ferent, and there were a growing number of

Czech, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian firms.

Somewhere around 2015, the trend began to

reverse itself. Perhaps, this could be partially blamed on the expansion of the fair from

four to six days, which, under the pressure

of protests from attending companies, was

reduced in a compromise to five. Certainly,

there will also be the factor of the greater

expense required to cover a longer event

and the rise in the costs of basic fees and

services that have crossed into uncomfortable levels. In the noted timeframe to 2019,

our expenses for attending Nuremberg every year rose to some $50,000US, and that’s

a price you begin to take into consideration

irrespective of good memories and the belief of its positive effects on your business.

A silver 25th participation medal will have

no effect. It’s much like a display Pour le Merite , but if you have the sense that something is wrong, it won’t bring you much pleasure. And then, when you conduct a bit of

research amongst retailers and journalists

and learn that two-thirds of the regulars

won’t be coming, you start to look for a way

out. We ended up coming to an agreement

with our colleagues at Special Hobby regarding the sharing of a table. It will be a third

smaller than our pre-covid table. We are

also reducing our staff, and we are rotating

them such that the largest concentration of

people at our table will be from Thursday to

Saturday. Even so, we will do our best to be

of interest to our visitors. The Special Hobby

table, like ours, has for many years been

a traditional meeting place and we have

always endeavored to provide optimum

conditions for negotiating. If you come by,

you can count on our traditional hospitality,

friendliness and willingness to share information. I believe that the same can be said

of all five of the other manufacturers that

will attend the Toy Fair, waving the banner

of our field!

February New Releases

I had already touched on the February releases in January’s newsletter. So, just to

quickly reiterate, the main item of interest

is the Limited Edition kit of the Hind E in

1:48th scale with a Jaroslav Spacek publication. Also interesting will be the ProfiPACK

Fokker D.VII (OAW), as will be the A6M3 Model 22 Zero, and both February Weekend

kits, the 1:48th Spitfire Mk.VIII and 1:72nd

scale Fw 190A-8/R2 Sturmbock. In February, the Bf 110E in 1:48th scale also makes

a long awaited return to our range.

Among accessory sets, I would like to point

your attention to the 3D printed F4F-3 Wildcat engine (Eduard 1:48th) and the elegant

wicker seat for the 1:32nd Sopwith Camel in

the Brassin line. Among photoetched sets,

I’d point out the sets for the Airfix Anson and

the Kinetic F-16C (both 1:48th). In the case

of the F-16, we are also offering two mask

sets, one classic and the other two-sided

T-Face. Among the masks, you’ll also note

the first set for masking the RAM panels on

the F-35A. This set diverts a little from our

usual mask assortments, and masks for

treating surfaces have not been offered by

us in some time. This set is also made from

a different material, which is not a cost-saving measure, but rather because this

black material is better suited for this purpose. This set is designed for seven aircraft

derived from the marking options in the

Tamiya kit, and covers newer aircraft with

a simpler structure of these panels. In

March, a similar release will be available,

but with a significantly more complex set

of RAM panels of the older variety, suitable

for Japanese and American aircraft that are

covered in the kit. Among today’s releases,

we also have two classic canopy mask

sets. I think it is also worth pointing out

the sets for 1:35th scale tanks, one for the

A-34 Comet by Tamiya and two sets for the

Jagdpanther Ausf G1 from Academy. Other

news, including those covering seven new

Space sets, can be seen described amongst

February releases below.

Articles

In today’s issue of the newsletter, you will

find an article about Elwyn Righetti by Richard Plos. The search for sunken ships

continues this month with Paul Allen and

from Mira Baric, we have his article about

shipwrecks around Guadalcanal and also

his 11th installment reporting on the air

war over Ukraine covering drone usage

against bombers. After a short pause, we

have Jozef Blazek describing another class

of aircraft. Four of the five Boxart Stories

are written by Jan Bobek, and they cover

the boxart for the A6M3 Model 22 Zero, the

Bf 110E, the Fw 190A-8/R2 and the Spitfire

Mk.VIII kits. The fifth Boxart Story was also

written by Richard Plos and covers the Fokker D.VII (OAW). Richard prepared this kit for

production. I consider the marking option in

it, which also is Richard Plos’s work, as is

the story itself, to be very impressive from

a modelling, design and historical perspective. I think you will agree!

As long as nothing unexpected comes

up, today’s newsletter is being published

using Triobo. Perhaps some will think this

is something odd and non-conformist, as

new things are often seen, and if someone should find themselves feeling that way,

I would ask for your understanding, patience and leniency. Give it some time, and

I think you’ll find Triobo to your liking and

that it brings more pluses than it presents

minuses. And that’s a good attitude in today’s stormy times that goes well beyond the

reading of a newsletter.

Happy modelling

Vladimír Šulc

February 2023

INFO Eduard

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