EDITORIAL

Good Evening, Dear Friends!

We are at war. We didn't believe something like this would

actually come to pass, and yet, here we are. This last Russian

war is not only insane and irrational, it is also incredibly stupid

and senseless both in the way it is being waged and the goals

and ideals that are being used to justify it. Its architects deserve

nothing more than our utter contempt, while its victims and the

brave defenders of the Ukraine have our support, admiration and

respect. The statesmen and politicians of the free world, who did

not give in to the aggressor and came together in

a surprisingly short period of time to agree on effective aid and

support for the insidiously invaded country, also deserve respect

and recognition. And last, but certainly not least, citizens, the

normal people, deserve admiration and respect, not only for

supporting the severely tested Ukraine, but also for being able

to stand by the laws and justice they subscribe to and not be

afraid to show it. Brave resistance put up by the defenders

and reliable international assistance are the basic conditions

needed for defeating an aggressor such this. It will not be easy,

the price will be high and victory will not come quickly, but the

truth and the law will prevail in the end! Modelers often respond

to such words with the objection that politics do not belong in

modeling, and model companies like us should not comment on

such themes. There comes a point, though, where the bounds of

decency are transgressed so severely that a stand needs to be

taken. And so, again… Here we are. Silence and ignoring evil are

often the quickest way to hell. The war in the Ukraine clearly

shows how politics harshly and ruthlessly affect our lives, our

work, and even our hobbies. At least twenty modeling companies

are based in the Ukraine, and their very existence is now in

doubt. Many of their employees have been evacuated, many have

gone to the front to defend their country and their families, and

fighting is taking place in the immediate vicinity of their homes

and corporate headquarters. Support them, buy their products.

Help them overcome these dark days, and support them even

after this dumb war is over. You know what those companies

can do, they do honest work and they are an important part of

the modeling community. Without them, modeling would not be

what it is. Don't let them fall! In today's newsletter, as always, we

will introduce our new products for the upcoming month, but if

you prefer the products of our Ukrainian colleagues, we will be

grateful to you. They need your money more than we do. When

this war is over, we will be friendly, respectful rivals again. But

not now. Now, it’s about a lot more.

New Items for March

The Arizona has finally reached us and becomes available

to you today. I have already written about the problems with

her delivery to us, and we planned to release the kit back in

December, on the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. And

as the situation in international shipping became tangled up as

hell, so did the boxes of the plastic on their way to us. The delays

piled up so high that the shipment did not arrive until January,

which forced us to issue the kit only now, in March. So we

missed the 80th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor raid, which we

regret, but we still believe that you will like our first of its kind

naval release. The Arizona is our first attempt at a ship kit. We

went at it in our customary way, building around someone else’s

plastic and adding our own accessories to form an altogether

new concept. The plastic comes from Hobby Boss, but not all

the accessory items come from us. In addition to a package of

our photoetched brass and Brassin 3D prints, we include a set

of metal barrels produced by the Polish company Master. There

are thirty of them in total. I also wanted to count the number of

printed components, and the breakdown is that there are two

Kingfisher aircraft, eight pieces of five-inch anti-aircraft guns,

rangefinders, winches, headlights of several types, harnesses,

Browning anti-aircraft machine guns... Then I gave up! After all,

quality is important, not quantity. However, the aforementioned

Kingfishers were not aboard the Arizona on December 7, 1941. As

I say, this is our first attempt at a ship, and at the same time, our

entry into a range of ship accessory items that we would like to

release separately in a number of 3D printed Brassin sets in the

future. We will open the Brassin range of ship accessories in the

coming months with in-house made sets from this Arizona kit.

So we start with the Arizona, and I hope we don't end it there.

We are negotiating for another ship model, which we might

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INFO Eduard

release at the end of this year. We will know the outcome of the

negotiations when the Chinese New Year holidays end.

Other kits

The Arizona is being released in the Limited Edition line. The

second kit in the Limited Edition series this month is a familiar

one, the Mustang, but not the P-51D. This time around, it’s the

F-51D. In the “Korea” Limited Edition release, you will find two

complete sets of plastic, one for the pursuit version, in this

case F-51D, and the other for the reconnaissance RF-51D. There

are three marking options for reconnaissance Mustangs in the

kit, but truth be told, one of them is for an RF-51K. And to be

completely accurate, one of the classic fighter Mustangs was in

fact a Mustang Mk.IV. And as long as we’re coming clean here,

the Mustang in Korea wasn’t a fighter anymore in the classic

sense, but rather served in the fighter-bomber role with a wide

range of under wing ordnance.

