Strana 5
applies to the cover art. When we announced the
Catalina, the initial reactions weren’t particularly
positive. These modellers didn’t consider that there
hasn‘t been a 1/48-scale Catalina kit available for
years, and that you can only buy one on eBay for
a considerable amount of money. They simply asked
why we were releasing an old, broken-up kit instead
of making a new one to our standard.
That’s the crux of the matter. Our standard is
expensive, and we cannot compromise on it. Therefore,
we must consider very carefully which projects to
invest in, in order to ensure a return on investment.
Neither the Walrus nor the Catalina qualify as such
projects. You might say, „What nonsense is this?“ You
might object: „But you’ve just released a Catalina kit –
a re-release of a 20-year-old kit – and sold all of it in
no time. The Catalina didn’t even stay on your online
shop for a week. So why wouldn‘t you sell your own
Catalina, which would surely be much nicer?“ The
answer lies in the model‘s sales potential. We sold
3,300 of those repackaged Catalinas and they really
did sell quickly. We could easily have sold more –
perhaps even 5,000 or 8,000 units. We could release
an older version of the Catalina – the PBY-5, which
has no landing gear – and we probably will. That
could add another 3,000 units to the total. Another
option would be to release a super-limited edition
Catalina that spotted the Bismarck in 1941, thereby
ensuring its destruction a few hours later. This could
be part of a dual combo pack containing a 1:700
scale Bismarck kit, for example. It would certainly
be a unique item, and it would generate significant
interest, perhaps even more than I dare hope for.
That would add a further 1,500 kits sold. And that’s
about it. We’re creative, but we’ve already reached
our sales ceiling here. To recoup the investment in
the moulds for our own Catalina, produced in our
own style, we would need to sell at least three times
as many. I very much fear – indeed, I’m certain – that
we won‘t be able to do that.
In a way, it’s an economic trap that we’ve set
for ourselves. But any company can fall into it. You
might argue that there are companies that produce
aeroplane models that I say can’t turn a profit and
therefore shouldn’t be manufactured because the
sales volume would not be enough to recoup the
initial investment. However, I am writing about our
own situation. Perhaps those companies manage it
better and sell enough units to make such production
profitable. Or maybe they save on the development
and manufacture of moulds. That’s possible. It might
be enough simply not to rivet the surface. Or they
might not produce so many alternative parts. Maybe
they manage to save money while still selling at
a higher price than us. I don’t really think so, though;
our experience suggests that we won‘t sell more or
make more money if we raise our prices. But who
knows? Maybe they can do it in Poland. As is well
known, we in the Czech Republic are a bit slow off
the mark and haven‘t quite got the hang of it yet.
Of course, we’re trying to solve this tricky problem
and do something about it. For instance, we have
developed the Hybrid project. We see this as a way
to reduce the initial production preparation costs,
primarily by reducing the investment required for
new moulds. At the same time, combining traditional
moulding with the production of component
assemblies via direct 3D printing enables us to
improve quality, particularly with regard to internal
details, to an unprecedented degree. In other words,
we can achieve a quality that would otherwise
require a model-maker to invest in supplementary
etched, cast or 3D-printed sets. Not to mention the
investment of hours of model-making work.
After conducting market research and launching
the 1/48-scale S-199 and 1/72-scale Enstrom 470 kits,
we embarked on our first three full-scale projects
for the 1/32-scale Hybrid series of model kits. The
first of these is the P-51B Mustang. Production of
this first kit began in early June, incorporating
both traditional moulded parts and 3D-printed
components. In order to produce the 3D parts for the
Mustang, we purchased 15 new printers, set up a new
workshop, and assembled a core team for 3D printing.
The original production estimate for this kit was an
initial run of 2,000 units. This was based on feedback
from modellers and retailers at the time. However,
following the kit’s launch at E
-
Day in late June, orders
quickly rose to 5,000 units. At that point, we found
ourselves in the same position as North American,
the manufacturer of real Mustangs, back in 1943.
At North American, production of the airframes was
already underway, although they were still missing
engines as Packard was having difficulty getting
production up and running. If you’re interested in this,
you can read about it in the book included with our kit.
By the end of June, we had produced and packaged
500 kits, some of which were already in the hands of
customers who had bought them on E
-
Day. We also
had plastic mouldings – we had a further 5,000 sets
of these in stock – but we were short of 3D-printed
parts. To resolve this situation and meet demand, we
quickly purchased an additional 20 3D printers. This
brings our total to 51, which is more than four times
the number we had when we started producing the
first 1/48-scale S-199 Hybrids. However, machines
alone aren’t enough – people are also needed for
production. We hired temporary staff and, during
July, increased production of the Mustang parts to
a 24/7 schedule, meaning continuous operation
across three shifts, seven days a week. Given
the current situation on the Czech labour market,
I consider this to be nothing short of a minor miracle.
As of today, we have fulfilled all pre-sale orders for
end customers. We have fully produced and sold
out the first batch of the 932011 P-51B Royal Hybrid
1/32 scale model kit. Production of the second and
final batch of this Royal Edition began at the start
of August. We still need to dispatch orders to some
retailers, who should receive their kits by the end of
this week. What we don’t know is how many orders
we’ll receive from modellers once sales of the
August new releases begin and from the IPMS USA
National Convention 2026 Afterparty, which started
yesterday. We’ll also be receiving more orders from
retailers. Some have not yet ordered this Royal
Edition 1/32 Mustang, while those who have will, in
many cases, be replenishing their stocks by mid-
August. Therefore, it is highly likely that this kit
will sell out completely by the end of September
at the latest, but probably sooner. There will not be
a third edition. However, the 1/32 scale P-51B Mustang
will not disappear from our catalog. In October, the
sold-out Royal Hybrid series kit will be replaced
in our range by the new 1/32 scale P-51B Mustang
Birdcage kit, which will be released as part of the
standard Eduard Hybrid range. This new version will
differ from the current one in that it will not include
the book, pilot figure or landing gear bays plugs.
As the name suggests, it will also have slightly fewer
3D-printed parts, featuring just one cockpit version
and one seat version. In January 2027, it will be
joined by the P-51B Mustang Malcolm Hood. Later in
the year, we will release two further kits: the P-51B
Mustang CBI and the Mustang Mk.III.
If anyone wants to criticise us again for only ever
releasing Mustangs, well, OK, it may seem that way.
However, I hope it won‘t be the same modellers
who are currently criticising us for not including
any British or Far Eastern Mustangs in our range
of colour schemes. One gentleman gave us a rather
vulgar telling-off, saying that we constantly include
aircraft from an insignificant European theatre of
war in our kits while ignoring those from the more
interesting Far Eastern theatre. He added that if we
plan to release the P-40N and P-51B from the CBI in
the limited-edition ‚Sharks and Stalions‘ box, we‘re
taking advantage of modellers because we‘ve already
released many kits with those boring European
markings that they bought, and now this. We have
a somewhat different view on the significance of the
various theatres of World War II. As for me, I‘d rather
not comment on „taking advantage“.
As you might have guessed, I’m writing this
editorial on a plane once again, as has become my
habit in July over the last few years. So, I’m sending
you greetings from flight KL611, which is travelling
from Amsterdam to Chicago. On Monday, when this
issue of Info will be published, we’ll be heading to
Fort Wayne in Indiana, where we’re looking forward
to seeing our friends from the United States, Canada,
Argentina, Brazil and Peru – in short, our friends
from North and South America!
Happy modeling!
Vladimír Šulc
EDITORIAL
INFO Eduard
5
August 2026