Hi,
As you've probably seens from the online reviews of the BJ212A jeep and the upcoming JS-3 kits, the build quality of Trumpeter kits is pretty good.
I have a small mountain of Trumpeter kits at home, which at my current rate of production, will probably take me several years to finish all of them. grin
Having said that, I started with Trumpeter cos I stumbled into a model shop that was clearing its stock. I walked away with a Type 69 kit for S$9.00 (S$1 = US$1.76), which I think was a good deal. I returned the next day and snapped up several more T-series tanks.
As for the quality of the T-series kits (T-54/55, Chinese T-59 series and upgraded variants), you could stir up a hornet's nest of different opinions on this subject. Some say the hull is 4mm to high, tracks not quite right etc etc... Also, the curly tracks are a b*tch to work with and I'm still trying to find a good way to straighten these out.
But to me, the T-series tanks look fine when built up straight from the box and that's good enough for me. You can experiment with different camouflage schemes and varying degrees of battle damage just for fun.
Do visit Takashi's gallery for some idea of what the kits look like when built up.
I have one of the WZ-series 6x6 wheeled armoured fighting vehicles but have yet to fix it up. The fittings look alright, but the doors open to... nothing. There's no interior detail at all, which is fine if you build the 6x6 all buttoned up.
If you're looking at buying only ONE T-series tank just to try out the brand, I'd suggest the T-55 with the mine roller. It looks quite impressive when fully assembled. But then again different enthusiasts have their own favourites.
Cheers
David
(from Singapore)
|