Trumpeter have announced a detailed information with the box content pictures of their latest airplane model kit in the offer: the C-48C Skytrain in 1:48 scale.

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Good news!
But is this kit identical to their original release of the C-47 which had several rather grave inaccuaricies??
I sincerely don´t hope so....
- Harry B.

I don't know what the C-48 cowlings should look like precisely, but they were apparently a little closer to the strange Trumpeteer cowling shape, which was totally inappropriate for a C-47.

The Trumpeteer cowls are not exactly appropriate for the Lisunov Li-2 either, which makes one wonder where their references came from...

A big issue is that this entirely new C-48 fuselage is far better moulded than the assymetrical issues that plagued the older Trumpeteer's C-47 rear fuselage (The big door hole simply "pulls" the whole thing completely out of shape for unknown reasons, if less obvious with the big doors open)...

The Trumpeteer Fuselage is also broader and far more accurate than the Monogram fuselage, which can only be corrected with great difficulty by putting a 2 mm spacer between the entire fuselage halves contact surfaces (see Replic #121 for the stunning corrective article)... The Monogram nose looks very poor without this correction (and quite a few other fixes, including the nose profile)...

To me this Trumpeteer C-48 kit is significant not so much as the intended subject, but as a far better basis for making a Lisunov Li-2, in part because of the much more appropriate nacelle upper shapes compared to the C-47, but also for a sounder fuselage with more compatible door openings... In addition, the rivetting and skin surface of the Li-2 seems a bit more in line with the Trumpeteer skin's appearance than US built aircrafts (less prominent raised rivets)...

The short-looking main gear also does not seems that big an issue compared to some wartime Li-2 pictures...

The Trumpeteer windscreen could use being made more upright, and this is fairly easy to do by sawing laterally accross the top of the cabin, and "bending" the windscreen posts forward, carrying the roof's "point" forward... I managed easily and could still use the kit's windscreen parts...

One of the really big problems with this kit is getting the passenger windows to look "flush" with the soutside skin, as they should, which requires much carving of the fuselage window holes, from the inside, and carving off of the window part pegs as well... Very difficult and tedious, but the difference is worth it...

Airwaves does a set of excellent resin Lisunov cowlings, but it seems the louver fronts were not that commonly fitted in place, and removing them would be near impossible on the Airwaves resin parts. For the props, the kit props could be used if the hub is made shorter and more compact-looking...

I am at the point of assembling the wings to the fuselage, and my previous (bad) experience with the Trumpeteer C-47 kit indicates the numerous, and tight, wingroot lugs are more an obstacle to a good sit than a help, as is often the case with overdone large parts lug engineering...

It is a far better-looking kit overall than the old Monogram. Too bad it wasn't made as a Li-2 from the start, as its errors are difficult to understand, and throw away much of the kit's excellent achievements for no discernible reason.

Gaston