-21MF. Even so, this version of the

MiG-21 can arguably be considered

the most interesting. I would also like

to draw attention to the boxart, which

depicts an actual event, that of the

only B-52 kill gained by a Vietnamese

fighter over the course of the Vietnam

war. It occurred on December 27th,

1972 during Linebacker II, and the MiG-21MF was flown by future Vietnamese astronaut Phạm Tuân. This kit will

also have its BFC edition, containing an

SPS-141 ECM pod. This is a resin part

and includes markings for two aircraft

wired to carry it. One is in natural metal, the other is camouflaged and both

are Czechoslovak aircraft.

In the Weekend line, we have a 48th

scale SE.5a with the Hispano Suiza engine, which is a pretty standard affair,

but the month’s Limited Edition release brings with it a mouthful. It is

dubbed the REICHSVERTEIDIGUNG. In

German, that means ‚Defence of the

Reich‘. The attractiveness of the theme

is the basis of its anticipated success.

The boxing will include two kits, one

Bf 109G-6/G-14 and an Fw 190A-8/R2.

And the latter is what makes it so attractive besides the marking options. It

is a new tool kit and next in line of the

Fw 190A in 1/48th scale. The Fw 190A8 belongs among our most successful

kits and the Fw 190A-8/R2 is one of

the most famous fighters of all time.

Add to that these new tooled kits, as

compared to the older releases, carry

with them all the advantages of our

recent kit design philosophy and ease

of assembly, as well as details. Marking

options are a deal maker in kits, and

that is especially true here. We tried to

locate some options that we hadn’t yet

offered, and ones that haven’t already

been beaten to death. I think we have

been successful, but you can judge for

yourselves. It should be noted that we

worked with Neil Page in developing

these options, well known for his blog

Falke Eins. To go along with REICHSVERTEIDIGUNG, we are offering up

three BFC items, built around aircraft

carrying the W.Gr.21 rocket launcher.

I won’t go into any great detail on

these, and you can find them on 65, 66

and 67.

Turning our attention to accessory

items, the Brassin line releases a cockpit set for the Fw 190A-8/R2 for the

6

eduard

just mentioned new release of the kit.

September sees the release of the first

two LööK items in 1/48th scale, one for

the Fw 190A-5 from Eduard and the

other for the Bf 109G-6 from Tamiya.

There will be a total of three LööK releases for the month, and the third is

for the Tamiya 1/32nd scale Spitfire

Mk.IXc Late Version. For this kit, we are

also releasing two wheel sets and other

sets will follow in subsequent months.

September’s wheel sets will also grow

by those designed for the F6F Hellcat

from Eduard in 1/72nd scale. In this

scale, we will also have cannon pods

for the Fw 190A-5/U12, which is a scaled down version of the 1/48th scale

items released back in August and was

also designed for our kit. Then we have

the engine set for the new Wellington

Mk.Ia/c from Airfix. Weapons kits that

expand that line by two items include

the GBU-32 Non-Thermally Protected

bomb in 1/72nd and the AGM-158

in 1/48th. In the BiG Sin collections

we have also two sets, the Bf 109G-6

ADVANCED for the 1/48th scale Tamiya

kit and in 1/72nd for the MiG-21MF

from us. For a more thorough understanding of the contents of these sets,

I would suggest a closer look at pics

later on down, especially for the

Bf 109G-6.

Photoetched accessories include

another set for the Airfix 1/72nd scale

Wellington Mk.Ia/c, and this one is for

the bomb bay. In the same scale, there are another two sets, one for the

F-18E and one for the AH-64D, both

from Academy. In 1/48th, work is being

completed on sets designed for the Su-27UB and the L-39ZA from Trumpeter.

Except for the Wellington, we are also

preparing mask sets, including T-Face

types, for the above mentioned kits.

Simple masks and two sets of photoetched brass are being prepared for

the Airfix re-release of their Spitfire

Mk.22/24, which you may recall as the

kit that formed the basis of one of our

Limited Edition releases. In 1/32nd scale, we have photoetched and mask sets

for the I-153 Chaika from ICM and in

1/35th scale, the T-34/85 from Zvezda.

For the naval guys, we have three sets

including two of steel pre-painted flags.

There are four BigEd sets, two in 1/48th

(Su-35S and the He 111H-6), one in

1/72nd scale (Sea King HAR.3/Mk.43)

and one in 35th (Panther Ausf.A).

To end off todays introduction to the

newsletter, I would like to make a historical-political comment. When we

announced the release of the REICHSVERTEIDIGUNG kit and published its

boxart graphic, several modellers came

forward that they would appreciate a t-shirt with a print of it. We decided that

this was not a bad idea, and my colleague Jan Zdiarsky put forth the first proposal, posted to our Facebook page,

and we were immediately accused of

glorifying Nazism in the name of money. Unfortunately, no one has ever

been able to satisfy everyone at the

same time. I would like to seriously assure any one who thinks that we would

ever glorify Nazism that they are completely out in left field on that accusation. No one here has any sympathy to

that ideology, I am personally a great

believer in democracy, and I would not

tolerate a Nazi supporter on our team.

In our work, we are concerned with an

accurate mapping of aviation history.

I myself couldn’t write a better response to how we feel about this issue than

the words of Jan Zdiarsky conveyed,

the author of the shirt design and box,

in his response to one of the rattled visitors of our Facebook page:

‚Dear sir, this t-shirt has nothing to do

with money or the glorification of evil,

as you profess. It’s about fighters, seasoned men, and terrified guinea pigs

who sat in the cockpits of interceptors

in an attempt to stop the bombings of

their homeland and the bombings of

their families. I have no desire to take

apart the question as to which side was

the right, just side. For me, the answer

to the question is clear. This was the

side of the Allies. I imagine that, on that

point, we can agree. The Second World

War was an intense storm that could

not be stopped. I do not believe that

those who stood up to the challenge

of the storm, regardless of which side

fate decided they should be on, deserve any less than our respect. I have

been friends with many Czechoslovak

and American aviators, as well as with

many German ones. I can tell you categorically that none of the many German pilots I have been friends with

were Nazis. At the time of the war, they

were young men who only wanted to

survive, to have families and who just

wanted the damn war to end. It’s true

that these boys were shooting down

INFO Eduard - September 2018