Editorial

Dear Friends,

Today we have 52 days to go until the start of E-Day, so it's high time to talk as much as possible about what awaits us this time around. You probably know the basics by now. We start on Friday, June 26th in the evening, and end on Sunday, June 28th in the afternoon. Friday evening will, as usual, be a warm-up for the early birds, with model registration opening at 5pm. We will only have time to focus on one item from the program on Friday, the presentation of Eduard's new products for the rest of this year. Catering will be available for the rest of the evening, provided, as last year, by members of the military history club of the 97th Infantry Division of the US Army from Litoměřice. On Saturday, catering will be strengthened by additional entities, the Café by the Lake will be open, which will again be included in our program, the Brno Air Café will have its stand at the exhibition, and several other businesses will also be added offering ice cream and other snack items, and the cafeteria opposite Hall G will also be open. It will most likely be warm, maybe even hot, so refreshments will be useful. However, it may also rain, so we will have covered spaces in the NS Hall on standby, if needed.

Saturday

We start at nine o'clock in the morning on Saturday. The parking lot will be secured just like last year, the parking fee and the entrance fee are valid for both days, which means that if you pay on Saturday, you don't pay on Sunday unless you lose your identification band. Unlike previous years, this year BFC members will also pay an entrance fee. Before you start chewing me out, read the following first. BFC members will receive a special admittance kit, different from other visitors. It is a 48th scale model aircraft. We also have a admittane kit for non-BFC members, in this case it is a 1:144 scale plane. This indicates that there still is a unique admittance for BFC members. The entrance fee is still not paid by participating modelers, who will again receive a unique ‘participant’s kit’. If a BFC member is an exhibiting modeler, he also does not pay an entrance fee, and he will also receive a participant kit. If a BFC member would like to add a ticket model to it, they can voluntarily pay the entrance fee and then they will receive the ticket model as well. I will not reveal the types of ticket and participant kits to you just now. As is our custom, we keep them secret until the start of the event. That is, until Friday, June 26.

Workshops

On Saturday, the program will have a significantly higher pace. Workshops will be held in Hall A, six of which will be on Saturday and two on Sunday. The workshops will include a presentation of new Gunze paints and weathering materials by Jozef Blazek, building a new Hybrid P-51B Mustang in 1:32 scale with Jan Baranec, a demo on working with ultrasonic knives from the Japanese company Echotech hosted by Daisuke Yanagimoto, painting figures with Jan Merhaut, another workshop will be led by Lukas Deml, and we are also counting on a presentation of new products in 3D printing with Petr Silhanek, owner of the company Part2Print.

The Pot Q & A

There will be big discussions and presentations in Hall G. We will start on Saturday with the presentation of Eduard releases, followed by other sessions, the first dedicated to Eduard, moderated by Jindrich Sterbacek and hosted by me, the second dedicated to Special Hobby, moderated by Petr Švihovec and my guest Alfred Riedel. We still have room for one more discussion with a foreign participant, but he is not yet confirmed, so I will tell you about him in the June editorial. For Sunday, we are leaving the presentation and discussion on the Eduard Hybrid series and the new P-51B Mustang kit in 1:32 scale. It will first be in Czech for the locals that come to E-day, and then in English for foreign visitors.

Discussions by the Lake

Compared to last year, there will be fewer large discussions in Hall G. The large discussions will, like last year, be supplemented by shorter interviews with guests in the Cafe by the Lake location. That is the café right behind Hall G. Last year, the interviews in the café took place at the same time as the program in Hall G, which somehow interfered with each other both in terms of time and sound. This year, we will do it so that the programs in these two locations do not overlap, but complement each other. We assume that it will be somewhat more relaxed, and it will give visitors a better chance to complete more points of interest offered by the program than they were able to in the somewhat hectic program of the one-day event. In the interviews in the café, you can listen to other Czech producers, such as Petr Muzikant, owner of the company AZ / KP, Stanislav Rieger from Aires and Jiri Bodecek, owner of the company Boa. Guests will also include Jaroslav Hajecek, director of the Czech representation of Bell, Lebanese modeler and Airbus A-350 captain Karim Bibi, Lubos Kuna, member of the SMCzR board and also the man without whose service no model competition in the Czech Republic can do without, Italian modelers Paolo Portuezi and Fabio Besani, café owner and collector Albert Kronek, figurine manufacturer and book publisher Pavel Beranek… and I could go on.

