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Info Eduard - January 2011
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EDITORIAL
The end of the year always brings about
the inevitable self-contemplation over
the past year’s successes and shortfalls,
and also, over the plans for the coming
year. Admittedly, this can sound like a bit
of a threat that can be empty to some
extent or another. By that, I mean that you
shouldn’t drop into the fetal position if we
are not able to do all the things revealed
in our plans for the upcoming year, but you can be sure
that we will do all in our power to do so. I would, however,
add that this year we are better equipped to see our plans
to fruition thanks to our investments over recent months,
and I anticipate our ability to extract the potential of our new
assets will be successful. When it comes to investments,
we still have one more that we need to complete and take
advantage of, and that is initiating our new web page.
Personally, I am taking the fact that we were not able
to get it on line last year as a bigger disappointment than
not having completed the 1/48th scale MiG-21. We even
growled a bit at our suppliers, but it didn’t help much.
Different elements in the supply chain react differently
to varying forms of pressure. I have the feeling that once
again in my life, I can take useful inspiration from reading.
At the moment, I am reading material on the Mongol
hordes and Tatars that invaded Europe, which is a lesson
in how things get done, and are inspirational for the web
page as well as the MiG.
On the other hand, I did expect problems with the MiG,
because it was predictable with the implementation
of our new milling machine, and that slowed us down with
respect to form production. But, the quality sure is there,
and I believe that all will be very pleased with our MiG-21,
and that will go for subsequent releases as well. I would
like to reiterate that quality is the number one priority for
us, so don’t expect some insane Chinese pace from us,
despite the fact that the number of totally new releases
from us should be greater than ever before. This will be
in no small part thanks to the knowledge we were able
to accumulate last year. There was much to do, and much
to learn. So, what will be new for this year? We’ll start with
the 1/48th scale MiG-21.
The rst MiG-21, the ‘MF’, will see the light of day
in March. Yes, this is that secret Eduard Miguary month.
To insure lots of fun, we will be simultaneously releasing
two versions of the kit, one in the standard Propack
boxing, and other will be a prepaid limited version that
will include a wider selection of decals and Brassin
components. The condition requiring fulllment for the
purchase of the limited version is reserving and paying
for it by the end of February, 2011, with the kilts getting
shipped in the latter half of March.
The next in line will be the MiG-21SMT, a long range
ghter-bomber version used, if I am not mistaken, solely
by the Soviet and Russian air forces. The MiG-21SMT
was used in combat in Afghanistan, and there were some
interesting markings and attractive noseart employed.
I don’t expect to be as popular as the ‘MF’, although this
type has not had the attention of modern technology
either. That can, however, be said of the entire line of MiG-
21s, and our ‘SMT’ will be out in the May – June period.
And after that? The MiG-21bis, but not until the following
year. The MiG-21bis presents certain obstacles. Our initial
assumption was that the ‘bis’ had the same fuselage as
the ‘MF’, with a different spine and engine. After warnings
from Finland and Hungary (thanks Kiitos and Kozsonom!),
we reviewed that notion and decided on a complete remake
of the fuselage for that version. As can be expected,
we are not yet done with the changes needed. That will
require a few more Eduard months. Not that it would
be all that complicated, but we will not divert time from
other projects, and we still want to have another good look
at a MiG-21bis. There is no ‘bis’ in the Czech Republic,
as far as I know, and we have to go to Hungary or Germany.
Unfortunately, winter hit soon and hard, and the MiGs are
under piles of snow. We had the option of sweeping them
off to get at them, but dropped the idea rather quickly.
We tried that once, and it turned out to be a headache.
We decided to wait until spring. Unfortunately, it looks to
be a long winter, and it has been a while since I’ve heard
any serious musings about global warming. Between
you and me, if I were Al Gore, I wouldn’t give up, though,
If nothing else, its good to stick to your guns. Eventually,
it must get bloody hot again, and you can bank on it just
as well as you can on the fact that your favorite retailer will
eventually stock the Eduard MiG-21s. It doesn’t matter if it
will be the ‘MF’, ‘SMT’ or ‘bis’, or, with time, another version.
This year, besides the already described Propacks, there
will be a couple of Weekend Kits, as could have been
easily predicted, covering the ‘MF’ and ‘SMT’.
So, what else? Well, another new release planned for the
second quarter, is a 1/72nd scale Hellcat. It will not be
a strict reduction of the 48th scale kit, but the modication
of this kit will not be as involved as for, say, a 1/72nd scale
Bf 110, which would need to be heavily redesigned over
its 48th scale cousin. In the latter case, some problematic
parts need to be simplied, such as the cockpit and the
nose, which won’t be a complete armament installation,
but just the machine gun muzzles (cannon in the case
of the G-4). The basic layout will also be changed, with, for
example, the wing being continuous, and not divided into
two parts, as with the 1/48th scale kit. This is something
I think we will be able to get away with at this point, with
perfect alignment, and the assembly of the new kit will gain
in simplicity and accuracy. Here, I have allowed myself
a level of insubordination, and have jumped ahead several
months. In this case, I mean calendar months, as opposed
to Eduard months, as those can overshoot sometimes.
In any case, I’d really like to see the rst 1/72nd Bf 110s
in our catalog by December, 2011. For now, I won’t reveal
the version. Truth be told, I am not certain yet myself,
although I do have a fairly good idea. Perhaps, in the
summer when the commitment will be made to a specic
version, we can hold another guessing contest.
Back for a moment to the 1/72nd scale Hellcat. The rst
version will be the F6F-3, followed by British Hellcats
Mk.I and Mk.II, with the F6F-5 released at the end of the
year, the schemes of which will be very similar to the 48th
scale kits. After a few months of the release of each of the
Propack kits, the simplied Weekend Edition boxings will
follow.
8231 MiG-21MF 1/48 ProPack
1158 MiG-21MF CZECH AIR FORCE 1/48 LIMITED EDITION