knew about the problems with these kits before I bought them, but that didn't deter me from my purchases. If you know about the issues, you can make a decision on what matters to you and how much corrective work you'd like to do (if any). Besides, how likely is it that we'll see any alternative to these kits anytime soon?.

It's only plastic, at the end of the day. It's a hobby, so just enjoy it the way it suits you. Of course, that's just my outlook on the whole thang.

[mrobeson]

I think the problem is also over-saturation because of the internet. Trumpeter isn't an old company, so they haven't been making kits for as long as Tamiya and Hasegawa. It would seem like a lot of modelers expect a company's first kits to be at the same quality level as Wingnuts or Tamiya, while it's just not realistic. People seem to forget how bad old Hasegawa, Tamiya, or Airfix kits were. Give it 30 years, Trumpeter could easily be right at that quality level as well. They're already doing some really great kits. And it's easy to dissect kits online, and compare to plans and photos. Also means it's easy for spread their opinions around and get others to believe them

Yes, there are some accuracy issues, but it seems like a lot of people who have big problems with that are those that sit and complain on the internet instead of building. I've built a fair chunk of their catalog, and never really had a bad experience. Their Su-25 and Mig-23 kits are both really great. And who would have ever expected to get most of Trumpeter's catalog in kit form? Not me for sure.

Matt

[ReccePhreak]

My eight farthings' worth ...

Trumpeter and Hobby Boss cop a lot of flak, especially from sites in the US. It smells strongly of bellicose nationalism, with a top-note of racism.

So all American modellers and American modelling discussion forums are racist?

That sounds like a racist comment, to me, just like when Aussie Modeller International labelled American modellers as racist.

Larry

[Laurent]

but it seems like a lot of people who have big problems with that are those that sit and complain on the internet instead of building

Some people are interested in glueing plastic parts, some people want a model of an aircraft they are familiar with.

Their Su-25 and Mig-23 kits are both really great.

Are you Russian, Hungarian, Czech, Ukrainian ? Did your country use those aircrafts ? If so it's likely you are familiar with the aircraft and its likely that you "understand" it (you know its shapes and the features of its various versions). This determines if the kit turns into an accurate model of the real aircraft or not.

[mrobeson]

Some people are interested in glueing plastic parts, some people want a model of an aircraft they are familiar with.

Are you Russian, Hungarian, Czech, Ukrainian ? Did your country use those aircrafts ? If so it's likely you are familiar with the aircraft and its likely that you "understand" it (you know its shapes and the features of its various versions). This determines if the kit turns into an accurate model of the real aircraft or not.

No, I'm American. I can look at the kit, and it looks pretty close to the aircraft on the box top. I'm sorry if it's not accurate enough for you, but it works for 90% of the people out there. The 1/48 MiG-23 is a fantastic kit, that falls together. I had a great time building it and its big brother. Great kits all around

Thank you for proving my point though.

[pigsty]

So all American modellers and American modelling discussion forums are racist?

Did I say that? No, I don't believe I did. I've observed a lot of what I believe is hysterical anti-Trumpeter traffic, my experience is that there seems to be more of it from US sites than from others, and I've given my view that a lot of it seems unpleasantly motivated. How you can read that as saying that all Americans and all their sites are racist defeats me.

[Laurent]

I can look at the kit, and it looks pretty close to the aircraft on the box top.

So you consider the boxart as reference ?

I'm American... I'm sorry if it's not accurate enough for you, but it works for 90% of the people out there

Ok so would you say that 90% of American modellers are happy with the HB F-80, the Trumpeter/HB F-100s, the Trumpeter/HB A-7s ? I sense some "modeller vs aircraft's country of origin opinion on accuracy of the variable geometry kind" here.

The 1/48 MiG-23 is a fantastic kit, that falls together. I had a great time building it and its big brother. Great kits all around

So it's a great kit then. Perhaps not a great model.