My First Trumpeter Kit: Good Heavens, Are They ALL Like This?!

[El Santo]

I'm about 85-90% of the way through building Trumpeter's USS Maryland in her final form, and I just need to vent a little to people who'll understand. I've wanted to build a model of this ship, in this configuration, since the late 1980's, when I got Sqaudron/Signal's U.S. Battleships in Action, Part 1, so I was tremendously excited when the existence of this kit came to my attention. And the truth is, it's turning out well, all things considered. But MY GODS, has this build been a pain in the tuchus! Close to 300 pieces, but close to zero clean fits. Lower half of the hull almost 2mm longer at the bow than the top half. Elements that could have and should have been molded as one or two pieces molded as five or more for no apparent reason. Beautifully drawn instructions that nevertheless leave at least one crucial detail of assembly maddeningly unclear at every step. Order of assembly so flatly nonsensical that I ended up disregarding it completely, and occasionally got myself into a jam thereby. And this morning I discovered that the rangefinder on the uppermost level of the bridge structure-- part H-24-- belongs to a sprue from the 1941 Maryland kit, which ISN'T INCLUDED in the package for the 1945 version! It isn't even a packing mistake, because there's no Sprue H on the parts diagram in the instructions. I'm pretty sure I've got something serviceable in my junk box, but that's really sloppy, you know?

[Pieter]

They are not all like this. The newer kits, the recent downscaled '350s like Intrepid, Constellation and Calcutta/Cairo for example, are better designed and actually fit together. It is still not Tamiya but you get what you pay for I think. A way to find out which one is 'good' is that some online vendors like Super Hobby make their own sprue shots rather than relying on pictures dend by the manufacturer. This way you see some of the more glaring mistakes in a kit before you buy them.

[Kometa]

We have all encountered the same issues with almost every kit. The instructions serve as a guide, but you don’t necessarily have to follow the suggested assembly order. I’ve built the West Virginia and the California and ran into quite a few problems—but that’s just part of the nature of the kit and the process of finding solutions to its flaws. Other brands don’t have as many issues, but they also come at a higher price.