Dragon's repop of 1989 1/48 Trimaster Ta-152H-1

[PattheCat]

Hello folks,

 

Joining in with what I think is the youngest, most well known and often built kit of the fantastic array to be seen in this GB, Trimaster (nearly*) 1/48 Ta-152H-1.

According to Scalemates:

- it first came out in 1989 under the Trimaster brand (reference MA-9).

- the first reboxing was made by Dragon with ref. 5501 in 1991

- there have been multiple repops since by Dragon (DML), Hasegawa, Italeri and most recently Hobby 2000.

This boxing from 2021 is from Dragon and part of a "Trimaster collection" (ref. 5577).

 

*nearly because the original included white metal parts for the exhausts, gear legs, engine braces and a pilot figure. A new plastic sprue (G) has replaced these - except for the pilot figure (none included) - in the first Dragon and later boxings.

 

Developed in 1944 by Kurt Tank, the father of the Fw-190, the Ta-152 saw service in the very late stages of WWII and was produced in limited numbers. According to different sources it's varying between 70 en 167, of which possibly no more than a dozen were the most advanced H-O and H-1 versions, recognizable at their larger wingspan of 14,5 m. The rest were C models with a shorter wingspan (11m). It was powered by a 2550 cv Junkers Jumo 213E inverted V12 liquid-cooled engine (with compressor and water/methanol "overboost" injection).

 

The Ta-152H always fascinated me with its sleek lines and above all overly long peculiar "glider like" wings. In my opinion, it's one of the most impressive WWII fighters. It was able to reach an altitude of 41.000 ft. (with a piston engine!) and the only Luftwaffe propeller airplane able to intercept PR Mosquitoes flying high and fast. That tells a lot, doesn't it?

 

The box contents consist of

- 7 sprues (6 in grey plastic, 1 for the clear parts) packaged in 3 bags (1 for the transparencies)

- 1 decal sheet by Cartograf

- 2 small photoetch frets (including b.o seatbelts and back armor plate)

- instructions folder

 

Now let's have a look at the kit.

 

The instructions include a paint chart but only referring to GSI-Gunze/Mr. Color - Mr. Hobby aqueous range:

 

 

There is a diagram of the sprues. The instructions only show the scheme for Yellow 3 which I think was part of 7/JG301 but there are other markings available on the decal sheet.

Not yet sure if that's the one I'll build:

 

 

These impressive wings (30 cm wingspan), with seemingly slightly warped ends:

 

 

Fuselage and one-part cowling (remember, it's a 1989 kit):

 

 

Engraved panel lines, riveting. Very neat and impressive, especially considering the age of the kit and of the moulds: 

 

 

The engine is a small kit in itself. Separate panels are present to show the engine but you'll have to cut the fuselage halves accordingly:

 

 

Instrument panel and side consoles with very crisply moulded detail (even if looking too pronounced):

 

 

The clear parts are commendably thin but will benefit from some buffing:

 

 

Photoetched parts:

 

 

Decal sheet with markings for different planes:

 

 

Out of the box, you can't say it's not a newly tooled kit.

Looking on the internet, the kit somewhat suffers from the usual bad reputation of Dragon. I mean "great to look at, a lot less to build" because of bad fit and fiddly engineering. From the numerous builds I could find in our beloved BM forums, it does seem far from unbuildable.

 

Have a nice evening.

Cheers.

 

Pat.

 

 

[modelling minion]

A great choice of subject Pat and a nice looking kit too. There's some nice details OOTB with this kit and the raised details in the cockpit are crying out for dry-brushing.

I look forward to seeing how you get on with this one mate.

[PattheCat]

11 minutes ago, modelling minion said:

A great choice of subject Pat and a nice looking kit too. There's some nice details OOTB with this kit and the raised details in the cockpit are crying out for dry-brushing.

I look forward to seeing how you get on with this one mate.

 

I hope you won't have to wait for too long as I'm still trying to book some (small) progress on the unfinished BMW from "Give peace a chance".

Never liked to have more than one build on the bench at a time but I'll do my best with both.

 

Thanks for your support Craig.

 

Pat.

[2996 Victor]

Hi Pat, I'm going to be watching this one closely! Years ago, I had the first Dragon boxing but never built it, sadly. It's a really impressive kit, especially when you consider that it's pushing toward 40 years old! I'd say that instrument panel will be perfect with some detail painting and then some glazing for the gauge lenses.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[PattheCat]

40 minutes ago, 2996 Victor said:

I'd say that instrument panel will be perfect with some detail painting and then some glazing for the gauge lenses.

 

When there are no decals for the instruments I like dry brushing but here, being 1/48 and crisply moulded, I do agree the hairy stick is the way to go (sorry Craig @modelling minion).

