korean Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Hello all, I have just bought the new Trumpeter 1/48 Sea vixen. looking at the kit it seems rather good, detail is excellent. The problem stems from colours that Trumpeter quote. Now I'm no expert on R.N. colours, and I don't think Trumpeter are either as they quote one scheme in Burnt Iron on top and silver for the under side, shouldn't that be Dark grey and white or is that extra dark grey and white. The other options are just as bad. This brings me to what I think is the other problem and that is the decals. There are printed well enough but the aircraft codes for the bottom of the wings shouldn't they be black? Trumpeter have printed them white. The other defect on the decal sheet is the small RAF roundels that are fixed to the missile fins, the Red part of the roundel is off centre. I feel that I will not be using the Trumpeter sheet and can only hope some else brings out some aftermarket decals. Any one had any problems? Korean. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 Standard colour scheme was Extra Dark Sea Grey over white. Yes, codes under the wings should be black, sounds like Trumpeter made a big mistake here. There's a decal sheet from Xtradecals, designed for the Airfix kit but I don't see why it shouldn't fit the Trumpeter one 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigsty Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 38 minutes ago, korean said: The other defect on the decal sheet is the small RAF roundels that are fixed to the missile fins, the Red part of the roundel is off centre. I can't recall ever seeing that on a Fleet Air Arm missile (it was rare enough in the RAF) so that, at least, you could live without. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 1 hour ago, korean said: There are printed well enough but the aircraft codes for the bottom of the wings shouldn't they be black? Trumpeter have printed them white. Korean. White on white sounds like excellent camouflage 🤐 As Giorgio said, save for the U.3s, I think the alleged Henry Ford quote applies here, you can have your Vixen any colour scheme you want as long as it’s Extra Dark Sea Grey over White. I guess/fear I can hold my breath easily waiting for the first score of reviews justifiedly ripping the kit to pieces without endangering my health 😳😤 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Bunker Posted April 26, 2018 Share Posted April 26, 2018 On 4/24/2018 at 9:16 PM, tempestfan said: you can have your Vixen any colour scheme you want as long as it’s Extra Dark Sea Grey over White But as has been said, the Target Tugs in red, white, yellow and black make a very nice change. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted April 28, 2018 Share Posted April 28, 2018 On 26/04/2018 at 03:02, Nigel Bunker said: But as has been said, the Target Tugs in red, white, yellow and black make a very nice change. +1 Cheers, Bill 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngaero Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 On 4/24/2018 at 7:28 PM, Giorgio N said: Standard colour scheme was Extra Dark Sea Grey over white. Yes, codes under the wings should be black, sounds like Trumpeter made a big mistake here. There's a decal sheet from Xtradecals, designed for the Airfix kit but I don't see why it shouldn't fit the Trumpeter one I really can't comprehend why Trumpeter can get some basic research so wrong. Granted the Sea Vixen wasn't a widely used type, but there is an awful lot of visual information out there and freely available. It just seems to be a kick in the teeth to be asked to pay £60+ for a kit and then have to pay again to get some markings to actually finish the model. Sorry for the rant. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albeback52 Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 33 minutes ago, cngaero said: I really can't comprehend why Trumpeter can get some basic research so wrong. Granted the Sea Vixen wasn't a widely used type, but there is an awful lot of visual information out there and freely available. It just seems to be a kick in the teeth to be asked to pay £60+ for a kit and then have to pay again to get some markings to actually finish the model. Sorry for the rant. Someone else doing the research for them perhaps? Certainly, I think it is way too expensive at £60 + especially if, as you point out you have to get another decal sheet on top of that. I just missed on one at 46 Euros on Ebay (Germany). Much more sensible price. I have a number of sheets of Xtradecals Serial numbers and letters (black) in various sizes. Hopefully they can fill the gap in the kit!!. Or, one could always opt for a "what if" scheme of overall grey with WHITE serials? null Allan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 Just had a look at the sprue review on U tube and it looks like this kit also does not have a wing fold option. Selyn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korean Posted April 29, 2018 Author Share Posted April 29, 2018 yes you are correct Selyn, no wing fold. Even Airfix supplied