EDITORIAL

Dear Friends

Welcome to the August edition of our newsletter

and greetings from Corpus Christi, Texas, where my

colleagues and I are passing through on our way to

San Marcos for the traditional summer IPMS USA

Nats. We will be in Texas for two weeks, after the Nats

we will move north to Dallas where our main goal is to

study three P-40 Warhawks. We want to check some

details and shapes and possibly scan some sections,

so we’re bringing along our trusted chief designer Stan

Archman and his amazing scanner, which already

afforded us a few rather interesting situations at the

beginning of our journey. And we haven't even scanned

the tip of the spinner yet! We don’t really need much;

basically, we have the bulk of the thing ready. We

just want to make sure we don't have a design flaw

and also see the plane in person to develop a proper

personal feel for it, you understand.

In the morning we will view the USS Lexington

and we’ll move on from there. And time is running

out, so we won't waste any of it and go straight to the

presentation of our new releases for August. For many

of you this will be a bit of a bummer because we've

actually been selling them for a few days now and

many of you already have them. So, I’ll at least give you

some background information that might interest you.

Kits

In the Limited Edition line, we have an item called

“Wilder Cat”, in which you’ll find an FM-2 Wildcat kit,

a modernized and powerful version of the Wildcat,

built by the Eastern Aircraft Division factory, a branch

of General Motors. Compared to Wildcats built by

Grumman, it had a number of changes, mainly

a more powerful engine, a nine-cylinder Wright

R-1820-56/56W with a power rating of 1350 hp,

which means a changes on the nose section, and at

the rear, featured a higher vertical fin and rudder.

There are also changes to the wing and other parts

of the aircraft, and you’ll find mention of this in other

sections further down in this newsletter. Ten marking

options are offered, one of which is British. The

FM-2 served in the Royal Navy as the Wildcat Mk.VI,

and this version set it apart from others through its

relatively extensive service outside of the Pacific, i.e.

the Atlantic. This brings about an expansion of color

variants, since in the Atlantic, Wildcats were not blue

as in the Pacific. The FM-2 has also not been actively

paid attention to by other manufacturers in 1/48th

(with just one exception). On the other hand, I am

concerned about the extent to which the technical and

operational history of this interesting aircraft is known

to modelers. For the most part, retailers do not seem

to have an extensive knowledge of the type, frankly.

Some debate has been stimulated by the fact that

this Limited Edition kit is not released as a Dual Combo

4

INFO Eduard

boxing, but is a single kit with one set of plastic in the

package. We decided on this version because we don't

want to force customers to buy a relatively expensive

kit with two sets of moldings. To the contrary, we have

put the range of color versions available to ten aircraft;

the decals are then designed in such a way that the

stencil data and national markings cover two complete

models. So if someone wants to build two FM-2

Wildcats, they can obtain the Overtrees components

and basically create a Dual Combo boxing from the kit

for very reasonable money. Deciding which way to go

and how many Wildcats you realistically want, or even

need, is up to you! In the future, the key to deciding

whether a Limited Edition kit will be released as

a Dual Combo or a classic single kit will be the technical

make-up of the kit. If it contains two technically

different sub variants of a given type, the kit will be

a Dual Combo, as for example in Wunderschöne neue

Maschinen, where there are a Bf 109 F-2 and an F-4,

and there are two different sprues with fuselages and

wings. The next WnM edition, dedicated to the Bf 109

G-2 and G-4, will also be a Dual Combo, although the

sprues will be identical, there will again be technical

differences, this time more or less only in the wing.

In the end, all the Limited Edition kits covering the

Bf 109F/G/K series will be Dual Comb kits, not only

those covering a specific type, but also the kits whose

concept runs more along the lines of a theme, such

as the 1/72nd scale Africa, Barbarossa or Wilde Sau

concepts. Frankly, in these cases there is a risk of

even more extensive sets. Among the other Limited

Editions being prepared, we have the Dual Combo

kit of the L-39 Albatros, which will be presented in

a renewed premiere at E-day with a new canopy,

as well as another 1/48th scale Zero, this time the

A6M5/5a Zero Model 52. There is also a difference in

the wing here. The following Dual Combo will be the

“Mezek”, which as most of you will know, is the S-199.

Here, it is clear that there are different fuselages, and

later, the P-51B/C, where it’s also about fuselages.

Single kit Limited Edition kits will then continue to be

all repackaged kits, which will apply to the Su-25K in

the near future. It has always been that way with these

items and it will continue that way. From our own

production, the closest to becoming a reality is the

Kurfürst, Bf 109 K-4, where there will be nine marking

options, but technically all the machines will be the

same. Well … not completely, but for taller rudders

and tailwheel variations, we don’t need to include two

sets of moldings. This is just a typical example of a kit,

where Overtrees will solve the possible desire or need

of the modeler to build more than one model.

The second August Limited Edition item, dubbed

“Zipper”, a 1:48th scale F-104C from the Vietnam

War, is also designed as a single kit. The plastic this

time, unlike our previous Starfighters, come from

Kinetic, and in addition to the standard photoetching

and masks, it also includes resin parts, and offers up

seven marking options that focus on the 479th and

8th TFW aircraft, operating in the Vietnam in the 1960s.

Our series of 1:72nd scale ProfiPACK kits dedicated

to the many countless versions of the Bf 109 F, G and

K begins in August with the Bf 109 F-4. If you are left

with the impression that we forgot about the Bf 109

F-2, don’t worry, we didn’t. September will tell. The

first reviews of the new 109s have already appeared,

mostly positive, which makes us happy. However, some

criticisms also emerged from them. For example, the

need to repair a small step between the vertical tail

surface and its transition to the fuselage. There, after

gluing the fuselage and fin assemblies together, which

must be glued there before the fuselage is closed up,

a small step is created. Please note that contrary

to how this has been widely reported, this is in fact

supposed to be there and is not a mistake. We modeled

it rather painstakingly and carefully watched over the

mold making to make sure it was there. On the real

plane, there was a cover plate in this section, which

passed into the keel in the form of just such a step.

So please don’t fix it, no matter how tempting it is!

With respect to 1/72nd scale ProfiPACK kits, the

MiG-21MF is back on sale in the fighter-bomber version.

In the Weekend line, we have the A6M3 Zero Model 32,

also known under the Allied code name Hamp. I have

a personal connection to this kit because this time last

year we had a unique opportunity to get up close and

personal with one of the Hamps undergoing extensive

restoration in Lafayette, Louisiana. At the time, we had

no idea that it was an even more interesting machine

than we thought, nor that this very machine would be

included in the color options of one of our kits. The

unexpected has become reality, and the Lafayette

Hamp is actually, in two of its development guises,

included in the new Weekend release, in addition to

the very special insignia featuring the red Hinomaru in

a white square. This is also why this Zero is interesting,

August 2023