EDITORIAL

Dear Friends and Fellow Modellers,

A big thanks to all those that came out

to our E-day event on Friday and Saturday. This year, it was very clear as to

why the choice of Lysa nad Labem for

the show was a good one, and at least

the equal to last year’s event. As far as

I am concerned, this was the best E-day

yet, and after eighteen years has achieved a level that I would like to see maintained for the next several, as allowed

by constant evolution and innovation

within the limits of the law. It was possible to hear that the fine tuning has

reached an apex, but I would not have

any fear about pushing a little higher.

This has been suggested for a few years

now, and each year, the level of possibility has been raised. This year, we had

prepared a high quality programme; the

Friday ‚Heat Wave‘ party was a success,

and Saturday’s workshops, demonstrations, seminars and flight display were

a success as well. Last, but not least, the

level of modelling was very high, even

if it didn’t lack any of that modelling dissatisfaction over one thing or another.

There were around 100 entries registered in the MR Masters competition and,

I believe, 79 competed. In the general

Hobby contest, there were some 1300

entries with another 700 spread over 35

club displays. That pretty much filled up

the display table capacity, and for next

year, we will need to add some display

real estate. And, again, we will need to

push for another display hall, and we

began that process already a couple of

days ago. Keep your fingers crossed!

The beginning of the Friday programme will need to be pushed to a later

hour. The 5:00pm start showed itself

to be too early, and the first discussion

was attended by a low number of people...three, to be exact. That really isn’t a whole lot, but nevertheless, I see

a huge discussion potential surrounding

model shows and contests. Other seminars were something else altogether,

and the one hosted by Mr. Vojtasek

about his book was not easy to end, so

that the following briefing about Saturday’s flight display could start, and the

subsequent evening seminar by Jiri Silhanek as well. That was really the cherry on top of the Friday programme,

and we had a helluva good time, and

I believe we have started a new tradition. Next year, if you are planning on

attending E-day, don’t delay, and make

it in time for the Friday events!

The Saturday workshop and seminar

programme was content-rich, and, as

has been common in recent years, too

short. But for years, you wanted a one-day E-day, so, now you’ve got it. Already last year, there was the unshakeable

feeling that perhaps the ‚The Kettle‘

E-day round table discussion was ‚sur4

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vived‘, more than anything else, and

it’s begging for some modifications. On

the other hand, this is the most visited

seminar of the show, so any changes or

modifications to it need to be done with

a gentle hand. While on the topic of the

Kettle discussion, besides new items in

the works, one of the most discussed

themes was the complexity of out models. This is, to a large extent, fed by

reviewers over the last while, where

we have had this idea handed to us by,

especially, Czech modellers, who are

asking for somewhat simpler, more ‚relaxing‘, builds. They point to our Japanese competitors as examples with which

to back up their points. But when I take

a close look at these Japanese kits, and

begin gluing them together, it really doesn’t appear that there is such a huge

gap between them and our products,

in terms of complexity. When I look at

other aspects of the inevitable comparison, I confess that, yes, there is a difference. There, their kits are simpler,

without a doubt. Their decals and related options, and other inclusions in the

kits, correspond to our Weekend Edition concept, and taking into account our

ProfiPACK kit price point, their bang for

the buck drops off quickly. If you consider, for a moment, that our ProfiPACK

sales are somewhere around double

that of the Weekend kits of the same

subject, I dare take from that that the

added complexity doesn’t get too much

in the way of too many modellers. I am

also beginning to suspect that there is

a difference of opinion between us and

the reviewers surrounding the topic of

what modellers find important. They

tend to focus on simplicity and the ‚relaxation‘ requirement of a build, while

we, on the other hand, suspect that the

biggest demand on a build is to gain

a sense of satisfaction, not necessarily

relaxation from it. If you want relaxation, buy a hammock and move your TV

outdoors. Without that satisfaction, it

amounts to the same thing. This is why

we design our kits to stimulate the need

for attention and focus. I think that the

requirements placed on a kit by the reviewers as a whole are legit, but maybe slightly misplaced. If you are in the

market for a boring....excuse me, I mean

‚simple‘, model, go where they know

how to make them. We do not possess

that know-how.

The only thing left to mention is the

flypast of the P-51D over the tank museum Tankodrom Milovice. The plane was

piloted by Miroslav Sazavsky, who evidently enjoyed himself. The venue of

the Tankodrom came across as ideal for

the show, and if the owner is willing, future co-operation on similar spectacles

would be most welcome. What that will

be, I cannot say. For now.

The makeup of out table was a little

different this year. We implemented the

‚snake line‘ concept this year for our

checkout, and this made a good showing

of itself. We placed the racks for the PE

sets, Brassins and paints along the line,

and this was at least partially successful, but will be fine tuned for next year.

New releases sold at our table have

been available from Thursday as part

of our traditional Afterparty that will

continue on to midnight Wednesday.

This will include the availability of the

repacking of the Mustang kit titled ‚Excalibur‘, which is the standard P-51D-5

ProfiPACK kit in 1:48th scale, including

the addition of the fuselage with fin

extension, instructions on its use, and

decals for the P-51D dubbed ‚Excalibur‘.

The theme of this kit is dedicated to the

flying display over Milovice. We sold 90

of these at the show, and a further 260

have been made available for the Afterparty. The standard 48th scale P-51D-5

Mustang (ProfiPACK) is a component of

October’s New Releases.

The MiG-23BN Limited Edition kit is

another October release, though only

some 200 pieces remain. There are also

some Overtrees available for this, but

after the numbers sold at the show, Sunday and Monday, the number available

has been reduced to 70. Both items are

still available, but that won’t last long,

so if you are in the market for one, act

sooner rather than later.

A surprisingly good seller on Saturday was the Fokker D.VII MAG (Limited

Edition, 1:72nd scale), that sold out in

a flash. It is true that we only took one

carton with some doubt as to its popularity. It’s still available on our e-shop, so

INFO Eduard - October 2019