Got some new Da Vinci Forte fine brushes (bought for the BMW) and I am delighted with these for small details painting.

Thanks for watching Mark.

 

Pat.

 

[JOCKNEY]

Looks a lovely kit Pat, best of luck with it mate 

 

Cheers Pat 

[mick]

will follow your build

[PattheCat]

Hello,

 

I finally started with this one after deciding I wouldn't show the engine to keep its peculiar silhouette completely unaltered. So, about a month ago, I prepped the parts and began building the engine before going on holidays.

 

Some very shallow ejection pin marks were sanded (cockpit sides and floor). The oversized locating stubs on the fuselage's inside caused the exhausts to not protrude enough outside and were cut off.

 

Building the engine is the first construction step and should have been simple but I did two mistakes which complicated the assembly:

 

- the bottom plate of the engine has no support and I pushed it inside the motor block when glueing. I added bracing but hadn't taken care to trim the bottom plate enough so that ther would me no gap in front of it (red rectangle).

So there wasn't enough room to place a part (location surrounded in yellow) and I had to unglue the cylindrical part and move it a bit.

 

 

 

- cutting off a part protruding from an engine half (red circle). Silly me, it is the rear of the housing of the transmission between compressor and engine. Assembling the housing without it was a flimsy affair and I had to replace it with some plasticard.

There was also a small part broken on the sprue (yellow circle) and I glued it back... inverted, but didn't set it right because it will probably stay hidden.

 

 

Back from abroad I finished the put the engine together (except for three parts that would make painting less easy):

 

Day before yesterday all parts that were ready were primed with Stynylrez metallic:

 

I'm busy painting the engine and parts for the pit.

For now I'd say this kit is OK except I find the the plastic is rather brittle and the instructions somewhat vague sometimes.

 

I wish a relaxing evening to you all.

 

Pat.

 

 

 

[modelling minion]

Off to a great start Pat, very neat work on the engine.

[PattheCat]

Hi everybody,

 

A bit of painting done on the inner parts.

 

Engine with a bit of tear and wear; paints are Vallejo Semi-matte aluminium and a mix of Ammo Atom metallic black and satin black (as I ran out of gloss black). The metallic black is more what I'd call gunmetal black.

 

 

 

 

Gun and bracings - ammo box painted with Ammo Atom metallic black (no pun intended) and gun with Vallejo Metal Color gunmetal grey:

 

 

Cockpit sides:

 

 

I used Mr. Hobby/Gunze Aqueous for the RLM02 and Ammo Atom for RLM66.

Ammo's RLM66 is really way too light for my taste - would be more appropriate for the grey interior of WWII VVS planes IMHO.

But sprayed as well as Gunze (nearly no dry tip) and result seems as fine (no pooling or running when thinned 50/50 with their proprietary thinner).

 

 

Underway: pit base, seat (cushion hand painted with Ammo Atom cocoa brown) and exhausts (Vallejo Metal Color burnt iron, I'll add a coat of black):

 

 

Too small a surface to make a definitive opinion but Atom paint works like a charm with the hairy stick (better coverage than Vallejo, I think).

I find these paints to be extremely fragile and their references quite unreliable. But it's very pleasing to be able to use these easily with brush and airbrush. I could repair small airbrushing mishaps with a brush and see almost no difference in result.

 

Friendly greetings to all.

 

Pat.

 

[mick]

great start

[modelling minion]

Thats really nice work mate, I have to agree with you on the AMMO RLM66 as it's much too light. I am sure that a dark wash will make it much better. I like using their paints as they spray very nicely but their colour matching is absolutely rubbish. 

[PattheCat]

Hello,

 

Sorry to have to say so but there will be no more updates as I binned the kit.

 

After getting the inside details ready I decided to straighten the wings, which went well, but couldn't get the left upper half to fit even after removing the locating pins.

So I decided to cut the wheel well details that hindered the correct placement but was too heavy handed and damaged the wing and ... my finger. Thankfully a good modeller's wife always has suturing plasters at the ready 🥰.

 

 

 

Even more frustrating is the fact the IP/pit brush painted detail was IMHO my very best to this.

 

 

 

Now I'll try to save the Yak-3, as the wing and fuselage went unglued when cleaning before primer. Problem is my spacers ensuring a good fuselage/wing fit went awol in the process.

 

Hoping more relaxing modelling for you all than I had today.

 

Pat.

 

 

[Parabat]

Is there really no way to save it?

[PattheCat]

 

1 hour ago, Parabat said:

Is there really no way to save it?

That most probably could be done (slipped and cut a chunk of the wing) but honestly I'm not in the mood. I'll keep all the already done interior (engine, gun, pit). Maybe get another kit if I can find one on sale now that I know what to take care of..