1/72 Chengdu J-10 In-Prog

[Albert Moore]

I just picked this kit up last weekend at the hobby shop. It is Trumpeter's new 1/72 Chengdu J-10. Molding wise it is up to today's standards. Fit-wise is another story. I would rate it in the same league as a sub-par Italeri kit. The fuselage halves line up well, but that's where it stops. The lower wing/MLG wheel well come up about an 1/8th of an inch short of reaching the fuselage. I used strip styrene and CA glue to close off the gap. The rear lower fuselage piece also required some tweaking. The ventral fins had about a 1/16th of an inch gap to fill, which was done using Zap-A-Gap. The right upper wing-to-fuselage seam also required strip styrene to fill. All four flaps required some sanding to get a half way decent fit. Detail is sparse in the cockpit, with decals for the consoles and instrument panel (which is why it is being built canopy closed. The only extras added was masking tape seatbelts. Decal options are for two camouflaged PLAAF prototypes. I'm considering doing a Pakistan Air Force what-if build (which may be anyways seeing as Pakistan has bought their fair share of Chinese produced aircraft for their AF) All in all, this is a bit of a disappointment considering the quality of Trumpeter's other new releases like the RA-5 Vigi and Wyvern (plus all the large scale releases). With some elbow grease though, this can be built into a nice replica of a subject that I'm sure know one else will touch.

[Albert Moore]

Pic #2

[Albert Moore]

Last pic (note the fancy stand that it is mounted to).

Thanks for looking. :lol:

[Raymond]

hiya

hey were building the same AC!!! :woot: !!

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=53640

i dont think the kits that bad!, I woudl say a little nicer than "under par italeri" :)

anyho, all the best with ur build, its looking great! :lol: this AC is growing on me every minute!!!!

regards

Raymond

[GreyGhost]

Looks Nice Alby !!! That plane, I think, has a pretty cool shape to it ...

Gregg

[Deino]

hiya

hey were building the same AC!!! :woot: !!

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=53640

i dont think the kits that bad!, I woudl say a little nicer than "under par italeri"  ;)

anyho, all the best with ur build, its looking great! :D this AC is growing on me every minute!!!!

regards

Raymond

Hi ! Nice to see this little jet finally on the "production line" ! :lol:

I would like to give You both two additional links for “building reports†from the German “FLUGZEUGFORUM†… but – sorry – You have to “log inâ€.

1. from Airboss … he will include several modifications + corrections of some of the model’s faults.

2. from Rapier)

By the way here is another link for a complete review made by myself of the kit in comparison to original pictures of the “live†bird !

By the way …. This is a picture of a finished model built by “Flankerfanâ€

Hope it helps a little bit ....

Cheers, Deino :lol:

Edited May 9, 2005 by Deino

[Albert Moore]

Hi Deino,

Thank you for the links and the pic (nice model BTW, compliments to the builder) I don't speak German, but I will still try to register as I would like to see the progress on those J-10s. I'm not doing much beyond OOB for this build as it is mainly just to blow off steam before getting to my next heavily involved project. The tips/corrections will be useful though as I do plan on building another J-10 sometime in the future.