John Thompson
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« Reply #15 on: March 17, 2008, 09:34:07 PM » |
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Thanks again, flanker. Here's a thread from another forum which says much the same thing: http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=68719If you open the image in this thread showing the "Red Falcon" Su-15 artwork, the small photo shown in the bottom left corner is (if I remember correctly) the photo I mentioned previously; however, when I saw it, it was in black and white. Perhaps the artist has colourized it, believing it was a genuine photo of a genuine red Su-15. If nothing else, with the red paint and the green nose cone, a built model of this aircraft would make a nice Christmas decoration... John
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flanker
Newbie
Posts: 16
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« Reply #16 on: March 18, 2008, 07:16:15 PM » |
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Yes
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Greg C.
Newbie
Posts: 34
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« Reply #17 on: August 04, 2008, 09:13:04 PM » |
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Well, I just obtained Trumpeter's new Su-15 last Friday. I would say that if you were disappointed in their earlier effort with the 'TM', you probably won't like this one any better. After reading through John & Flanker's comments and critiques of the earlier kit, i have to concur. I have the Zlinek article and plans (Rudenko) and have been comparing my "stable" of Flagon kits with these, as well as my other sources. The error John notes with the nose is indeed repeated in the new kit. But more distressing, the wings are of incorrect outline, and overall too small. Also apparent is the fuselage length, which is noticeably too long, and the radome, which was much too large in the TM kit. All this said, the kit itself is otherwise the nicest yet released of the Su-15. The detailing and fit are both very good, and it appears assembly with be easy and straight-forward. I have both the VES and Amodel kits, and the Trumpeter efforts are vastly superior to both of these, despite their superior accuracy. And on this note, I have to say I have always been a bit skeptical of the practice of comparing three-dimensional model kits to two-dimensional drawings, and declaring them "inaccurate". As can be readily noted in the case of the Flagon, "accuracy" depends entirely upon what set of plans you compare your kit to, and we as modelers and amateur historians have little or no ability to verify claims of one set of drawings being more accurate than another. We can only rely on judgments and representations of "experts", which all too often prove to be faulty. After comparing my different kits with different sets of references and drawings, what I can say definitively is that the Trumpeter offerings do not match-up well at all with the Rudenko drawings as published by Zlinek. If that is the benchmark for accuracy, then Trumpeter disappointingly falls short. I just don't know that this is a terribly objective way to determine such a benchmark.
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Massimo Tessitori
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« Reply #18 on: August 05, 2008, 08:03:16 AM » |
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Hi Greg, I agree that drawings shouldn't be considered as unfailable, and that, even if they are demonstrably accurate, a model can be considered good even if it fails to match them. I would check if the supposed defects of the model are visible when compared to photos of the real plane. Massimo
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Greg C.
Newbie
Posts: 34
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« Reply #19 on: August 15, 2008, 03:03:50 AM » |
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And another thing!!!
I was looking at Modeling Madness tonight, and I noticed reviews they had listed for a couple of after-market resin sets for Trumpeter's Su-15TM, including a replacement vertical tail. So I hauled out my copy and sure enough, Trumpeter left-off the RWR/ECM "package" mounted right above the brake parachute cone. D'oh! Can't believe I missed that! I really do have to start looking more closely at these things.
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Massimo Tessitori
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« Reply #20 on: August 15, 2008, 08:33:45 AM » |
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Hi Greg, do you know if the kits of VES and Amodel are accurate on this respect? Massimo
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Greg C.
Newbie
Posts: 34
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« Reply #21 on: August 16, 2008, 06:21:33 PM » |
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Yes, both the VES and Amodel kits reflect the accurate tail configuration of the TM.
Apparently Pavla have just released a number of corrections for the Trumpeter TM, which will go a long way toward fixing some of it's big issues.? However, the controversy over the size and outline of the wing remains significant, in my opinion.? The Amodel and VES kits share a virtually identicle wing, with Trumpeter's being much smaller, and of noticably different outline.? The Amodel and VES wings also match the Zlinek plans very well, so again if this is your baseline, Trumpeter will be found wanting. Another quite noticable mistake Trumpeter made on their 1/48th TM is the size of the airbrakes, and I haven't checked to see if this has been repeated on their 1/72 renditions.? I have Eduard's photoetch set for the 1/48th kit, and am planning to remedy this problem simply be closing-up the brakes, and using the Eduard brass as a scribing template to make new ones.? As I have been unable to find a single photo of an Su-15 parked on the ground with its brakes open, I have to conclude that this condition was at least very rare, so I had no plan of displaying them open anyway!
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