the size of the decal sheet, being one of

the biggest we have ever produced for

inclusion in a kit. I think it very probable

that there will eventually be a return to

the theme of American Spitfires, at the

very least to American Spitfire Mk.VIIIs

and IXs. This theme is also covered by the

main historical article within this month’s

newsletter. It carries the same title as the

kit, and describes the service of American citizens in the RAF, the formation of

the Eagle Squadron, its integration into

the USAAF, and the history of the 31st and

52nd Fighter Groups, their operations in

North Africa and in Italy. It also describes

the service of other American units that

flew Spitfires, and even touches on individual Spitfires flown in the United States

for test and development purposes. I am

listed as the article’s author, but in fact

this was a collective effort made possible through the co-operation of myself,

Jan Zdiarsky and Jan Bobek, to which

I extend my gratitude.

Today’s new releases also include a wide

range of items dedicated to the Spitfire Mk.V. The masks offer the dual sided

(inner and outer surface) type TFace,

photoetching includes landing flaps and

steel seatbelts, and there are LooK and

Space sets, and to put the icing on the

cake, there is a Brassin engine set.

Second´s premier the British way

Another premier item for this month

is the Tempest Mk.II in 1:48th scale, depicting the early version of that bird. Originally, we were under the impression

that minor physical differences in the

Tempest Mk.IIs were between the Tempest F Mk.II and the FB Mk.II, but further

digging revealed that this was an oversimplification, and so we went back to the

tried, tested and true system of designation known as simply ‘Early’ and ‘Late’.

As per our agreement, this kit was first

released by Special Hobby, which I think

will be difficult to resist. These include

TFace masks, photoetched landing flaps,

pre-painted, steel seatbelts, Space and

Look sets, and a Brassin cockpit, exhaust

and rocket set. We also have decals that

include roundels and stencil data. Which

reminds me, stencil data are also available for the Spitfire Mk.V.

The remaining three kits for the month

are well known. In the WEEKEND line, we

have the Fw 190D-9, which is making its

first post-fire return to our catalog, and

the Spitfire Mk.IX, known also as the Spitfire Mk.IX Early. Both kits are supported

by new ZOOM sets, and for the D-9, steel

seatbelts. The MiG-21MF is being re-released as a 1:48th scale ProfiPACK kit.

Accessories

Over the recent past, we have received

a lot of questions regarding the decals

in the new releases , specifically if they

are the type where the carrier film can

be peeled off them. It seems that those

that love ‘em and those that think they

are the work of the devil are on the rise,

but those in the former are gaining momentum over those in the latter category.

They are of the peeling variety, as are the

ones produced for our Eduard Decals. We

have mentioned some of the ones being

released now, and among the others are

stencil data for the Su-7, a kit originally

released by OEZ Letohrad, and is currently offered by SMER. Interesting for

many will also be a set of markings for

the GWH 1:48th scale Su-27.

Going back for a moment to accessory items, which typically form the bulk

of new releases, it is normal for us to

focus most of these on specific kits.

In 1:32nd scale, this is made up of a collection of masks for the Ah-1G from ICM,

and in 48th for the Mi-24P from Zvezda,

the Lancaster B Mk.I from HKM and the

Gaspatch Me 163B. The last two are also

covered by new Space sets. There are

also single sets, such as the second one

for the trumpeter F-100C in 1:32nd scale,

masks for the 1:72nd scale F-4E Phantom

II from Fine Molds and a photoetched set

for the Fujimi A-4B, repackaged by the

Polish firm HOBBY2000. We also have

a set for the Cromwell Mk.IV from Airfix in 1:35th and two for the USS Langley

AV-3 in 1:350th from Trumpeter. Besides

the aforementioned Brassin sets, we

have interesting weapons items in various scales, and some smaller sets, too,

such as a wheel set for the 1:32nd scale

Tiger Moth and a Look set for the Sabre

Mk.4. There are six new BigEd sets, and

a new BigSin for the B-17F from HKM.

And with that, I can slowly wrap up today’s introduction. It’s even a little bit longer than I had originally planned, maybe

because of the influence of the spirit of

Ernest Hemingway, who stayed here during the First World War, during which

he was an ambulance driver and was

seriously wounded in an evacuation of

an Italian soldier during bombardment

by Austro-Hungarian artillery. Under the

influence of all this, I have been wandering around the local town of Stres with

a notebook, in case any inspired thoughts

enter my mind and I end up writing something significant and inspired. Yesterday, my notebook accompanied me up to

the top of the mountain Sasso del Ferro,

to the opposite side of the lake, but it did

little to inspire me. So the end result of

the trip to Italy has been this introduction

to the newsletter and a piece of the article for the Eagle’s Call kit. Fortunately,

others took up the slack and we have

a couple of other articles in this newsletter. One was penned by Mira Bradic,

and talks about John Magee, an American Spitfire pilot, famous for his poem

‘High Flight’, and to keep from being

monotonous, with respect to themes,

we also have an article entitled ‘Tamer

of Paper Dragons’. It was written by

Richard Plos and is a biography of Eugen

Siempelkamp.

I wish you a pleasant read of today’s

newsletter.

Happy Modelling!

Vladimir Sulc

presents no problem, and I think that really, we all know that there is no equal to

the Eduard ProfiPACK kits. This Tempest

kit’s decal sheet is also pretty monumental, and there is a list of accessories that

INFO Eduard - August 2021

eduard

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