Model Club Presentations

Compared to last year, two more halls will be available this year. In one of them, in Hall S, model clubs with their presentations will be the focus of attention. Some of the clubs will participate in a performance led by Petr Vacek, the purpose of which will be to present model work to the non-modeling public. If you are not quite sure what to expect from this activity, don't worry, I feel the same way, but given Petr Vacek's abilities and personality, I am quite sure that it will be a good investment in your time. If it's stimulating a curiosity in you, go to Hall T and see what it’s about. You will definitely meet many of your friends there and I am sure that you will not be bored there.

Raffle

The Saturday program will conclude with a raffle. After last year's experience and positive response, we decided to expand the raffle. We have been able to secure a number of valuable prizes, such as paintings, aircraft parts and unique model kits. I will not hide the fact that we have been eyeing raffle announcements at foreign exhibitions for some time now, where the Japanese are the real masters in this field, who can turn the raffle announcement into a great show. So we decided to try it too and prepare a great show. It will start on Saturday at 4:00pm in Hall G. When it ends, the afterparty will begin in the catering area, again provided by our partners from the 97th Infantry Division. The program will also include a tasting of rums by Mr. Albert Kronek, the owner of the Brno bar and Air Café.

Sunday. Awards Presentations and Tours

On Sunday, we will be taking the foot off the gas pedal a bit. In addition to the already mentioned double presentation of the Hybrid series and the new P-51B in 1:32, we have two trips prepared. These are optional, only for those who are interested in historical events and memorable places. The first is to the battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars, you can visit the battle memorials at U Chlumce, see the places from where the Russian Tsar Alexander or the French Emperor Napoleon monitored the battles. Your guide will be Mr. Jiri Bures, and I can assure you that Mr. Bures really knows his stuff. The second trip is to Terezin, it will focus on the baroque fortifications of this breathtaking fortress and the function of Terezin in the defense of the northern border of the Austrian Empire. The guide will be Mr. Ales Beranek from the military history club...

The announcement of the awards results will then begin on Sunday after noon.

Not a terribly weak lineup, is it? It won't be easy to keep the program and individual events in mind. That's why we've opened a communication channel in WhatsApp, through which we'll keep you updated on what's happening at E-Day, especially about which part of the program is starting and where. You can find the communication channel here.

New Things at E-DAY

One of the reasons why I love going to E-Day is always the news from both Eduard and the other manufacturers and dealers who attend the event. I can't speak for them, but I know enough about our own releases and I have to tell you about it, and I want to.

June Releases

E-Day takes place at the end of June and the June releases will still be relevant at that time, although we assume that a large part of you will already have them at home by then. Nevertheless, I will remind you of them. Because they are interesting, at this moment they are still future items and some of them are unique in their own way. Or they will become unique over time. First and foremost, we have the Hornet Legacy limited Edition kit, which focuses on the F/A-18C in 1:48 scale. The moldings come from Kinetic, everything else is ours. The preparation of this kit was and still is some adventure, mainly due to problems with the production of moldings in China and also due to transport, which became complicated for several reasons, mainly due to the war in Iran. The moldings come to us in two batches, the first of which we will pack in the kits for preorders, and are slated to arrive at Prague's Václav Havel Airport this week. It is still not entirely clear when the second batch will arrive, from which the kits for retailers and distributors will be packaged, but we hope it will be next week. In any case, we should have the Hornets for E-Day, if we don't sell out by then. In fact, most of them are already ordered, but a few dozen units could still be available at the end of June.

It is similar to another Limited Edition release, the Battle of Britain Spitfire Mk.I. We did not hold a preorder offer for this kit, which was perhaps a mistake, because in this case a large part is sold as well. The total production run totals 2000 pieces and at the moment we have less than 300 left. This item is interesting because of the book published by Plastic Invasion, which is part of the package. The book, over its 186 page length, deals with the history of the Spitfire Mk.I, the development of camouflage and markings, pilot equipment and examines the assembly of a Spitfire Mk.Ia model from Eduard.

In addition to these two Limited Edition items, June’s release list also includes the 72nd scale Profipack Bf 110F, which is a version of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 that we have never released in 72nd scale. The fourth June kit will be the MiG-21F as part of the Weekend 1:48 series.

July Releases

The July releases will be much more interesting at E-Day than the June ones, because they will only be on sale at the time of E-Day and will therefore be new releases with very limited prior exposure. And they are interesting items. The PBY-5A Catalina in the LIMITED EDITION 1:48 series is a true international heavyweight. It is a cover of the Revell kit that has been unavailable for a long time. The total run of the Catalina is 3300 pieces, and the kits will be on sale for the first time at E-Day as a hot new item. We hope that this will not be the last time and that the Catalina will last in our assortment at least for the E-Day internet afterparty, which will run from Thursday, June 25. According to the responses to its announcement on Facebook, the interest in the Catalina is currently enormous.

