Finally finished this thing. Looks cool, fits cool and builds cool. Well hey...every other Trump kit is a pig and this is the good one. Hate to see what the kit before this one was... Fit is brilliant. Options overwhelming. Prior to Trump the only choice if you wanted one o' these was vacuform from our buddy Taro at Dynavector. Not many parts in the box, which is a bit deceiving but cool stuff none the less.



The wings are fully folded. I have them just "sitting there" in case I decide at a later date to have wings down. The parts pretty much slot right into the holes in the fuselage and wing roots with no fuss whatsoever. You get flap drop options, the normal gear options and more weapon options than you can shake a stick at. Speaking of sticks, you get two 1000 pound bombs, sixteen 60 pound rockets (on twin rails) and one honking huge-ass 1200 pound torpedo. The only quibble I have with the kit is that the instructions are a bit lean as to what goes where and what plays well with others and what doesn't. Hey - I don't enter contests, so it's not like I give a crap... You also get JATO packs which makes sense with the armory underneath the wings.



The parts are really well thought out and plenty detailed. The camera's are shite but then, in Trumps defense, you can't see 'em when the lenses on the fuselage are glued on. Another vague item is the canopy's opening and closing mechanism. It's pretty "artistic license" looking. You can dick with it if you like, but I just copied what De Haviland did for their Sea Hornet and what Hawker did for their Sea Fury. The cockpit can be built after you glue the halves together. Trump gives you a choice of decal control panel or a nice photo etched piece with film backing. The photo etch fret has seat belts and harnesses and the control panel and that's it.



The kit's not that cheap (tho mine was [store closing special :-( ) but if you want one it's the only plastic game in town in 48th scale. Contrary to popular fear, the contra-rotating prop mechanism works great IF you follow the instructions to the letter. In case you're too anal, the parts allows you to dry-fit them to test the validity of the instructions yourself (you can tell I did that, eh?). Anyway, I was freakin' shocked at how seamless it all works when glued together. Really smooth with no crunchy action.



I painted by hand using Dollar Store masking tape and Tamiya paints. My grey is Dark Engine Grey and the other color is Sky. My blacks are Semi-Gloss Black and I also used one of Tamiya's paint markers. The prop spinner is Polyscale Bulwark Red which is highly glossy. The prop tips are Tamiya Flat Yellow. You get a choice of four decal options and I picked number two which is HMS Ocean during the Suez Campaign. Well, that's it for now.

Cheers,


Don