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Info Eduard - May 2011
EDITORIAL
The stormy world situation has gradually
settled down, at least in the sense that it has
lost some of the media attention. That’s how it
goes. As you have no doubt noticed, it´s like
with other forms of tragedy, such as aircraft
crashes. Most attention is garnered in the few
initial days, when everything about causes isn’t
much more than speculation. About subsequent
investigations and conclusions you nd out
practically nothing. Case in point: Fukushima.
A month ago, the newspapers and television were
full of reports, but today, you’re hardpressed to
nd more than small items. A fascinating story
of the liquidation of the effects of the crash
will remain, as always, and initial and focused
attention in the media becomes relegated to the
Discovery and National Geographic channels.
But, at least there is the likelihood that the facts
will be presented in an effective and serious
way, assuming that Greenpeace doesn’t get
involved, or Al Gore or another Children of the
Earth member. At least Khada remains deant
and demonstrates, as opposed to other Arab
dictators, his skill and knowledge of his dictatorial
trade. Not that I would consider myself a fan
of the man, but the way that he hangs on with
such determination demands, at the very least,
some respect. Furthermore, his ability to stand
up to such intense NATO intervention, will supply
subject matter to the modeling world. At least,
I would expect that appearance over Libya
of operational machines will not be ignored, and
that airbrushes, colors, masks and so on, are at
the ready.
I am currently on vacation in the Sazava region,
and I am writing this newsletter there. I was here
at a show about four years ago, incidentally,
a very memorable show, and I promised
myself that I would come back here to spend
at least some of a vacation. This year, it nally
happened, and my wife and I navigate the
area, and every now and then, we get soaked
in rainstorms. Just today, we were greeted by
three thunderstorms, and amazingly, each time
we were hit, we were just passing a local bar.
From time to time, a person can get a bit lucky.
Sazava is a comparatively small area, but with
an uncommon number of superb modelers such as
Mira Senf, Petr Zatrepalek and Pepik Simon, the
local pediatrician who also runs the local kids’
modeling club. His inuence in the developing
of new and young interest in modeling, when
there is so much despair over lack of same,
shows that the situation may not be that tragic.
In fact, there is room for optimism, as shown by
the contents of this newsletter. The builder of the
1/48th scale Su-22 in the gallery is fourteen
year old Filip Kosata, a member of the Sazava
modeling group. Along with his brother Daniel,
he is nishing off one of our MiG-21s, each
one one, and I have to say that no way I’d do
a better job! Sazava will see their show on June
26, 2011. Check out www.modelarskydensazava.
estranky.cz. It will be smaller than ModellBrno
(and follows it a week later), but it will be fresh
and it will have avor. It’s a very inspirational
show. Incidentally, that the situation is not all bad
with respect to the inux of younger modelers
can also be seen on fteen year old’s Jan
Petr’s MiG-21MF, also in today’s gallery. His
pic had over a hundred hits within 24 hours
of being posted, which is highly impressive.
The modeling season is in full swing, one show
is replaced by the next. As you know, we were
at Moson, and, as always, our stall was packed.
This year, the circus that was the show for us t
in our booth area only barely, and next year,
if things continue as they have been, and they
probably will, the situation is bleaker. We will
need to do a bit of rethinking, and initiate
some optimization for space use. I think we’ll
gure something out. At Moson, over catsh and
Hungarian gulash, we were getting some pretty
good thoughts. The show itself was awesome,
as usual, despite some musings about lower
attendance gures. Personally, I appreciate
an analytical approach to problem solving by
organizers, thanks to whom I didn’t have to sleep
on the banks of the Danube after all. To explain,
somehow or other, it turned out that I didn’t
have the accommodations that I expected, but
alternatives were found for me before my panic
got me to the nearest sporting goods store to
purchase a tent, sleeping bag, and other non-
modeling necessities of life. Koszonom, Egresi
Andras!
The Moson crowd had a bit of an effect on
the MiG-21BIS situation. Or ‘bis’, if you wish, I’m
not sure which to use. I’ve even seen ‘Bis’ used.
In the end, we’ll use the designation Izdeliye
75, and that’ll bee the end of that! But, back
to the point. I met up with Gabor Szekeres, who
very convincingly presented an argument for the
differences in the MF and BIS, demanding more
modications than were previously planned.
So now, to the nose section, add another 24
larger and smaller changes, such as the prole
of the top of the n, and the cannon bay.
The kit will also incorporate changes in aircraft
using Lazur-M system (Izdeliye 75 for Soviet air
defence units, Izdeliye 75A for units of other
socialist nations, and 75B for client states such
as India and Finland) and machines equipped
with Polyot-OI (Izdeliye or Type 75AP; Polyot
was dubbed SAU in East Germany, which was
picked up in western publications). Polyot/
SAU was an automatic ILS landing system
and characterized by large RSBN antennae
under the nose and on top of the vertical tail.
Lazur-M was an automatic guidance to target
system, for the interceptors equipping the air
defence. With this, I think I am answering some
frequently asked question, I hope it clears some
things up. And this still hasn’t addressed any
of the cockpit differences! The world turns on
this sort of thing, and I hope no questions will
arise about specialized beer-carrying droptanks
or carrot juice! If so, I will approach a small,
progressive micro-brewery, and get some
answers for ‘ya. Here in the Sazava region,
I stumbled upon a beer named ‘Vitek z Prcice‘
(who was the founder of the Rozmberk lineage,
a middle-ages nobility with inuence over all of
central Europe). It’s really very good, and it has
been quite a while since I have drunk something
that refreshing.
Besides the big-tailed Doras Mosonmagyarovar
saw the premiere of our T-shirts, as promised
back in March and April. As of now, all three
are available for sale. Or, more accurately, ‘for
now, all are available’. The stocks are shrinking
quickly, so if you’re thinking about one of these
rst series shirts, don’t wait too long. We decided
that the motivs on these shirts will be changed
from series to series, so no one specic type will
be available very long. At the start of May,
we will be at a meet in Koprivnice, and this will,
as things are going, be the last time all three will
be available simultaneously. If they appear a bit
too pricey, please note that the reasons for that
include the quality of the printing, the size of the
production run, and also the quality of the shirt
itself. We picked the best of quality in all cases.
The sizes are to European standard, so they will
be a bit smaller than the American counterpart.
Also, XXL are going fastest…not that I would
draw any conclusions about the physique of the
average modeler….
Koprivnice will see the premiere of the MiG-
21SMT. There is greater interest being
generated by this kit than was anticipated,
and has led us to increasing the size of the rst
edition. I was basically going by the assumption
Daniel and Filip Kosata of Sazava with their MiG-21s.
You will see both these models soon on our Facebook,
as well as in some of the future famous Eduard INFO issues.
I met this beauty during my trip to Prostejov. You will
meet more information about the Easter Prostejov
Model competition in next Eduard Newsletter.
And this one was met during backway from Prostejov
in Praha – Horni Pocernice. Tell me that US Army didn´t
reach Prague in 1945!