EDITORIAL
Dear Friends and Modellers,
we are living in more interesting times than we could’ve envisioned even
a month ago. The pandemic has come
back with a greater vengeance than with
which it started back in the spring. This,
on a local level, can be attributed to, at
least in part, to the indecisions of the
Czech government, and of the public
reaction at large to the situation. With
hindsight being what it is, I can now say
that even our replacement events that
were designed to compensate the loss of
this year’s E-day, were a risky affair, and
I am truly thankful now that no participants or organizers were infected with
the virus. We don’t need to delve into
whether or not this was due to our cautious approach or if we were just plain
lucky. It is said that you make your own
luck. Naturally, we have implemented
anti-virus precautions at our facility as
well. It wasn’t a completely smooth thing
to implement, owing to a general lack of
trust and confidence in their effectiveness, but it would appear that they were
implemented effectively and on time. We
are also modifying the measures implemented as the situation develops and requires. The end result is that we are manufacturing, packing and selling products
and preparing new ones for next month.
That last bit is being accomplished to
a large degree with the use of home office. The postal system is working pretty
much normally, and the only thing being
restricted at the moment are personal
pickups, which are not possible until further notice. As of last week, the mailing
out of replacements has been halted as
well. Because these are all handled right
now, due to the quarantine measures,
by one person, it is not possible to deal
with these in a timely manner. Any and
all complaints are being registered, and
they will be dealt with no sooner than
mid November. We apologize for any
inconvenience that this may cause and
ask for your patience. Should any of the
conditions that bring on these measures
change, we will immediately post them
on our Facebook page. Right now, things
are as I have described them. Bottom line
is that we are doing, and will continue to
do, everything to maintain a smooth flow
of product leaving our facility. We have
a backup team ready to kick in, a team
that is currently working from home, and
are ready to come in should it be required if the current department is hit with
quarantines. As an aside, the situation
in the Czech Republic is really bad and
changes almost daily, so the chances of
4
eduard
something else coming
into play are pretty good.
Again, watch our Facebook page for up-to-date
information.
Let’s get to November’s
new releases. We have
another Mustang in the
ProfiPACK line. This time,
it’s the photo reconnaissance F-6D version. This
is our second attempt to
grab your, the modellers
at large, attention with
a reconnaissance fighter.
The only other reconnaissance type in our catalog was the rather overlooked MiG-21R. We’ll
see how the Mustang
does. On first and second,
closer, looks, it’s pretty
damn nice. In comparison to the standard Mustang, you’ll find a new fuselage,
or, more accurately, the left side of same,
containing the camera windows and the
corresponding clear parts. There are six
marking options, two of which were aircraft stationed in Europe and four from
the Far East battle fronts. At the same
time, we are releasing the BFC item under
the name ‘F-6D & RF-51’ in 1:48th scale.
This carries the catalog number BFC103.
These have another two marking options
attached. The F-6D option is for the plane flown by Major Shomo, 82nd TRS CO,
in the Philippines. Our assumption was
that the inclusion of this aircraft would
be considered absolutely necessary, although we are not completely convinced.
So, we are including it in the BFC item.
The other additional option is an RF-51D
from the 45th TRS from Kimpo in Korea,
dated 1952. It’s our first Mustang from
the Korean War period, and I am hoping
it garners a good amount of attention.
I expect questions to come my way, enquiring about the existence of any plans to
make Brassin cameras. The answer is yes,
but we need to dig up some documentation regarding their installation in the P-51.
The cameras themselves are documented
well, and we are interested in references
showing their installation inside the fuselage. If any of you should have such references at your disposal, your help would
be greatly appreciated.
We have another two items that are
identical to one another, save for their
scale. They share identical names and
marking options. These are the Adlertag
kits of the Bf 110C and D from the battle
of Britain. The massive decal sheet offers
options covering twelve aircraft, including the C-6 version, armed with 30mm
MG 101 cannon under the fuselage (also
known by the later designation MK 101),
and one ‘D’ version covering an aircraft
using the large, underfuselage auxiliary
fuel tank, designated as the Dackelbauch.
These kits are another in our list of 80th
anniversary of the Battle of Britain items,
for which December will see the release of
Spitfire Story: Tally Ho!, aimed at Spitfires
Mk.IIa and Mk.IIb. There are two historical
articles in today’s newsletter dedicated to
the Bf 110 and its use in that battle. The
first, titled Adlertag, was penned by Honza
Bobek and is a bit of a rehabilitation of the
one-ten that has generally been described
as an unsuccessful type, a sort of cannon
fodder for British fighters. However, actual facts depict quite a different viewpoint from the one largely accepted. After
reading the article, you will see that the
Bf 110C and D were full fledged fighters in
their own right; not with the same turning
radius, of course, as the single engine fighters, but, nevertheless, fast, high-performing, and packing a helluva punch. And to
top it off, they could fire to the rear, meaning that radio operators/rear gunners
in the Battle of Britain cannot be so easily
brushed off. The other article this month
is by Melvin Brownless and focuses more
on the personal stories depicting the cruel
reality of war. It is a description of a pilot
of a shot down Bf 110, and the struggle to
survive for both him and his rear gunner.
It’s a riveting account, and is worthy of
your attention. The Aldertag kit in 1:72nd
has the second BFC item dedicated to it,
INFO Eduard - November 2020