Trumpeter is a Chinese manufacturer of plastic military model kits. Their product line consists of scale model ships, aircraft, cars and military vehicles. Trumpeter kits initially had a reputation of being somewhat less detailed than those of competitors such as Dragon or Tamiya, and accuracy issues have continued in some kits.
Since the late 1990s, Trumpeter began its transition to a professional model manufacturer. At the same time began to introduce advanced technology, improved the model design and manufacturing process level, these measures greatly enhance the quality of the model, also enhance the brand position. Trumpeter's 1/32 scale A-10 Thunderbolt II Buy from Amazon is one of their large-scale aircraft models, which received a high rating, the model kit won the best design award in Nuremberg International Toy Fair (1999).
The Trumpeter factory has the facility to take production from design computer right through to packaging with some outsourcing done on things like photo etched parts. In recent years, Trumpeter has been able to close to other world-class model manufacturers. Not only are they making models for the Trumpeter label but, under license, also for a number of other brands like Hobby Boss, Mini Hobby and even Fujumi and Pit Road.
Trumpeter's Product Line
Tank and Armored Vehicle Models
Trumpeter's early armor kits were reviewed negatively in publications such as AMPS' Boresight. Their series of T-55 kits were criticized for lack of accuracy and buildability issues. However, in recent years, Trumpeter's armor and artillery kits have been the subject of increasingly favourable comparisons with those of other manufacturers. In particular, their 1/35th scale kits of the KV tank series, SA-2 Guideline missile, and Karl Morser have been well received. The KV, K-5 Leopold and Karl Morser kits have been reviewed and are considered far better than competing kits of these subjects from Tamiya, Eastern Express, and DML. More recently their catalogue has increased with lots of variants of many military vehicles kits in 1/35 and 1/72 scale, the quality of the kits has standarized with an aceptable level and very afordable prices.
Ship Models
Trumpeter plastic models of ships are produced in 1/200, 1/350, 1/500 and 1/700 scale, although 1/350 and 1/700 are dominating. Trumpeter has a cooperation with Japanese ship model manufacturer Pit-Road for kits in 1/700 scale. These kits are usually available under the Pit-Road label in Japan and under the Trumpeter label in the rest of the world. Trumpeter's ship models have included a rising number of parts, but quality is still disputed due to insufficient research and some recent releases have been over-engineered. For example, the 1/350 scale kit of the American aircraft carrier USS Hornet CV-8 (an early release) has been found to compromise in detail, while the hull form shows major mistakes and the island is also not perfect. Fit, however, is said to be excellent, and surface detail "very credible". Also modern US carriers (for example the 1/700 Nimitz class aircraft carriers) suffer from a wrong hull form. Hull form problems are also found in the Baltimore class cruiser kits. Mistakes in the correct outfit have been pointed out regarding the details of some Essex class carrier kits and the Bismarck class battleships.
On the other hand, Trumpeter kits usually contain a lot of small parts, a feature which many modelers appreciate as impressive, and general comments are often positive in summary, especially for Russian navy ships. Trumpeter also put out scale models of popular items long awaited by enthusiasts that other companies have not included in their range. One kit from Trumpeter that has been very popular is the 1/350 scale kit of HMS Hood; the 1/700 scale kits of the battlecruiser were rumored to have been developed with input from the HMS Hood Association.
Aircraft Models
Trumpeter produces kits of airplanes in 1/144, 1/72, 1/48, 1/32 and 1/24 scale. The kits in the larger scales are generally highly detailed and include metal parts, while the smaller scale kits usually are rather simple. The aircraft kits from Trumpeter are, like the other kits, of a varying quality. While the 1:32 scale Me 262 received very good reviews, the F4F Wildcat kit in 1/32 scale was initially so poorly received that Steven's International, the distributor for Trumpeter kits in the USA, refused to market the kit until corrections were made to the kit's fuselage. Copies of the initial version of the kit were marketed in Japan and Europe, however. Subsequently, Trumpeter retooled the kit to more accurately reproduce the fuselage shape of the F4F, and the retooled kit received far better reviews. The 1/24 scale Messerschmitt Bf 109 G was ruled as "acceptable" and "quite accurate" with cockpit detail not up to the standard of the much smaller Hasegawa 1/32 kit which together reads that it is not of outstanding quality, as one would expect of a similar kit of one of the competing leading Japanese manufacturers. [Source: wiki]
Scale Model Brands: Trumpeter
Source: www.scalemodelmuseum.com
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