nird551

i almost bought the kit until i saw the canopy. dropped it in an instant. it was going to be too much of a headache. Personally, the canopy was a deal breaker. that being said, great build sir! i like how you handled the canopy issue.

several errors on the manual and no detail painting instructions. otherwise, nice mold and seems to fit well. i'm halfway through mine already.. (i'm in asia.) errors include wrong part numbers. pay attention at the various bay covers when working on them.

slightly off topic but... i was talking to some asian distributors of trumpeter lately. they pointed out some things in relation to trump's inner workings and why they produce kits with major flaws. 1. Trump has a mother company in china the manufactures plastic parts for appliances, cars, etc. Trumpeter was essentially a side venture. the appointed head of trumpeter was given a huge amount money and was told to go into it without too much oversight from the mother company. as with other new companies with a large infusion of cash, Trump went crazy and manufactured all sorts of kits. from hu

spot on dave! the biggest worry for scale model manufacturers is that us modellers are slowly moving to extinction. kids nowadays have too much distraction. the market is contracting and the manufacturers know this.

or maybe it's just around the corner.. :)

follow the hasegawa instructions.. the manual will tell you how to mix gray shades with metallic shades. results are pretty good...

not defending trump here because from my experience, i've had a difficult time with trump ordnance as well. true, they give you a lot but most you can't use and you DONT know how to use because the damn manuals are vague when it comes to the ordnances. BUT.... 1. the pricing scheme is distance and retailer dictated. like i've said in the past, you can get trump models in HK for 2/3 or even half the price. i know this does not help you guys in europe and in america one bit, but it's the logistics that's jacking up the price. hopefully, trump has a plan to establish big warehouses in europe and

good points all around.. the biggest factor is the distance. europe and america is far from japan. in hongkong (where supplies lasted like for 2 seconds before it was sold out) it retailed for about hk400 (if the shop owner i talked to wasn't pullin my leg). which is around us50.00...

SIR L-GREECO! like everyone else, all i can say is WOW!!! i have built the kit myself and it won 3rd place in my country's biggest model show BUT, my model will look like a toy compared to yours... just one thing, maybe you do all us a big favor here and do a photo-story on how you build a panel that can be opened and close with those micro hinges of yours.. thanks and continue posting pics! nick

hi guys! 1. i'm not sure i can go to specifics but basically, there are people who screw up constantly in the company. they are being replaced. hihihi... let's see if things improve. 2. there is no intake trunking. in fact, it's one of the mistakes. thanks for bringing it up. i forgot about it. it's kinda similar to the hobby boss f-111 and trumpeter su-24. 3. there are two tail versions... so you can make both. i'm not familiar with the mig-23 variants but im sure you can make the correct one. i guess i made the mistake of using the wrong one.

and yes, i put some time pressure on myself to finish it quickly... there won't be much point to finish it when the kits are already in the hobby shops... took me about a week and a half worth of evenings...

thanks guys... my main mistake was not asking your help with regard to the subtle differences on the different models of mig-23... anyway, if there are any future pre-production models that drops on my work table, i'll give you all a heads up... keep the comments coming, you never know what corrections will be considered by trumpeter in the future... as per the latest conversations with trumpeter personnel, they are taking solid steps towards improving their design and production processes. also, i'd like to acknowledge ipms philippines BA. http://ipmsphilippines.com/

here are some clearer pics.. hope this helps... i've been told that the kits are in transit to different countries already so hopefully you guys can take a look at the real thing soon... cheers..

hi guys! better pics coming later.. bandwidth issues... :D

http://ipmsphilippines.com/trumpeter-132-m...pre-production/