Trumpeter TBD-1 Devastator

[Clunkmeister]

A quick look at the corrugating. This seems to come together nicely. 
opinions?

I intend to do a quick in box review followed by a very fast, 100% straight OOB “slap it together and check the fit” build. Probably a waste of a hundred bucks, but I’m really really curious about this. 

[Clunkmeister]

Engine?  Typical a trumpeter engine. A real decent level of detail, but no idea on accuracy. I’ll need to look. 

[Clunkmeister]

Cockpit quickie. 
There seems to be a decent level of detail, and this is going to really POP with Quinta, Red Fox, or Yahu 3D decals. 

[Clunkmeister]

Tonight, I’ll put a review together

[BlrwestSiR]

That looks good there Ernie. No idea on accuracy but it looks like things together properly.

[Clunkmeister]

57 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

That looks good there Ernie. No idea on accuracy but it looks like things together properly.

Yep, knowing Trumpeter, it’s way iff, but assuming they pantographed the 1/48 GWH kit, it should be accurate-ish. 

[ScottsGT]

For the price point in todays economy, looks pretty damned good to me! 
Agreed the Quinta addition will be a major improvement. 

[Bomber_County]

Thanks Ernie for the sneak preview, I’ll wait until the full deep dive but………it isn’t pushing the right levers yet. Only built a couple of Trumpeters, why go to the expense of tooling something if it’s not accurate or even vaguely close, perhaps it’s the engineer in me……….

[Clunkmeister]

3 hours ago, Bomber_County said:

Thanks Ernie for the sneak preview, I’ll wait until the full deep dive but………it isn’t pushing the right levers yet. Only built a couple of Trumpeters, why go to the expense of tooling something if it’s not accurate or even vaguely close, perhaps it’s the engineer in me……….

Agreed. I have never built a Trumpeter kit to completion.  I have an F-100 built 90% and that’s it.  Sad. 

[Artful69]

20 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Yep, knowing Trumpeter, it’s way iff, but assuming they pantographed the 1/48 GWH kit, it should be accurate-ish. 

Heya Ern ...

1st up - thanks for giving us a good look at the plastic that has emerged from the vapourware of years gone by. I have one on my order list with my hobby store in the east to help complete my Midway collection ... Also waiting on my store to acquire the Infinity Val ... (absolutely gutted about the Kate though and praying some enterprising company will pick up the slack there!)

In relation to the first part of the above comment ... Not necessarily so! ... This kit was conceived about the same time as the Avenger, Dauntless and Wildcat ... All of which turned out to be good representations of the original. If this kit was put together by the same team that put the other stuff together (especially at design stage!), there's no reason to doubt that it will be a fairly accurate kit. Add your Quinta stuff for that huge expanse of open internals along with some detailed gun barrels and you're probably where you want to be.

Trumpeter (as opposed to HobbyBoss) are, of course, very hit and miss in the accuracy department - as an example, their Bf-109's are quite woeful in external shape accuracy ... yet in most other aspects, the kits themselves usually represent good bang-for-buck ... The boxes are sturdy, with items well packaged. The fit and finish of most of their gear is exceptional, with lots of included detail (even if some of it is suspect) ... Although the 2x 109's I built of theirs were difficult to look at afterward, they were actually fun to build! The remaining kits serve as paint mules for testing new techniques.

Trumpeter cop a steady stream of unfair abuse in my opinion ... Their 1/32 Me.262's were considered the best in any scale until Revell released theirs (some years later!) and the differences making the Revell kit the new 'star' were so minuscule it was meh! While their P.47's cop the odd drive-by, they are fairly close to where they need to be - their only competition being the Hasegawa kits ... which had their own list of imperfections. I went with the Trumpeter kit ... again - choose your poison ... bang-for-buck!

I am looking forward to snagging this one with both hands!!

Rog

 

 

[KevinM]

1 hour ago, Artful69 said:

as an example, their Bf-109's are quite woeful in external shape accuracy ... yet in most other aspects, the kits themselves usually represent good bang-for-buck ... The boxes are sturdy, with items well packaged. The fit and finish of most of their gear is exceptional, with lots of included detail (even if some of it is suspect) ... Although the 2x 109's I built of theirs were difficult to look at afterward, they were actually fun to build! The remaining kits serve as paint mules for testing new techniques.

I have done a couple of these also and found quite compatible with the others in the cabinet ROG but I guess to each his own. The devastator is way down the list for me I prefer the AAC planes of the PTO a Corsair and maybe a couple of other Navy crates will hit the desk but just not enough color...pazazz

[Artful69]

2 hours ago, KevinM said:

I have done a couple of these also and found quite compatible with the others in the cabinet ROG but I guess to each his own. The devastator is way down the list for me I prefer the AAC planes of the PTO a Corsair and maybe a couple of other Navy crates will hit the desk but just not enough color...pazazz

lol Kevin ...

I was attempting to be critical without going OTT ... Once I built a Cyber Hobby Bf.109E-3 (the E will always be my favourite), there was no going back to the Trumpeter kit ... although prior to the Cyber Hobby kit I found them more enjoyable to put together than the Eduard kit. It looks mostly like a 109E to be sure (and is probably the best of the Trumpeter 109's) but the shape accuracy of the Cyber Hobby kit blows it away (once an aficionado sees something - it cannot be unseen, I guess 🤷‍♂️ )

At any rate I'm enjoying watching Ern playing with his plastic!

