Info EDUARD

Monthly magazine about history and scale plastic modeling.

Editorial

This October, for the first time in my life, I attended the International Engineering Fair in Brno. My colleague Jakub Nademlejnský had arranged a meeting there with a potential supplier as we are looking to purchase new equipment to manufacture both our existing product line and some new items.

Good Day, Dear Friends,
This October, for the first time in my life,
I attended the International Engineering Fair in
Brno. My colleague Jakub Nademlejnský had
arranged a meeting there with a potential supplier
as we are looking to purchase new equipment to
manufacture both our existing product line and
some new items. Given the specific nature of
our production and our objectives, an off-the-
shelf, mass-produced machine won’t suffice.
We seriously need a machine tailor made for
what we need done. There is a strong chance
this plan will succeed; we returned from the fair
with two potential suppliers, and just recently,
in early November, we received test samples
of our intended products for our consideration
from one of them. And they look quite promising.
While at the fair, we also explored other halls
to check out various machines and technologies.
We concluded that, judging by what we saw,
the Czech economy certainly doesn‘t resemble
a mere ‘assembly plant’, a characterization
often used by various economic commentators
and supposed and definitely biased experts.
Joining our group was Standa Archman, who,
unlike Jakub and me, attends the engineering
fair every year. This time, however, he was
without his usual partner, Herbert Seifert, with
whom he traditionally attended trade fairs
and professional conferences. Herbert, known
to everyone here as ‘Bertík’, retired in August
after nearly thirty years with Eduard. For the
last decade or so, he served as the head of our
tool shop. Beyond managing it effectively, he
played a major role in the gradual evolution and
improvement of our plastic kits. Herbert was—
and remains, even in retirement—an expert
in machining utilizing CAM. His collaboration
with Standa Archman was crucial from my
perspective as their manager. Without them, our
model kits would never have become what they
are today. Together, they managed to reconcile
two distinct perspectives on the production of
molds and the final molded parts: the designer’s
vision and the machine’s execution—the process
of translating a designer’s ideas and intentions
into a tangible product. Given their different
personalities, things could occasionally get a bit
tense, yet they always found common ground and
a way to move forward together. As a seasoned
practitioner who values established standards
and proven technological procedures, Bertík
often acted as a balance to Standa’s innovative
enthusiasm, and vice versa, keeping it within the
bounds of technical feasibility. At the same time,
however, he would actively seek out solutions
to push those very boundaries further. Standa,
for his part, knew how to integrate Bertík’s
constraints with fresh ideas—recalculating
and brilliantly synthesizing the two into new
technological processes that continue to expand
our manufacturing capabilities.
Bertík’s departure triggered some organizati-
onal changes within the tool shop, in the course
of which Standa became the department’s chief
technologist. This is not a new role for him, as
he has long exerted a significant influence on
our technological evolution as a whole. In his
previous position as chief designer, he learned
to lead a design team. While this meant he did
less hands-on designing himself, he supervised
the design departments, provided guidance, and
occasionally refined specific design projects.
Several projects, such as the Zero, Wildcat, P-40,
and most recently the MiG-15, were developed in
this manner. The primary difference now is that
the responsibility for the technological setup of
both design and production processes will rest
solely with him. We also took advantage of our
trip to Brno to clarify the path forward and de-
termine how we will proceed with the design of
the 1:48th scale Ju 87 Stuka project.
New releases for 2027
In addition to upcoming kits for which the
designs are not yet complete, most notably the
1:32nd scale Spitfire Mk.VIII, the 1:48th scale
Spitfire Mk.XII and Mk.XIV, the 1:32nd scale
Fw 190D, and all versions of the 1:48th scale
Ju 87 Stuka, we need to maintain a concentrated
focus on finishing projects for which the designs
are already complete. Foremost among these is
the 1:48 scale MiG-15 project. The first release,
the MiG-15 Royal Class boxing, is scheduled
to hit the shelves in December, and we are
working hard to ensure everything is ready
on time to make it happen. While four molds
for the MiG-15 are currently in operation, the
remaining two are awaiting final completion
and fine tuning. Although this is a December
release, everything must actually be finished
and molded by mid-November so that we can
begin shipping the kits to those that ordered
the kit and to retailers. Similarly, we need to
have the 1:72nd scale Spitfire Mk.I ready for
the ‘Spitfire Story: The Few’ Limited Edition kit,
another December release. Everything for this
is already complete; the Spitfire Mk.Ia version
debuted as a Profipack release in October, and
the only remaining component to finish was the
mold, or rather, the mold insert, for the Spitfire
Mk.I fuselage (the version featuring the original,
flat-topped canopy). At the same time, we are
currently working to ensure the timely shipment
of the plastic parts for the 1:48th scale A-20G
Havoc from China. They will be traveling by train,
a journey fraught with pitfalls and dangers,
not the least of which is because a significant
portion of the route passes through Russia.
We also have another shipment on the way from
Asia: the plastic parts for an Academy 1/72 scale
F-4J Phantom. These are being transported
by sea, though that hardly means the route is
any safer. At the moment, the ship should be
EDITORIAL
INFO Eduard4
November 2026