that with the correct colour scheme and decals. The Trumpeter kit is really though nice great detail. I hope one of the aftermarket companies will make a wing fold, having said that I do prefer to have my wings open. If you want a up to date Vixen then this is the one to go for as the old Airfix kit is now quite difficult to get hold of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 1 hour ago, korean said: yes you are correct Selyn, no wing fold. Even Airfix supplied that with the correct colour scheme and decals. The Trumpeter kit is really though nice great detail. I hope one of the aftermarket companies will make a wing fold, having said that I do prefer to have my wings open. If you want a up to date Vixen then this is the one to go for as the old Airfix kit is now quite difficult to get hold of. As I see it Trumpeter want us to pay £62.99 for a kit that will need at least a new decal sheet and potentially an aftermarket wing fold added to the cost. To me these issues are just another example of trumpeter's shoddy approach to their kit research. Their past track record on this subject does not fill me with confidence with not many hits and a awful lot of misses in the past. Trumpeter is a manufacturer that has disappointed me so many times, they could have cleaned up the market on so many kits if they had been a bit more diligent. As I have not seen anyone put this kit up against a set of plans yet I will remain sceptical, until proved wrong. Selwyn (The Airfix Vixen is not difficult to find for me, its in my stash a few feet away, and I will probably stick with that. I suppose I could make a few bob selling on my unused Airfix decal sheet schemes on to the unfortunate trumpeter buyers, I will of course throw in the correct Airfix colour scheme sheets with them for free!😎) 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 Did Trumpeter include the NACA ducts on the side of the booms? I couldn't see them on the pictures of the test shots, but it could have just been the photo. Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocatlub Posted May 2, 2018 Share Posted May 2, 2018 I have been silly and bought one of these and without looking closely at it. I have found out that the ends of the booms are quite a different angle to the airfix sea vixen and the length is a good 2 scale feet longer. I have put it back in the box and so don't know what else is up the creek with it. Not to pleased with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 (edited) The Trumpeter Sea Vixen does look very nicely molded, but at the very least has gone overboard on surface detail, some of which is fictional, and some of which is in the wrong places, other small features have been missed. The decals issues kind of speak volumes for overall kit research. It will pay to have good references handy for the build. Standard colours for a Royal Navy Vixen is Extra Dark Sea Grey over white Edited May 4, 2018 by 71chally 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 On 02/05/2018 at 15:40, ocatlub said: ... and the length is a good 2 scale feet longer... Hmm, kind of like the MPM/Xtrakit monstrosity. Gawd, I hope they didn't use that as a reference. Cheers, Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat C Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 On 5/2/2018 at 8:40 PM, ocatlub said: I have been silly and bought one of these and without looking closely at it. I have found out that the ends of the booms are quite a different angle to the airfix sea vixen and the length is a good 2 scale feet longer. I have put it back in the box and so don't know what else is up the creek with it. Not to pleased with it. You may find the thread below of interest. A suggestion that the Airfix booms might have been a bit short - but not two scale feet! Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 There were another few schemes used by aircrafts involved in trials, all FAW.1s. This variant would require a conversion of course, unless Trumpeter will issue this in the future. XJ476 was in overall white with black antiglare panel. XJ481 wore an unusual black and white scheme and also had a modified radome. The best looking IMHO was however XJ488, in overall gloss black with white flashes. Decals for this aircraft are included in the Alleycat conversion designed for the Airfix kit. The same company has a sheet for XJ476 with all the modifications this aircraft had. Then I remember another target tug scheme, with uppers in light aircraft grey and black/yellow undersurfaces Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
71chally Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 XJ524 was the FAW.2 in the contemporary target tug 'service finish' light grey, orange bands and black/yellow stripes, retained by FRA for company trials. Another was converted to TT standard, but with a white top, now preserved Garrick. At least three FAW.2s became D.3s in the distinctive red and yellow scheme, all slightly different from each other. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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