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Just as I'm well into a PST KV these come out. I'll probably pick a couple up for the road wheels which look quite nice but will also be purchasing the JS3 kit for the L&L track.
I think Trumpeter is going to go out of business soon.
June 1 2007, 6:44 PM
At least their 1/72 division. Any of you who have seen my stash know that I am addicted to buying kits. However, I have only bought two Trumpeter kits and I probably will never buy any more. I bought the Ferdinand when it first came out. It was better than the original Dragon Elephant/Ferdie because it had hard tracks, a little PE, and better detail. However, Dragon then came out with a better Elephant (The first "Armor Pro" kit) and so I never bought the Trumpeter Elephant. I also have the Emil. I bought this kit because Dragon will not release it. However, I have not bought any Shermans, Jagpanthers, JS 3's and I will not buy any of these KV's. Dragon makes better Shermans and Jagpanthers and PST makes adequate KV's with hard tracks. At my local Hobby Shops the Trumpeter kits are stacking up. They keep releasing products that are not as good as the competition and their announced vehicles (T-34 etc.)have already been done or will soon be done by Dragon or UM. They can't last very long.
Wouldn't exactly leave a gaping hole in the braille market if Trumpeter did go under, other than the Emil & Early StuGs do they do any original braille scale kits? However I think their main trade is in bigger, wingy or watery things so I doubt they'll vanish overnight.
where Dragon kits are more expensive ... you can buy 3 trumpeters for the cost of two dragon kits, and i beg to differ regarding dragon's jagdpanthers being better yeah the early zimmerit is a nice touch but the moulding of the tools are substandard compared to trumpeters kits and don't get me started on dragon's substandard notek light for their panther/jagdpanther kits not forgeting the steel chassis
and as for originality i don't see dragon releasing modern italian armour, Char B1 bis tank, stugs, Brumbars, BTR 80 and the track links for PST's KV tanks are awful poor fitting and they look nothing like the original tracks .... the one think i have found about trumpeters rubber band tracks, they are better than dragon's
I've had such bad experiences with vinyl tracks before (eg paint never drying, tracks too long or tracks too short, melting into plastic, etc) that I'm really put off by the trumpeter kits.
Does anyone know how well the trumpeter tracks deal with normal acrylic or enamel paints?
Point taken about the PST tracks. They are a little off. But I have not had trouble with the fit, they give you pleanty of extra links and you can sag them etc. They are close enough for me. But for me the quality of the PST kits is good enough and they are accurate kits. Why would I go out and buy the Trumpeter KV's? Here in the US Trumpeter kits retail for between $12.50 and $24.00 (for the FAMO). Dragon Kits go for between $10.00 and $14.50. I can usually get PST kits for $7.00. Sometimes on Squadron for $4.99. So again, there is no reason for me (or anyone else in the US) to pay $12.50 or $13.50 for a Trumpeter KV when I can get two PST kits for the same price and the PST kits all come with the parts to build about 5 or six variants. (This is all true for the recent Soviet Armor from Italeri as well. Too expensive at $14.50 and PST already has a decent JS-2, ISU 152/122 etc.) But issues of price a side. Brad would you rather build the Dragon or Trumpeter EZ 8? (or any of the Shermans for that matter) The Dragon Jagpanther (the Armo pro) is better than the Trumpeter not just because of the zim (which will have to be added on the Trumpeter kit) but it also comes with PE screens and metal cables, and enough decals to kit out a small army of vehicles (120 turret numbers and 10 German crosses!) The only bad things about the Dragon kit is the #%@&! half a shovel and the rubber band tracks. But hey even Trumpeter has the rubber band tracks. So if I had to choose between paying $14.00 for the Dragon JP or $10 for the Trumpeter? It wouldn't be close. Molded on zim, photo etch engine screens, metal cables, a lifetime supply of decals? All of these are worth the extra $4.00. (And here in the US the difference is only a dollar). I have a feeling the Trumpeter kits are just going to keep stacking up here in the US until they cut the price in half.
This message has been edited by DObarr on Jun 2, 2007 8:44 PM
you are right it does become boring but Dragon's EZ8 is not yet available here (so i do not have that option) which brings me back to another Dragon bugbare why does Europe recieve Dragon kits 4 - 6 weeks after north america and we have to pay 30% (up 40% for 1/35 scale kits $58 is what we pay for new Dragon kits) more than North Americans for the exact same kit ... you would think it was our currencies that have collapsed and not yours (this is not a dig at Americans ... it is solely aimed at Dragon Models) .... yet Trumpeter are able to get their kits out roughly the same time around the world
it's the greed of the european distributors. The UK retail price of Dragon 1:72 kits is approximately DOUBLE that of the RETAIL price in Hong Kong. So even with shipping it works out cheaper to order them in from overseas (hint for UK buyers, order no more than three or four kits at a time and you'll almost certainly be under the minimum amount to be hit for import duties and tax). I have a friend in Hong Kong who'll buy them for me, i've also got some from ebay sellers. Well worth while, don't buy from UK sellers, I don't like the idea of rewarding the distributor's greed.
are similary priced with asian prices, i think they are actually slightly more expensive in America (new kits) ... if European retailers were as greedy as you say they would be charging than they are now for academy kits and the price for Dragon kits is not a UK issue it is a European wide issue we are getting theese kits over a month later than the americans as well
They retail here for between $17.50 $20.00. They are nice kits but over priced. I'd buy them all if they were between $10-12.00. I think european distributers keep the price of Dragon high so Dragon does not put Revell andf Italeri out of business. Having a strong currency can hurt your local producers. Sometimes it is easier to go to the source for kits. I usually buy my UM, ACE and Roden kits from the country of origin. This cuts out the middlemen and even with shipping I pay much less than at the stores. Maybe we all need to find someone in Asia to sell us the Academy and Dragon kits directly. Anyone have any sources? And if you want a source for Roden, UM or Ace let me know I'll pass his email on to you.
i used to get the academy aircraft kits in singapore for under $10, usually around the 7-8 dollar mark. here in australia they are closer to the $20 mark!