The Z-526AFS Acrobat, also called “Kraťas” (Czech for “Shorty”),

sees its premiere in the ProfiPACK line. For lovers of these

aircraft, this kit will certainly be refreshing. Like the two-seat

versions, the “Shorty” still flies today, and flies nicely indeed. All

five marking options offered in this kit can be found in the pages

of today’s newsletter. As a reissue, we have the Bf 109G-14 back

in our range. The kit was out of production for a long time, with

the first edition of this model selling out quite quickly. Compared

to the first edition, there is no fundamental change with this

release, the selection of markings has not changed. We just

applied what I suspect is one small change to the markings of

Yellow “25” of EJG 2 at Pilsen in May 1945. Otherwise there was

no reason to change anything. In the Weekend line, we have two

kits for March. The renewal of the MiG-15 family continues with

the 72nd scale MiG-15, similar to the 48th scale Spitfire LF.Mk.IXc

with Otto Smik’s bird depicted in the boxart. There are additional

sets, and of course, we have an attractive collection of accessories. What I promised back in January, has been realized: most

of the Brassin sets are now 3D prints, only three sets of wheels

remain cast resin, being for the Z-326/526, OV-10 and CH-47A,

all in 1:48th scale, and a set of British retarded thousand-pound

bombs in 1:72nd. Three smaller sets for the 1:48th scale F-4B

Phantom II are being released, the arrestor hook, an air to air

refueling probe and speed brakes are all printed parts. The

cockpits for the Z-526AFS and A6M2 Zero model 21 are also 3D

printed, as well as the folding wing tips for the Zero model 21,

which are particularly charming in their own way. And there is

also a printed conversion kit for the Mi-24D, designed for the

conversion of the Mi-24V from Zvezda to the Mi-24D. All mentioned printed sets are in 1:48th scale. In the LOOK line, we have

prepared sets for three F-104 sub-variants from Kinetic and a

set for the Z-526AFS and for the Z-526AFS are also available

in the Space line, together with a set for the new SR-71A from

Revell and two Royal Navy flag sets in 1:350th scale. The list of

mask sets and photoetched items is also interesting. There are

sets for the new SR-71A from Revell, in 1:48th scale, and also

sets for the Mi-24D from Trumpeter, F / A-18E from Meng and the

Su-27 from GWH. In 1:72nd scale, sets are now available for the

new P-51B from Arma Hobby, the Wellington Mk.II from Airfix and

the F-4D from Fine Molds. In 1:35th , we have a set for the Pz.II

Ausf.F from Academy. So far, the mask sets include items for the

Fw 190D-9 in 1:72nd from IBG and the Vampire F.3 in 1:48th from

Airfix, and I emphasize that they are mask sets only, for now. We

are preparing corresponding photoetched sets for both models

for April, and we are also working on Look and Space sets for

the Vampire.

Spring Events

As I had optimistically predicted, the pandemic is slowly coming

to an end and the world is coming back to life. We do not know if

the pandemic will return in the fall, but it looks like spring and

summer will see some liberation and allow shows and contests

to take place. If and when they do, we will be there. In April, we

will take part in the Easter Prostějov show, where we will renew

the tradition of releasing new kits beginning with the S-199

in 1:72nd. We will not do a special edition kit this time, instead

opting to dive into a standard issue kit from the get-go. It is a

May new release, and by April 15, we should have the kit packed

and ready to go, along with other May releases, including the

Profipack Z-126. And, of course, we will bring them to Moson in

Hungary a week later.

Historical Articles

In today's issue of our newsletter, we have only two historical

articles, but they are darn good reads. We offer you the first part

of Zdeněk Novák's article on the history of the battleship USS

Arizona. This is an exceptional article not just because it's about

a ship, and I personally hope it's not the last article covering a

maritime subject. I had the honor of personally participating

in the preparation of the text, and I must say that I enjoyed the

work immensely and did not have time to wonder about what

great stories are associated with the Arizona there may yet be

to uncover. The first part of the article deals with the origin and

activities of the USS Arizona from the beginning of its construction through service during World War I and the interwar period

until December 7th, 1941. The second part will be printed in our

next issue and will focus on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

and, naturally, the destruction of the Arizona, her pending

wreckage, and also various details important to modelers, such

as the color of the ship or the aircraft operating from her deck.

The second article and deals with another subject launched

today in the form of a new model kit, the Z-526AFS Akrobat,

called “Shorty”.

As always, I wish you time spent well with our newsletter, and

hope that it will make these all-too-dark days more pleasant

and bright!

Happy Modeling!

Vladimir Sulc

March 2022