Trumpeter 1/48 KA-3B, is it any good

[thepureness]

Hi everyone

Looking at my option's for my new big build and i'm considering the trumpeter KA-3B sky warrior. I have found it hard to find more than one review on the kit and curious if anyone has built it or knows where I can find a build review.

Google is proving a little annoying, so turning to the modelling community

[Julien]

I don't know of a built up review, but it sure did look good in the box when one of my club mates got the kit. Its BIG though I can tell you that!

Julien

[JeffreyK]

I have two A3D-2 (A-3B) kits, closely scrutinised them but haven't built them. From what I've read, fit is good, except for the bomb bay doors. There is trouble attaching them in the closed position.

Accuracy wise there are more problems: The canopy is too high (deep), making the cockpit look a little toy-like compared to the original. The main wheel well has many issues: the forward compartment is not see-through although it should be, the aft compartments are too shallow, its geometry is off, the whole bay sits too far aft and Trumpeter failed to understand the design of the bomb bay door actuators which sit inside the wheel bay...

Wings: the kit comes with the early unchambered wings, but has the slat layout of the later chambered wings.

The KA-3B kit comes with a well oversized drogue basket and it's supplied in an extended position only, not stowed, making it in-flight only.

If you care about these things, you may want to wait with your build as I'm slowly working on a resin main wheel well set and I have also plans of making a vac-formed canopy replacement. Both are still months away from completion though. Steel Beech resin makes a properly sized, stowed drogue basket and housing as well as some other resin parts.

Regardless of the issues, it builds up into an impressive model anyway - which, in my opinion, must be Trumpeter's main business concept.

Cheers

Jeffrey

[Ben Brown]

Mine almost made it to the painting stage before (temporarily) ending up on the Shelf of Doom. It is big and, typical of Trumpeter/Hobby Boss/Kitty Hawk, unnecessarily complicated, but it looks like an A3D from across a dark room. Fit has ranged from good to fiddly. The bomb bay and crew access tunnel cause some fit issues when you try to mate the fuselage halves. If you want to build it clean, with the wings unfolded, flaps up, speed brakes in, and bomb bay closed, you're in for a lot of work, since none of these parts fit well. There is no detail at all on the cockpit consoles.

In addition to the accuracy issues Jeffrey pointed out, the speed brakes are wrong, but easily fixed. Trump has the two arms at the forward ends molded at an angle, to set the angle of the opened speed brakes, but these arms should be in the same plane as the rest of the speed brake panel, like the speed brakes on an F-86. Just cut them off and glue them on straight. I don't know if the KA-3B has the air deflector fence forward of the bomb bay, but Trump got this completely wrong. When closed, it should fit completely flush with the fuselage, not standing proud of it, like Trump has molded it.

I'll probably get back to mine, once I finish my Academy F-4B "therapy build." What a nice kit that one is!

Ben

[Hook]

This may help:

http://tailhooktopics.blogspot.nl/2013/05/trumpeter-148-a3d-2-skywarrior.html

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.nl/2014/04/trumpeter-148-3-skywarrior.html

Cheers,

Andre