EDITORIAL

Good Day, Dear Friends, This October, for the first time in my life, I attended the International Engineering Fair in Brno. My colleague Jakub Nademlejnský had arranged a meeting there with a potential supplier as we are looking to purchase new equipment to manufacture both our existing product line and some new items. Given the specific nature of our production and our objectives, an off-theshelf, mass-produced machine won’t suffice. We seriously need a machine tailor made for what we need done. There is a strong chance this plan will succeed; we returned from the fair with two potential suppliers, and just recently, in early November, we received test samples of our intended products for our consideration from one of them. And they look quite promising. While at the fair, we also explored other halls to check out various machines and technologies. We concluded that, judging by what we saw, the Czech economy certainly doesn‘t resemble a mere ‘assembly plant’, a characterization often used by various economic commentators and supposed and definitely biased experts. Joining our group was Standa Archman, who, unlike Jakub and me, attends the engineering fair every year. This time, however, he was without his usual partner, Herbert Seifert, with whom he traditionally attended trade fairs and professional conferences. Herbert, known to everyone here as ‘Bertík’, retired in August after nearly thirty years with Eduard. For the last decade or so, he served as the head of our tool shop. Beyond managing it effectively, he played a major role in the gradual evolution and improvement of our plastic kits. Herbert was— and remains, even in retirement—an expert in machining utilizing CAM. His collaboration with Standa Archman was crucial from my perspective as their manager. Without them, our model kits would never have become what they are today. Together, they managed to reconcile

two distinct perspectives on the production of molds and the final molded parts: the designer’s vision and the machine’s execution—the process of translating a designer’s ideas and intentions into a tangible product. Given their different personalities, things could occasionally get a bit tense, yet they always found common ground and a way to move forward together. As a seasoned practitioner who values established standards and proven technological procedures, Bertík often acted as a balance to Standa’s innovative enthusiasm, and vice versa, keeping it within the bounds of technical feasibility. At the same time, however, he would actively seek out solutions to push those very boundaries further. Standa, for his part, knew how to integrate Bertík’s constraints with fresh ideas—recalculating and brilliantly synthesizing the two into new technological processes that continue to expand our manufacturing capabilities.

Bertík’s departure triggered some organizational changes within the tool shop, in the course of which Standa became the department’s chief technologist. This is not a new role for him, as he has long exerted a significant influence on our technological evolution as a whole. In his previous position as chief designer, he learned to lead a design team. While this meant he did less hands-on designing himself, he supervised the design departments, provided guidance, and occasionally refined specific design projects. Several projects, such as the Zero, Wildcat, P-40, and most recently the MiG-15, were developed in this manner. The primary difference now is that the responsibility for the technological setup of both design and production processes will rest solely with him. We also took advantage of our trip to Brno to clarify the path forward and determine how we will proceed with the design of the 1:48th scale Ju 87 Stuka project.

New releases for 2027

In addition to upcoming kits for which the designs are not yet complete, most notably the 1:32nd scale Spitfire Mk.VIII, the 1:48th scale Spitfire Mk.XII and Mk.XIV, the 1:32nd scale Fw 190D, and all versions of the 1:48th scale Ju 87 Stuka, we need to maintain a concentrated focus on finishing projects for which the designs are already complete. Foremost among these is the 1:48 scale MiG-15 project. The first release, the MiG-15 Royal Class boxing, is scheduled to hit the shelves in December, and we are working hard to ensure everything is ready on time to make it happen. While four molds for the MiG-15 are currently in operation, the remaining two are awaiting final completion and fine tuning. Although this is a December release, everything must actually be finished and molded by mid-November so that we can begin shipping the kits to those that ordered the kit and to retailers. Similarly, we need to have the 1:72nd scale Spitfire Mk.I ready for the ‘Spitfire Story: The Few’ Limited Edition kit, another December release. Everything for this is already complete; the Spitfire Mk.Ia version debuted as a Profipack release in October, and the only remaining component to finish was the mold, or rather, the mold insert, for the Spitfire Mk.I fuselage (the version featuring the original, flat-topped canopy). At the same time, we are currently working to ensure the timely shipment of the plastic parts for the 1:48th scale A-20G Havoc from China. They will be traveling by train, a journey fraught with pitfalls and dangers, not the least of which is because a significant portion of the route passes through Russia. We also have another shipment on the way from Asia: the plastic parts for an Academy 1/72 scale F-4J Phantom. These are being transported by sea, though that hardly means the route is any safer. At the moment, the ship should be

4

INFO Eduard

November 2026

Info EDUARD