Especially for E-Day we have prepared two specifically Czech items in 1:72 scale. The first is a MiG-21R in Czechoslovak service, a Limited Edition release with a book by Martin Janoušek and a selection of marking options exclusively for Czechoslovak, Czech and Slovak aircraft. The production run of the edition has not yet been determined, but we expect it to be around 1000 pieces. We do not plan to pre-sale this item, the sales premiere will be on E-day.

The Avia S-99/C-10, which is the postwar version the Bf 109 G-10 in Czechoslovak service, will be in practically the same condition. The plastic is from the Eduard Bf 109 G-10 WNF, the selection of markings copies the 48th scale kit with the same name and catalog number 11122. This kit also will also have its sales premiere at E-Day, the number of pieces will be significantly limited, the only difference compared to the MiG-21R is that the S-99 will not include a book.

The fourth kit enjoying its premiere at E-Day will be the P-51B Mustang with a Malcolm Hood in the Weekend 1:48 scale series, but it is neither the only nor the most important Mustang at E-Day.

P-51B Mustang 1:32

The other is the 32nd scale P-51B Mustang, a new addition to the Eduard Hybrid line. Officially, it is not a release until August, but it will have its premiere in June at E-Day. There, we will also present it in the Royal Hybrid edition, which will continue to be the premiere edition for each new project. The concept of the Royal Hybrid will be different from the Royal Class kits, it will differ in the offer of bonuses. The main bonuses for the Royal Hybrid edition will be a publication and a pilot figure. The publication will guide the modeler through the technical and operational history of the type, and will deal with the stories of the machines and their pilots. The figure will be 3D printed and will be from the workshop of the Plastic Invasion publishing house. The figures of this manufacturer are created based on a scan of the body, which the artist then works with to complete the design. The marking options will typically offer eight versions choices. The 32nd scale Mustang will be our main new item at E-Day. In addition to being on sale at our stand, it will be interspersed with presentations, using its example we will explain how and to what extent the concept of the Hybrid series has changed since the autumn release of the S-199, how the materials used, the packaging of the kits and especially the packaging of the printed parts have developed. We will also demonstrate optimal construction techniques at it as part of Jan Baranec's workshop, and it will certainly be the subject of discussion in the Pot Q & A.

In addition, we will have a number of interesting accessories for sale, and we have ordered more Gunze products to satisfy the anticipated demand. These should arrive around mid-June, so we should have a complete range for E-day. Our stand will be the only one located in Hall D.

May Releases

Although today's editorial deals with the June E-day event over several pages, May’s highlights should not be ignored. Among the kits, another P-40 Warhawk is premiering in May, this time in the shape of the P-40K version. We are releasing it in the Royal Class 1:48 edition as a Dual Combo with two sets of plastic for as many kits. It will be possible to build the so-called short version of the P-40K-5 from the kit. We offered this kit via a preorder, the total edition was eventually pegged at 1800 pieces. The sale has now ended on our e-shop, but the kits are still available from retailers.

Another new addition for May is the Spitfire Mk.Vb Mid Production as a 1:72nd scale ProfiPack kit. The kit represents mid production run aircraft. The range of new kits is then complemented by two Weekend series kits in 1:48 scale, the two-seat Zero A6M2-K, and the Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-2.

As for accessory sets, in the photo-etched and decal lines we have interesting sets for the Spitfire Mk.Vb kit in 1:32nd scale from Kotare. Masks offer interesting sets for the Hampden TB Mk.I in 1:48 scale from ICM. In the Brassin line we have a large collection of sets for the P-40K 1:48, connected with the release of the aforementioned Royal Class kit. Other accessory sets for this kit can be found in other accessory lines. In the Brassin range, I would also like to draw your attention to other sets of printed landing gear legs.

And that's all from me today. In addition to news, you will find the usual helpingof articles on the following pages, including an interesting summary of the current development of the American-Israeli Operation Epic Fury by Miro Baric, an article about new products from GSi by Jakub Nademlejnsky, who also wrote a final reflection in the Tail end Charlie section about new 3D printers and the meaning of their acquisition. Jan Bobek is the author of three box art stories, and with an article in the Model & Story section we return to Alien, the famous Mi-35 of the Czech Air Force. Have fun and

Happy Modelling!!

 Vladimir Sulc