scale, we have sets for the Ju 88C-6b from

ICM, and the AV-8A in two versions, Early

and Late, for the Kinetic kit. The older versions are covered by sets 491164 and FE1164,

and the newer versions by 491165 and FE1165.

There are six new sets for the Bronco MiG-15,

and we have a Space set there as well. There

are also three new ZOOM sets in 1:48th scale,

for the Ar 68F from Roden and two designed

for Eduard Weekend kits of the Bf 109G-6 and

the Pfalz D.IIIa. In 1:72nd scale, we are offering a set for the MiG-25PD from ICM and

a set of landing flaps for the ki-61 from Tamiya. In the armor scale of 1:35th, we have a

set for the Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. H from Miniart,

and for the ship people, a set of railings for

the HMS York in 1:350th. Take a look also at

the new BigEd s and five new decal sheets,

four of which cover stencil data, while the

fifth is the first of several being designed for

the P-51D-5 Mustang. This April release is

dedicated to the D-5 version Mustang of the

357th FG, 8th AF of the USAAF.

I Peel, You Peel, We All Peel…

While on the subject of decals, the topic of

the option of peeling off the carrier film is often discussed. That this is an option offered

by our decals has been no secret for some

time now, and we are often asked to provide

a tutorial on how to peel off that film. We have

never actually done so, even though this adds

an interesting dimension to our decals to

those who want to go that route. The end result here is excellent, and the decals take on

a virtually painted on look, don’t jut out from

the surface of the model, and follow all the

contours of it very well. The reason we don’t

push the procedure as much as you’d think

we might is because the procedure does require a certain level of experience and care,

and lacking these, the possibility of damaging

them is quite high. Given the fact that such

failures as could happen here are generally

and automatically attributed to the manufacturer’s faults, we decided that any official

instruction, or maybe more accurately recommendation, of the carrier removal, will be

avoided. Keep in mind that these decals work

just as well utilizing traditional application

methods and expectations. Nevertheless, in

order to appease all of the potential carrier

film ‘peelers’ out there, Jakub Nademlejnsky

is in the process of preparing a short but informative instructional article on doing just

that. Actually, the peeling of the carrier film

from the decals is not rocket science, nor is

it brain surgery, and the end result is truly

mesmerizing. But, even so, this will be a ‘proceed at your own risk’ endeavor on the user’s

part. This article will come out in the May edition of the newsletter.

INFO Eduard - April 2021

3D Premiere and Free Space Offer

In the Brassin line, I would ask you to note

the release of the F-6D reconnaissance version of the Mustang cameras. This release

is based on a rather labor intensive bit of

research. The interesting about this item is

the combination of poured resin, photetched

brass and printed bits. We’ve been doing

some experimenting now for some time with

printed parts, and we see a lot of potential

with this way of production, and we will be

converting partial production to this technology. We have a lot of experience with 3D

printing, than the entire production of the

Brassin line is founded on it. If you are not

aware of it, the entire concept of the Brassin

items has been founded on 3D printing technology from the get-go, and the masters have

been exclusively prepared this way. The only

handmade aspect to them is final cleaning

and prep work that may be necessary in the

production of moulds. But the technology has

only been to produce the masters, and we

have been recently experimenting with offering actual prints, without pouring. The results of our tests are very promising. I expect

that through the summer, that the number of

sets that include parts printed will begin to

grow exponentially. Besides this set, you will

also find on offer in the Brassin line more of

the usual weapon sets in various scales and

two sets of wheels, one for the Tornado Mk.4

in 1:32nd (Italeri) and for the C-130 Hercules

in 72nd (Zvezda). There are three new LööK

sets to be found, one for the just mentioned

Tornado GR.4 in 32nd and the remaining two

are for the MiG-21R and PFM in 48th. Two

LookPlus sets are for the Bf 110G-4 and the

Il-2, both in 1:48th (Eduard and Zvezda respectively). Going forward, there are four

new Space sets for the ICM 1:32nd scale Tiger

Moth and three in 48th: MiG-15 (Bronco), F-14A (Tamiya) and the Bf 109G-6 (Eduard). The

Space sets, as with all new products, is being developed further since its introduction in

January. The sets developed for this month’s

release are now pretty much as the original

vision foresaw. It’s not that we are not able

to release a new product that is consistent

with its original conceptual idea, but rather

more about the required level of testing as

the product evolves by a limited number of

people. The post release reaction of the public at large then brings much more to think

about. These are then used to evolve the product further. I tend to disregard the typical

Czech disdain for anything new in the initial

phases of release. If we were gonna submit

to that, we would pack everything up and

start manufacturing tractor signal switches.

I recommend a good look at these new sets.

At the very least, they do warrant a good, so-

lid look. In order to make that easier for you,

we are running another offer as of today. This

time, it will be connected to purchases of the

Weekend Edition kit of the bf 109G-6 (catalog

number 84173).

The Earliest of the Spitfires

And finally, I have a few words regarding

another segment of today’s newsletter. It’s

about the article from Richard Plos, Horror

Over Kalamaki, and has already been mentioned. The article is for me a natural extension of the illustration depicting it. It’s mostly

about people who have had the misfortune of

learning of the realities and horrors of war

first hand. It’s about the fact that inside of

the downed airplane, that is about to become

nothing more than a statistic on some paper,

are real, actual human beings. Jan Bobek

added an autobiographical article about the

First World War fighter pilot Gotthard Sachsenberg and his family. So as to not have all

of the articles about long past subjects, there is also an article by Michal Krechowski

and Radim Vojta about a red Cmelak coded

OK-AKP, in the colours of No.312 Squadron.

Each article has its own individual style, and

I have no fear about any of them causing

anyone any boredom.

Also, I would like to point out the model of

the Supermarine Type 300. It’s a conversion

of our Spitfire Mk.I by John Colasante. God

only knows what the differences between

the Type 300 and the Spitfire Mk.I really were,

but he will surely know how much work

such a conversion demands. I have an idea,

too, and I congratulate John on his success

in the Eduard Model Builders Group contest

on Facebook. Shane Doak and the other site

administrators organized this contest very

professionally, and hats off to them as well.

Of course, we refrained from having any sort

of influence on the judging of the contest, but

at the request of the administrators, we provided hardware for the prizes. The contest

ran from the end of 2020 to mid March, 2021

and along with John’s Spitfire prototype, there were two Bf 109s that also placed. One was

from Poland by Mariusz Hasiuk, and one no

less interesting from Bulgaria, built by Mitko

Mitkov.

And that is it for today. As always, I hope you

enjoy this month’s newsletter, and good luck

into the (hopefully) final days of the pandemic.

Happy Modelling!

Vladimir Sulc

eduard

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