be remembered that the figure cost

something, and was an item that

we ordered from the producer and

did not make these ourselves and

with an overall 15% discount, most

saw the price as reasonable. Currently, the most recent BFC item is

Hartmann’s Bf 109G-14 as she flew

after being assigned to 7./JG52 in

Hungary in February, 1945, flown

by Anton Kellmayer. In April, we

will continue with the Liberator GR

Mk.V by popular domestic demand,

producing markings for BZ780, the

aircraft in which well-known Czechoslovak boxer Vilda Jaks died who

was also featured in the film ‘Pesti

ve tme‘ (Fists in the Dark). This was

a film with Marek Vasut who is today more involved in commercials

instead of movies, but he had a great role in the flick ‘Krev Zemreleho‘

(Blood of the Dead) where his scene on the ramp of an Mi-8 landing

somewhere in Africa caught my

attention the most. I recommend it!

Along with the markings for the Liberator, we will also be releasing a

t-shirt LIBERATOR AND VILDA JAKS,

which will be available to outside

the BFC as well. Another April offering to the BFC will be an Fw 190A-5/

U12 in 1/48th, also largely based on

popular demand. The BFC items are

being released with a certain delay

compared to regular items, but there are varied reasons for this and the

timing is difficult to make satisfactory for us as well as our customers.

We are intensively trying to fine

tune these releases to coincide.

While on the subject of Liberators,

we promised an English translation

which we had difficulty in supplying in time for the release of the kit.

It turns out that the translation is

more involved than was anticipated,

and in order to release something

that is worth reading will require

a little more of a time investment on

our end. We are intensively working

on this as well, and and we are relatively close to its completion and

I am confident that the English text

will be available on the RIDERS IN

THE SKY 1944 page at the end of April.

Among April’s new releases is the

new boxing of the Heinkel He 280

in 1/48th scale. The He 280 wasn’t

just another Nazi weapon gone by

the wayside as someone once wrote us on our Facebook page. Here

was an aircraft that left its mark in

the world of aviation development.

The kit itself was very instrumental

in the development of kit making

in our own company. The masters

were still hand made but the moulds

were galvanized and came out very

INFO Eduard - April 2018

nicely. It was on the He 280 kit that

we were able to confirm our design

and development techniques, and

it could be said that this kit led to

our Airacobra and other modern

kits. It didn’t only influence kit development, but also gave essential

insight and experience into current

modes of design and machining that

with the coming of computers and

CNC technology took the initiative

leading to what we do today. The

coming of new kits quickly rendered the revolutionary Heinkel here

obsolete and the moulds were disassembled and stored. Which may

have an air of nobility to it, but in

this case the storage facility is next

to a waste water treatment plant.

Over the past few years, there was

an increasing level of interest in the

kit accompanied by questions about

its possible resurrection, but I had

a corresponding increase in doubt as

to whether the moulds could even

be located, let alone be put back

into production. In the end, both

conditions were satisfied and the kit

is back, probably one last time. This

kit includes colour photoetched, the

current mask style and all alternative parts. So, basically, this is a final

summary release of this kit.

I often read and hear the opinion

that the better the kit, the less the

need for accessory items; that it’s

pointless to produce anything for

a truely great model, and that they

have a place only for the mediocre

to average kits out there. This is

faulty reasoning, and the opposite

is true. Really, if we think that what

we produce in terms of kits attains a

certain level of decency, why would

we produce accessories for them?

The most accessory items sold are

ones specifically designed for the

best kits out there. This has proven

itself true yet again with the release

of the new Bf 109G-6. Not the one

of the line from our production, but

the Tamiya 1/48th scale kit. We prepared a bit of a tsunami of accessories for this undisputed little gem in

the form of Steelbelts in the ZOOM

line, a traditional photoetched set,

masks in both with just the exterior coverage and also with interior

coverage TFace renditions and the

first wave of Brassin sets. These last

mentioned are currently smaller

sets that include exhausts, wheels,

barrels, WGr.21 grenade launchers

and underwing gun pods. The bigger

sets will arrive in May and will include the cockpit, the radio installation

a small splash will come in June, and

the engine set in July. It’s true that

the kit already includes an engine,

but it’s so clean and smooth as to

be almost unlikely. Our version will

be more detailed and somewhat

rougher with its fair share of nuts

and bolts, screws and a plethora of

other items to turn this item into

a true modelling experience. It will

command some attention, but your

end result will surpass your expectations. And if you should decide that

this type of thing is not for you, it’s

good. I can accept that, too. I wouldn’t go into something that detailed

at this point in my life either. But

when this set appears on the internet and at retailers, be sure and take

a look, because it will be well worth

your while.

Other interesting Brassin collections are three for the Liberator, this

time covering the turbochargers,

the bomb bay doors, and especially

the extended bomb bay rocket rails.

I consider the bomb bay launch rail

systems that was designed for the Liberator to be a technical mystery, in

both reality and in the model itself.

With respect to photoetched parts

and masks, noteworthy are the new

items for the new B-25C/D in 1/72nd

scale from Airfix, and we have accessories for the Shackleton AEW.2

and Phantom FG.1 from the same

manufacturer and in the same scale. Also interesting are the three sets

for the S-38 Schnellboot in 1/35th

scale from Italeri, and in the same

scale, sets for the Elefant/Ferdinand

from Zvezda. The sets designed for

the KittyHawk Su-17/22UM3K look

good, and some time spent looking

at the BigEds and BigSins wouldn’t

be too out of place either. All are

dedicated this month to the Revell

Fw 190A-8 in 1/32nd scale.

That’s it for now,

Happy Modelling!

Vladimir Sulc

eduard

5