How are these for accuracy, fit, etc? Haven't built one yet, but I'm kind of leery of any kit made in China.

Trumpeter is a mixed bag. STAY AWAY from the M60A1/M60A3/Blazer kits. Very poor knock-offs of a combination of the Academy/Tamiya kit. Many of their early kits like the T-72 and LVPT7A1 are also poor copies.

However, they do have some nice kits, the T-55 is not a bad kit and I have the Type 79 105mm Chinese main battle tank. This kit is rather nice and I hear the kits that share the same basic chassis are nice too.

The word on the street is that the M1A1/M1A2 is one of the best Abrams tank kits out there. But I have also heard that they just took the best features of the DML and Tamiya kits and combined them into one better kit. Some complain that the detail is softer though.

I have avoided the Trumpeter kits since I got burned with the M60A3 (box was labeled Wasan, another name for Trumpeter), but grabbed the Type 79 since the price was low ($5). Their kits are set up for motorization and the tracks are vinyl which is necessary if you want to build a rug burner

Hi!
I´m actually building a Trumpeter kit (EET-2 Osório Brazilian MBT iten 0033) and it´s a odd subject, but I like it overall apearance, good fit, a little flaws to deal with, good detail, the plastic is soft and good to handle, the track are vinil, but it comes with a lot of holes to adjust it to the wheels (never seen in any other kit, for my self). In one word is good, but as mentionned by Sabot every kit must be judged separately...
HTH

I share Sabot's sentiments here too. I have, and like the T-55. The Abrams MBT's are nice, they did seem to listen to the modeler's grips and combine nicer features of the DML and Tamiya M1's into their series of kits. The detail is a bit "softer" like Sabot said too - but nothing stands up to Tamiya's advanced molding technology - look at the Leopard's engine deck grills if you need convincing. For the asking price and what they give you, theirs is the best thing going in 1:35 M1 Abrams MBT's.

I don't have their Chinese vehicles in my collection, but I trust Sabot's impressions there too.

Gunnie

How about their Ti-67??? I bought that one a couple of months ago and it looked ok to me. I also have the Esci kit and put them side by side. Looks about the same quality to me. Perhaps one of the two is more accurate, but which one? Does any one know? Judging from what Sabot said, it can't be all that bad (since it's a variant of their T-55)....

David,
I've made the Esci kit a time ago, not pretty easy or correct, and as Sabot mentionned, it is probably a copy of the Esci kit, just the same model. But I don't know the Trumpeter model...
Cheers!

Paulo,

I know that there's a lot wrong with the Esci kit and that they are not easy to correct. I will try to find enough references to correct them. I thought, that if the Trumpeter Ti-67 was based on their T-55 it might be more accurate than the Esci kit.
Do you have any pointers for the Esci kit?? What should I pay attention to??

There is actually a modeller's site devoted to Trumpeter kits:

http://trumpeter.cool.ne.jp/

Thanks Paul! That was a great help!!!! I bookmarked the site. Now I realize that Paulo was right, it's a mixed copy of the Esci and Lindberg kits. Sorry I doubted you Paulo
I hope this kit is made of "normal" plastic though, as I have heard strange stories about the M60 not being styrene but some other type of plastic that traditional glues don't work on......