Trumpeter's L-39 Albatro ?

[Laurent]

Appart from the typo, what's the feedback on the kit ? Good model (accuracy) kit (details, fit) ?

Edited January 5, 2018 by Laurent

[scjh]

I have both the MPM and Trumpeter 1/48 L-39 kits (and Eduard 1/72 kits too).  The Trumpeter kit has nice surface details and are more clearly defined than the MPM kit.  Haven't taken the parts out of the bags for test fitting so can't comment on fitting issues.  Accuracy wise, I've only compared the profile shape with photos of the real plane and the MPM kit.  The Trumpeter vertical tail seems a bit too tall and swept back (not much, maybe 2-3mm), and the area behind the vertical tail seems a little too high.  In comparison, the MPM L-39 vertical tail looks like a good match to the photos, but the bottom of the rear fuselage seems a little low.  The wings of the two kits are similar in size, though the Trumpeter wings have separate flaps like the CMK resin parts.  I was a little disappointed that the Trumpeter kit didn't come with intake trunking and jet engine intake face.  I suppose the intakes are really small and narrow and it would be hard to see into the intakes, but Eduard provides it in their 1/72 L-39 kits.

Edited January 6, 2018 by scjh

[Laurent]

Thanks. Doesn't look bad at all.

[harvy5]

Trumpeter is typical a Chinese kit. Nice surface but bad shapes. Better choice is old MPM kit with new canopy. 

[Laurent]

Just now, harvy5 said:

Trumpeter is typical a Chinese kit. Nice surface but bad shapes. Better choice is old MPM kit with new canopy. 

Is there a review showing the kit inaccuracies somewhere ?

[harvy5]

I think no.

[harvy5]

11 minutes ago, Laurent said:

Is there a review showing the kit inaccuracies somewhere ?

Everyone who has worked with L-39 sees bad shape of nose, cabin, air intake

[Dmanton300]

Which doesn't really help those of us who haven't, but would like some actual information on where it may be wrong.

[scjh]

Disclaimer, I am no L-39 expert, and was doing this olnly as part of making my own custom decals.  This is based on my comparison with the profile only.  I tried to match scans of both MPM and Trumpeter fuselage to an outline I extracted from a L-39 photo I found online (green) scaled to similar size visually in photoshop, trying to match most of the spine, and overall shape.

 

The first image shows the comparison with the MPM 1/48 kit to the photo-extracted outline in green.  The vertical tail is a very good match.  The bottom of the rear fuselage is a little low in outline, and the front of the fuselage is a little high. 

Edited January 7, 2018 by scjh

[Laurent]

Thanks but can the MPM be considered as a reference ? Comparing two kits is good to see what are the differences between them but not that one is more accurate than the other.

[scjh]

The second image shows the comparison with the Trumpeter 1/48 kit scan to the photo-extracted outline in green.  The vertical tail is a little fuzzy in the scan, but is a little taller and swept back, the area behind the tail is a little high,  the bottom of the front fuselage is a little high, and  the nose does also seem a little longer and pointier. 

Edited January 7, 2018 by scjh

[Laurent]

The MPM footprint blurs the picture but here's an overlay with drawings found on L-39.cz (I don't know if they're supposed to be accurate). They match pretty well but there may be something at the rear of the fin root.

Edited January 7, 2018 by Laurent

[scjh]

The green is actually an outline I pulled from a photo of L-39 taken from the side.  The first image I posted is that outline compared with the MPM fuselage, and the second one is over the Trumpeter.  Unfortunately the scan of the Trumpeter fuselage is fuzzy around the vertical tail, but the taller vertical fin and higher rear of the fin root is what I noticed, by probably 2-3mm.  See the extent of the rudder cutout on the Trumpeter tail as compared to the L-39.cz drawing.