Strana 4
Welcome to the April edition of the Eduard
Newsletter and this, its editorial. Today, as
always, it will be about current news, but first
I will give you some tidbits about the coming
months.
Among kit releases, another MiG-21 in 1:72
scale will be making its debut in April, the
MiG-21R reconnaissance version. We are
releasing it in the Profipack line first. We had
a surprisingly hard time making the molds for
this kit, and in mid-March it looked like we
would have to postpone the release of the recce
bird by a month. In the end, we managed to tame
the beast, complete the molds, and release the
kit on schedule. I must admit that I was relieved.
Not only because postponing the release of an
announced new item is unpleasant and a bit
of an embarrassment, but also because such
a delay is not an isolated event. It holds up
machines and people and causes further delays
in subsequent projects. Projects are produced
serially, one after the other, so if one project is
delayed, the path of the next one is blocked. It's
like a traffic jam on the road. It occurs quickly,
is removed slowly, and usually results in further
accidents and other frustrations. Which is, as
we know, annoying and generally just plain
unpopular. After the MiG-21R, it was the turn of
the P-40K in 1:48, a May release. And not just
any ol’ release, but a Royal Class, and you can
certainly understand that its delay would cause
great annoyance. Fortunately, we managed the
situation, we released the MiG as planned, and
yesterday we also finished the mold for the
P-40K, which in the meantime also needed one
minor adjustment. Today we tried this mold for
the first time in the injection molding machine
and next week we will start packaging.
Another project is already in the machines,
the P-51B Mustang in 1:32nd scale. We already
have one mold ready for it, we have to make four
molds in total and we have about two months to
do them. One of them, for the wing, is already in
a high stage of development and we can expect
that we will have a test shot sometime in the
middle of the month. Thus, those who come to
Mošon at the end of April will be able to see it
with their on eyes. The Mustang is an important
project, it will be the first kit of the Hybrid
series in 1:32nd scale. At the same time, it is not
a particularly simple project, it is in 1:32 scale
and it is large, both in terms of plastic parts and
molds for them, and in terms of printed parts
as well. These are also large, very detailed and
will be extremely demanding on our production
capacity. In all aspects, completing this project
will be a very adventurous affair. Among other
things to consider, we have to create new types
of boxes to safely store the 3D prints in within
the main package. We are also building a new
3D printer farm for it, which we have finished,
but we currently do not have the printers for it.
They have become a bit of a scarce commodity,
but according to the latest news from the
supplier, they have already arrived at customs
in Bulgaria, so they are not that far from us. The
32nd scale Mustang is a July release and will
have its premiere at E
-
Day in Litoměřice at the
end of June.
Of course, delays can occur for many reasons,
and we are not the only ones who have problems
with this phenomenon. If the delay affects
a cooperating company, such as Kinetic, then it
also has an impact on us and the final slippage
can amount to several months. We have already
postponed the release of the F-18C Hornet 1:48
in the Limited Edition line several times. This
release is based around Kinetic’s plastic, and the
good news is that last week they were already
in the truck and traveling to the airport. They
are in China for now, but the chance that they
will be in the Czech Republic during April is
quite high. However, it’s not a sure thing. The
new war in the Middle East makes us a bit
nervous, and problems with fuel prices and the
lack of granuals for molding have hit China and
practically all of Asia before us here in Europe.
That the war in Iran makes us a little nervous
is an understatement. In fact, it makes us a lot
nervous, and I probably don't even need to go
into the reasons. It looks like we have another
difficult period ahead of us, when many things
will be unavailable or expensive or will have long
delivery times. The fact that there is a threat of
a shortage of helium leaves us relatively calm,
but that plastic granuals for molding is in danger
EDITORIAL
INFO Eduard4
April 2026