ACCESSORIES - BRASSIN

Conceptually, the Löök and Space sets are

similar. Both utilize progressive 3D technologies in combination with pre-painted photoetched brass. It can almost be said that

these two lines are in direct competition with

each other. I would say that, thanks to being

a further reaching product, the Space concept comes out on top in terms of bang for

the buck, and that goes for both the 3D aspect

as well as the photoetched brass aspect of

the item. For now, it comes out about even,

but we shall see the direction each takes, as

demand by customers develops. These are

still both new items. One thing that these

sets are managing to do already is to test

our printing ability to the max. Sales of pre-painted photoetched has risen markedly

over the past year, and since it’s all printed

on the same machine, we will be in need of

acquiring another one through the summer.

It will be a good investment, as the new

machine will be more modern than the two

currently in use, so we should see an improvement in the quality of the product as well.

As a side note, the colour printers are in the

photoetched department, and the production

of the Space sets is their jurisdiction, while

the Löök sets fall to the Brassin department.

This could precipitate minor differences in

sets designed for the same kit, stemming

from each department’s application of the 3D

aspects to a given set. For May, we have four

new Löök sets coming out, all in 1:48th scale

(MiG-15, MiG-15bis, P-39Q and the Mustang

Mk.IV) and two new LööKplus sets (MiG-21PF

and MiG-21PFM. There are three new Space

sets, covering the MiG-15bis, Fw 190F-8 and

the Mustang Mk.IV, again, all in 48th. Classic

Brassin sets are dominated by a cockpit set

for the Spitfire Mk.II (Eduard, 1:48th). For the

MiG-15 from Bronco, there are three smaller

sets covering wheels and cannon barrels.

It should be noted that these are divided

into two sets, one for the MiG-15 and the

other for the bis subtype. These are also interesting in that they are 3D prints, and not

cast resin. This is a progression that will

begin to dominate our production through

the second half of the year. I expect that

about this time next year, I will be talking

about sets that are predominantly printed,

not cast. The remaining six new sets this

month centre around weapons sets in all

the three main scales. There is also one new

BigSin, for the Spitfire Mk.IIa.

ACCESSORIES – PHOTOETCHED AND MASKS

May’s photoetched items and maks are probably best described as typical. Also typical is

its wide range of subject matter and its potential to generate a lot of interest. For example,

the coverage of the 1:72nd scale set for the

Ar 234 from Dragon, currently being sold by

the Polish firm HOBBY 2000, or the set for the

Bf 109E-3 from Special Hobby, which will

also soon be useable on our own Eduard boxing. Our offering will, of course,

include a plethora of fundamental photoetched brass, so the development of

an accessory kit for it will be a bit more

complicated. HOBBY 2000 is reboxing

a large number of Asian produced kits, much

to the delight of modelers, and so we decided to go into producing some sets for their

releases. In May, besides the aforementioned Ar 234, this includes the 1:48th scale

MiG-15 and MiG-15bis from Bronco, being

boxed simultaneously by the Polish firm. We

also have masks for the MiGs to go with the

photoetched. The MiG-15bis items include

masks, both in the classic form and also as

the inside/outside TFace types. Keeping with

1:48th scale, both types of mask sets are

also being offered for the Harrier GR.1 and

the GR.3 from Kinetic, the MV-22 from Hobby

Boss and our own Fw 190F-8. For all of these

noted models, the list of new items also

includes photoetched, and for the Fw 190F-8

and the MiG-15 this does not leave out landing flaps. For the Arma Hobby PZL.11c we

have just the classic type of mask, same

going for the Roden PT-13 Kaydet in 1:32nd

scale, but both types are being released for

the Trumpeter P-40M in the same scale. This

last type has a total of six new photoetched

sets being released for it, including a set of

pre-painted steel seat belts and two mask

sets. In the ZOOM line, the steel belts are

available now for all of the above noted kits

in 1:48th and 1:32nd scale, except for the Fw

190F-8. However, the set containing generic

Luftwaffe seat belts (Catalog Number FE812)

covers those. The only set being released

that is not for an aircraft is 36462, Typhoon

K for the 1:35th Zvezda kit. This month leaves

out any new ship sets or Big Eds.

DECALS

There are four new decal sets being released

in May, three of which are stencil data items.

They are for the Tornado GR.4 (Revell), the

MiG-15 (Bronco) and the MiG-23MF/ML

(Trumpeter). The fourth set is designed for the

Eduard Mustang. It offers decals for the P-51D from the 15th AF, USAAF, which were

Mustangs without the fin fillet operating

in Italy. One of the articles in this issue

of the newsletter deals with the application of our decals and describes the

oft requested information on just how to

peel away the carrier film, and describes

if and how necessary it is to actually go

through this process to achieve optimum

performance out of them. I won’t go into anything that would require a spoiler alert. You

will find the article interesting, and divulging

its conclusions is unsuitable for me to do

here.

As you probably already know by now, May’s

new releases are available from our e-shop

as of Friday, April 30th. As always, I hope this

newsletter brings you a good read with lots

of inspiration.

Happy Modelling!

Vladimir Sulc

Petr Dousek

* 5. 3. 1966

† 14. 4. 2021

INFO Eduard - May 2021

eduard

5