Any reviews on Trumpeter MODERN US ARMY CH-47 CREW AND INFANTRY and their latest Modern US OIF Figures. Are they on sale in the UK yet.


Cookie

Hi Cookie,got a set of these from Hannants in lowestoft,there fantastic,well on a par with dragon.Also supplied is a complete cockpit for a Chinook included in the box.Although i do`nt quite understand why the interceptor flak jackets are modelled in black vynil.
I`ve got mine to go with an Academy blackhawk so i`m looking forward to putting them together.

Thanks Dan

Strange one getting a section of the Chinook. Have you saw Trumpeters last IOF figures, the sets had good weapons and the torso's of the figures weren't bad but the rest of the figures was poor
i wonder what the latest figures are like.


Cookie

I have the new(ish) CH-47 Crew figures. They are pretty good with nice details and the CH-47 Cockpit . The pilots and crew chief look good, and the soldier carrying his wounded buddy is nice as well. Still miffed by the cockpit though. There is a mini-review with sprue shots of them here.

I hope the new OIF figure set is as good as these and not back to thier old OIF figure standard. They new figures are not on the market here in the US yet.

I was in Asia and saw the new Trumpeter "U.S. Army, 2005 OIF," which released this month. Not sure if many people know, but in Asia, all kit boxes are not shrinkwrapped. So I opened it and took a peek inside.

http://store.spruebrothers.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=sbm&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=978008449&Count2=895148873&ProductID=12738&Target=products.asp

(Here's a URL. I'm not affiliated with Sprue Bros.)

I can't really judge the figures if they're good or bad. Somehow, the box art on the back doesn't quite match the front box art. In that, I mean the back box art leg poses look odd; the legs in different positions, the torso leaning weirdly, etc. compared to how the figures should really look head-on if using the front box art. If the back box art in any way reflects the actual poses and scale of the limbs, then I have to say that the figures look...strange.

The kit is a mixture of rehash and new items. The rehash comes from the Trumpeter "101st Airborne" kit. In fact, most of the gear and guns are from that kit. What's new are the PE fret and some gear. There's a radio bag that looks like a gas mask with an antennae sticking out. There are some nice large MOLLE ammo bags and what appears to be a MOLLE canteen, the first in plastic.

The sprues are crisp. One odd aspect is that the kit gives two types of torsos, one in IBA and the other in plain BDU non-armored buttoned shirt. The IBA torsos were black (not gray plastic) and sure seem to be vinyl. Being black, I also had a hard time deciding if the details were proper. The IBA torsos did seem a bit more wrinkly than other IBA torsos such as DML or resin ones, as if the details were kind of melted. From photos, I know IBA details are stiff; the MOLLE loops and flaps don't sag.

The kit gives PE! There's PE for a headband microphone very similar to Verlinden's 1/35 resin "Iraq Spec Ops" or Verlinden's 120mm "US Ranger." However, if one puts on the helmet, the PE wouldn't be seen. This is cool as one can use this kit to make quasi-Spec Forces without IBA or helmets.

The guns are standard Trumpeter "US 101st Airborne" ones. I don't know if PE is used to enhance the SAW with a handguard. I do know that the PE fret has several small items though so perhaps PE goes here and there.

What made me pass was that the pieces kind of had a morphy "melted" look to them, especially the gear. The heads are nice although the expressions look more like Halloween screams and pains of agony than actual regular facial expressions. The MOLLE pouches, holsters, knives, etc. all look the part, yet to me their scales seem a bit off, vest pouches being too narrow and holster being too small.

The best part of the figure kit seem to be the legs, complete with kneepads and straps. Since the legs were separate pieces, I couldn't tell what poses they'll make when glued together and if the poses will match more to the front or the back box art. The boots and some hands are separate pieces. A problem I see is that there's no "hole to pin" assembly so one has to superglue the boots to the ankles and hands to the wrists and hope the join doesn't snap off and that you get the piece centered onto the limb. So in ways, I didn't see the need for having separate boots and hands just to glue them on.

The price is 1675 Yen, or roughly $15 USD. I was very tempted to buy, then figured I'll probably replace the gear with DML or resin ones so there goes most of the kit.

That store also had the Trumpeter MODERN US ARMY CH-47 CREW AND INFANTRY. I didn't take a look inside though.

They sound O.K. The infantry in the CH-47 crew sound about the same. It too comes with multiple gear sprues that look the same as the ones in their prior kits, along with some new gear that includes MOLLE canteen covers and some other new pieces. They also have vinyl torsos and ones without vests on as well. I haven't built them yet, but they look promising. We shall see.

The figures do look all right. Honest;ly, I was hoping someone would buy and review them before I bought them .

Hi

I thought the CH-47D crew and Infantry were okay.

Ryally

maybe if we add all the good parts from the OiF Trumpeter figures we could have a good figure. I thought the 101 Airborne figures had good torso detail but poor legs, weapons where good. I will probably get them anyway when they are available in the UK. I would loved to see them release some modern British figures.

Cookie

I recently bought the Trumpeter MODERN US ARMY CH-47 CREW AND INFANTRY set from the hobby shop. While I hate to say anything that would discourage makers from shying away from modern subjects, I was so disappointed with the kit that I returned it. (maybe the first time I every did that).

I was particularly eager to see if the set's HGU-56/P aircrew helmets were any good. I thought the shape of the helmets was off overall. I didn't like the vinyl IBAs either.

As for the limbs and heads, I guess I'm just used to the DML sculpting approach. Had there been some new useful equipment, this might have been a keeper anyway.

I would like to see some sprue photos before I consider the "U.S. Army, 2005 OIF', thought the PE fret for the headset is interesting.

Brian

I too find the molds of Trumpeter figures to be too soft. I tend to use the body of the Trumpeter figures but use gear from other kits. I'm a relative noob to armor modeling but here are a few Trumpeter figures I did with some parts from elsewhere.