Rog

[Clunkmeister]

12 hours ago, Artful69 said:

lol Kevin ...

I was attempting to be critical without going OTT ... Once I built a Cyber Hobby Bf.109E-3 (the E will always be my favourite), there was no going back to the Trumpeter kit ... although prior to the Cyber Hobby kit I found them more enjoyable to put together than the Eduard kit. It looks mostly like a 109E to be sure (and is probably the best of the Trumpeter 109's) but the shape accuracy of the Cyber Hobby kit blows it away (once an aficionado sees something - it cannot be unseen, I guess 🤷‍♂️ )

At any rate I'm enjoying watching Ern playing with his plastic!

Rog

Hey Rog,

I’ve been taking plenty of pictures as I go, as I am doing an “all ahead flank” quick build for what I hope will be a decent review, and am so far quite happy with the fit of this kit. I’m going 100% OOB here and doing whatever the blue scheme is in the kit, kit decals and all, warts and everything.  
I have to keep telling myself “NO!” as I lustily and longingly eyeball my stash of Airscale instrument decals and Barracuda placards, but I may yet cave..  I DID use the kit PE lap belts, though!  Mr HGW has scratched me off his Christmas Card list, I reckon.

I hope you’re right regarding the Avenger, Dauntless, Wildcat team being the team unleashed on this kit.  As of right now, it seems to remind me of a bigger GWH Devastator in engineering and fit. Other than the separate control surfaces, it’s like an old friend here. 
 

 

 

[Clunkmeister]

Rog, we need to remember that these are an extinct aircraft, and unless you’re doing a pre war yellow wings bird, there is absolutely no documentation out there on these. I’ve simply made it sorta pretty. It got an oil wash tonight to bring out the detail, and that’s about it.

In typical Trumpeter fashion, there are a lot of internal details, much may very well be invisible when complete, I have no clue, but for now, all goes in it. The oil wash definitely helps tone down the starkness seen here in the pictures. 

[Spitfire]

Nice to see this going together, I've only built a couple of Trumpeter kits and on the whole they were well engineered and a pleasure to build, I'll leave accuracy matters to the experts.

Cheers

Dennis

[Clunkmeister]

5 hours ago, Spitfire said:

Nice to see this going together, I've only built a couple of Trumpeter kits and on the whole they were well engineered and a pleasure to build, I'll leave accuracy matters to the experts.

Cheers

Dennis

Thanks.  I’m not happy with that cockpit effort and am redoing the details. Yes, it’s way to monochrome for me and looks toylike.  I gave it a strip, and now a thin coat of green. Tonight we get an oilwash.  My forté is not fast slap them together builds. Those who can, and have it look good, have my respect.  

[Clunkmeister]

I just moved this to WIP, where it needs to be, folks 

[BlrwestSiR]

21 hours ago, Clunkmeister said:

Agreed. I have never built a Trumpeter kit to completion.  I have an F-100 built 90% and that’s it.  Sad. 

I'm in the same boat. Come close but never finished one. Currently the closest is an F-8 with the Fisher F-8C conversion. 

[BlrwestSiR]

Someone postulated that the Trumpeter kits that are the best accuracy-wise are those where there's been a really good 1/48 kit to copy/reference. 

[Peterpools]

Ernie

I've finished just one 32nd scale Trumpeter kit; an F8F Bearcat many years ago and she still looks mighty good in my display case. My Devastator should be shipped by Friday (Squadron Shop) and after seeing your review photos, going to be a good kit. My only thoughts at this point, is to wait for a Quinta set, as almost every build I have been doing has had a Quinta set and I'm addicted. Kwing how many long years ago the kit was designed and the technology available back then, I'm not expecting an up to date detailed front office - all I want is a kit that builds well, looks mighty nice when replicating a pre-war Devastator and I'll be more then a happy camper. 🙂

[Clunkmeister]

Here’s the basic 3 person cockpit and the fuselage halves. The fit is pretty decent, actually.  At least so far. 
I did lighten up the green a fair bit.

[Clunkmeister]

Well, so far, it appears that the throttle quadrant may be missing, although I’m not that far ahead yet.

The cockpit is missing quite a lot of pipes, tubing, wires, etc, and a few levers, etc. that is simple dimple for someone with a few hours of time on their hands. 
This kit will massively benefit from a Quinta set or similar.  The cockpit itself is tailor made for a Company like Resin2Detail to 3D print one like they did the Helldiver. The interior is definitely simplified to some extent. 

[BlrwestSiR]

You're really getting through the kit Ernie. Hopefully it doesn't get neglected by the AM and we get the detail enhancements the kit needs. 

[Clunkmeister]

Let’s look at the canopy.  You get a 1 piece canopy for the closed look, and a multiple piece canopy for an open canopy. This canopy is an absolute work of art. It is absolutely crystal clear with NO blemishes at all. 

[Clunkmeister]

2 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

You're really getting through the kit Ernie. Hopefully it doesn't get neglected by the AM and we get the detail enhancements the kit needs. 

Yes it is a model that seems like it’ll really benefit from at least some interior upgrades. I’ve never been a fan of PE seatbelts, and Airscale decals have spoiled me rotten as well. 3D instrument panel decals will really made the interior pop here as well.  The consoles are ripe for upgrades. I’d so love to see the R2D Helldiver treatment done to this one as well. 
And of course, those rubber tires need to GO!