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
5