BFC Admissions Kit

Another frequent question is in regards to the availability of new membership admissions kits to the

BFC. In this case, it won’t take as long as it will with

the Airacobra, but even here, the situation is not all

that simple. As most readers of this newsletter will

recall, we were in the process of preparing three

new membership admissions kits for the first half

of this year. These were a 1:35th Sherman, a 1:48th

Tempest Mk.V and the 1:72nd scale MiG-21MF. Unfortunately, we are short on plastic for all three of

these items. And to make matters worse, it looks like

the Sherman will never come to fruition. The plastic

came from Tasca/Ausca, which we had in storage,

and we have no current contact with the firm. I consider the chances of reacquiring the plastic to be

very low. There’s a chance of putting together the

Tempest and MiG-21 admissions kits sometime during the summer months. And that’s the answer to

this complex question.

Mustang and Space

There is one more kit that is coincidentally making

It to the retail page these days. This is the P-51D-5

Mustang in the Weekend Edition lineup, as well as

ProfiPACK . Replenishment of stock of the plastic

trees for this kit was not as fluid as we had hoped,

and the last of the available kits of this line, the F-6D

reconnaissance version, have sold out. So the Mustang is currently returning to retail health only now.

I get the feeling that this represents a turning point

on the return trip to normality, but whether or not

this is just a feeling, or a fact, will begin to show in

the following weeks. Along with the return of the

P-51D-5, we are also releasing the January postponed Space introductory offer. The purpose of the

event is to deliver examples of the product into the

hands of modellers and to show them that there

needs to be no fear that this line is nothing more

than raster-suffering blobs. The quality of the printing on our photoetched accessories and currently

on the Space items is a constant topic of discussion

on the internet. This is separated into discussions

surrounding the raster, and surrounding the level of

detail. Some of the discussion typically gravitates towards damnation. Some claim, from the comfort of

their armchair, that in terms of elevating the quality

of released items, Eduard is a nobody. I have even

read that paradoxically, as a company that produces

accessories, Eduard made headway into the production of mainstream kits, and completely neglected

the accessory market. This is an interesting thought,

that is difficult to refute, just as the actual situation

would be difficult document photographically. As

long as, of course, you have no intention of docto-

INFO Eduard - March 2021

ring the photographs. That is why we organize such

events such as those with the Mustang. The idea is

to allow the modeller to get up close and personal

with the new items and decide for themselves. We

will carry on with this idea for some time yet, and

probably at least until such time as model shows

become a thing again and we can show these off in

person.

Accessory Sets: Photoetched, Masks, Decals

Let’s have a look at those neglected accessory items,

shall we? The collection of photoetched brass sets

and masks is pretty wide today. In 1:32nd scale, we

have sets for the A-26C Invader from Hobby Boss,

and these total eight, and these are joined by a set

for the Tornado GR.4 from Italeri. The releases for

1:48th scale kits is more striking, and includes sets

for the Su-57 (Zvezda), the Su-27UB (GWH), the

Ju 88C-6 (ICM), the Su-30SM (Kitty Hawk) and the

F-16I SUFA (Kinetic). Among the ZOOM sets, we

have a new one for the P-39Q that is aimed at the

new Weekend release of that type. In 1:72nd scale,

we are offering sets for the F-4EJ Phantom II from

Fine Molds, the Bf 109E-4 from Special Hobby and

for our own Z-37A Cmelak. These are all nice, modern-standard kits, and the photoetching is keeping

pace. I recommend careful examination of the instrument dials as well as the oft discussed raster. We

are paying much attention on both of these aspects.

I think that anyone who claims that we have neglected these items hasn’t recently seen what we have

been able to come up with. There is a raster, which is

physically unavoidable, but it is now so subtle, that

it becomes a non-issue. The same non-issues exist

elsewhere, with these items. There is just no comparison between what was and what is.

For March, we have also produced stuff for the AFV

scale of 1:35th. One is for the Pz.IV Ausf F from Tamiya and one for the ZSU-23-4M Shilka from Zvezda.

There is also a 1:350th scale set for you ship types

out there, for the HMS York from Trumpeter. This

will also have a handrail set added to it in April. Still

on the subject of photoetched, we also have six new

BigEds. There are also new decal sheets covering the

Z-37A in 1:72nd, stencil data for the Do 17Z (ICM/

Eduard) in 1:48th, and the Bf 109E in 1:72nd. This is

designed mainly for the Special Hobby kit, but will

certainly fit the Tamiya and AIrfix kits just as well.

I think that most of us would like these for the Special Hobby kit as well as, soon, the Eduard kit, so here’s hoping that the plastic shows up soon!

Brassin, LööK and Space

The dominant item in the Brassin line is the Merlin XII for the Spitfire Mk.II in 1:48th scale. This is

a beautiful set, and many of you will already have

experience with our versions of the Merlin. Still in

1:48th, there are two smaller sets for the Zvezda Il-2

covering the wheels and exhausts. In 1:72nd, I suggest a look at the underslung spray setup for the

Z-37. This was used mostly in the former East Germany and is represented in the kit, but the Brassin

item is, naturally, a nicer piece, being in resin. The

LooK line offers items for the Il-2 from Zvezda and

the MiG-21PF from Eduard. This one has a black

instrument panel, in case you were wondering. To

this, add two LookPlus sets for the MiG-21MF in two

cockpit variations. There are six Space sets, most

in 1:48th. Out of these, there are three for various

versions of the P-38 Lightning form Tamiya, one is

for the P-39Q Airacobra for guess who’s kit, and

one for the already mentioned Il-2 from Zvezda.

The sixth and final set is designed for the Tornado

GR.4 from Italeri. The rest of the items are made

up of, as generally has become the rule, various

bombs and missiles/rockets in all of the major scales, and one machine gun in 1:32nd, the MG 17.

We also have a BigSin ADVANCED for the P-51D.

Not Just Historical Articles

Besides the aforementioned historical article by Jan

Bobek about combat between the Fw 190A-5 and

the I-153 over Lavansaari, you will come across an

article by Marek Mincbergr, who is a modeller and

a sport pilot, detailing his experience with flying

a Trener (‘Trainer’ aircraft) equipped with skis. This

was just about the only type of skiing that this winter was not outlawed! The final, third article by

Miro Barič talks about the only existing example of

Do 17Z in the world.

Happy Modelling!

Vladimir Sulc

eduard

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