AndyLiu Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) Hi guys, greetings from New Zealand. The Trumpeter 1/32 F/A-18E is a suspect of being a enlarged copy from partially the 1/48 Revell kit, and partially from the 1/48 Hasegawa kit. While there is not serious shape problem on the air frame being spotted, it's a shame to tell the details of this kit is sparse and erroneous in many places, even not catching up with its 1/48 templates, as if it's a size-up, yet SIMPLIFIED copy of those 1/48 kits. It's so obvious that Trumpeter was rushing to be the first one to fill up the gap in the market for this subject, in this scale. In this build, I'm neither going to super detail this monster nor rectify all its errors, but working on areas here and there to upgrade the model to a standard that is acceptable by myself. One policy will be applied through out the build -- no after market stuff will be used, I'll only use styrene sheets and rods, as well as some copper wires of various thickness to add up as much details as I can, because I personally think this kit is worthless for any further investment on it. Ok, let's get started for the long march, and see what it'll turn out to be. Started with the bang seat, this is what the kit's configuration for the seat, it's formed up by only two parts: a front part on which all the "details" are casted and a back plate, completely toyish. In addition, the seat is actually in a wrong shape, the backrest of the seat should narrow up from bottom up, but it is now looked squared, this leads to the whole headrest part of the seat being over sized. The seat itself is a bold evidence of being a copy from the Revell kit. I'm not going to rectify the shape problem here, rather, I'll rework the seat to a better-looking one My modification on it This is how it looked to be in the cockpit This is all for today... to be continued, stay tuned. Edited February 8, 2014 by AndyLiu Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VA-115EFR Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Great scratch building on the seat so far. Have fun on the build! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
.linus Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I agree. It looks great! I've only seen the f-model from Trumpeter. I'm excited to see how this one compares. Good luck to you! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shaka HI Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Seat looks infinitely better..but am I crazy? The control stick looks way too big. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AndyLiu Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) Seat looks infinitely better..but am I crazy? The control stick looks way too big. Yep, that's what the stock control stick looked like, which I think can be used on a 1/18 kit, the easiest way to solve the problem is to replace it with a resin part, but again, the policy of the build -- no after market products, so I can only live with it. The Trumpeter kit has enlarged every bit of the errors found on its 1/48 template. Edited February 9, 2014 by AndyLiu Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A21-29 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 it is the right height,tho the top half should be angled and the cone on top not so big. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AndyLiu Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 (edited) Ok, a little update, today I'm gonna work on the pit. This is what the stock pit looks like, as you can see from the picture, the control stick looks awfully big enough to sit on a 1/18 kit. The best solution is to replace it with a resin product, but again the policy of the build -- no after market products are allowed, so I'll live with it. My job on the pit: adding a step on the floor right under the instrument panel, adding a shaft at the bottom of the control stick to allow the pilot to push down and pull up the nose, adding a block of plastic on the back of the bottom half part of the instrument panel to make it have a depth look, adding a pair of simple foot pedals to make it looked busier. This is what the pit looked like after my work on it. Edited February 9, 2014 by AndyLiu Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.