Thursday, March 31

Preview: Trumpeter's May kits are revealed in plastic and CAD...

Trumpeter's two releases for April are already with us in plastic, colours, CADS, decals & boxart. See the two technologically advanced kits of fighting machines on offer in our preview...


Preview: Trumpeter's May kits are revealed in plastic and CAD...

CHINESE AIR FORCE J-20 FIGHTER MIGHTY DRAGON BEAST MODE
Model: #05821
1:48th scale
Price: $71 USD from Hobbylink Japan
The J-20 is a single-seat, twin-engine aircraft, bigger and heavier than the Sukhoi T-50 and the F-22. The J-20 has a canard delta layout (like Chengdu’s J-10) with two canted, all-moving vertical stabilizers (like the T-50) and smaller canted ventral fins. The stealth body shaping is similar to that of the F-22. The flat body sides are aligned with the canted tails, the wing-body junction is clean, and there is a sharp chine line around the forward fuselage. The cant angles are greater than they are on the Lockheed Martin F-35, and the frameless canopy is similar to that of the F-22.

The colour profile included in this kit
The decal sheet included in the kit
The main landing gears retract into body-side bays, indicating the likely presence of F-22-style side weapon bays ahead of them. The ground clearance is higher than on the F-22, which would facilitate loading larger weapons including air-to-surface munitions.

The CAD images showing the features of this kit
The Mighty Dragon, the fifth-generation jet fighter of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force, gets a precisely moulded model kit from Trumpeter. This kit can be built in the aircraft's "Beast Mode," with various weapons under the main wing, photo-etched parts are included

 Length: 434.2mm  / Wingspan: 267.5mm
Total 240+ Parts
Total of 10 sprues and fuselage
- Canopy made from clear parts
- Finely detailed cockpit, gear cabin,
- Photo-etched parts included


Russian T-14 Armata MBT 
Model: #09528
1/35th scale
The T-14 Armata "Object 148" is a new Russian main battle tank based on the Armata Universal Combat Platform. It represents a new generation of Russian main battle tanks. The most significant new feature is the use of an unmanned turret, with the crew of three seated in an armoured capsule in the front of the hull. It was first seen in public (initially with its turret and cannon shrouded) during rehearsals for the 2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade. 

The colour profiles included in this kit
The decal sheets included in the kit 
The Russian Federation expected to order 2,300 T-14 main battle tanks for delivery by 2020. In 2015, Russian media had announced that around 20 tanks had been delivered for testing, without naming a source.[citation needed] However, in 2016 the Russian Defence Ministry announced that it had signed a contract for a "test batch" of 100 T-14 tanks to be delivered by 2020, with the full project extended until 2025.

The sprues of this kit
Length: 328.9mm /  Width: 102.2mm 
Total of 15 sprues and lower hull
The kit consists of over 730 parts
Multi-slide moulded lower hull, turret
Individual tracks
Photo-etched parts included & Copper cable included
The kit built up in a test shot... We do not know what changed have occured since the 2018 release of this kit. But Trumpeter are saying that it is this month's release so we will leave it at that.