EDITORIAL
BUILD, BUILD, BUILD!
The title is loosely based on the Tora Tora Tora!
code as applied to modeling, including several
hundred languages of tribes that reside and
model on Papua New Guinea*. Take it as a general instruction what to do with our new Zero
that is just being officially released today and so
begins its campaign throughout the modeling
world. There is not much sense in delving into
detail descriptions of the kit within the pages of
this editorial. It has been known that we were
to release this kit for some six weeks now, and
with a few dozen Facebook and Instagram posts, currently on-going build articles, and even
thanks to today’s newsletter release, much is already known about it even to those who wouldn’t
bother to care about Zero just a month ago. We
are at the beginning of a long road that will see
the release of all versions of the A6M in all our
production lines, from Limited Editions through ProfiPacks and on to Weekend kits. As has
been our style to do so, we have designed and
are completing molds for all the subvariants of
the type, starting with the A6M2 Type 11 and ending with the A6M7. Our series will also include
my personal favorite Rufe float version and the
two seater A6M2-K. There will be a lot of Zero
kits coming out, including versions that have not
been properly done by any other manufacturer.
And we will not be saying goodbye to the line any
time soon. To research, draw, design and print
tens, if not hundreds of schemes, is a job for
years, if not decades, and, to paraphrase well-known words, before we´re through with ´em,
this Japanese subject will be common in the
modeling world!
Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen!
So, here we are, at the end of another year! Today’s newsletter will be mostly about new releases for December, and we will begin to introduce our plans for the year that is about to
follow. I will leave a breakdown of this year’s
company performance for January’s newsletter.
This year hasn’t yet ended, so let´s not draw up
the bill in the absence of the innkeeper. The main
release for the month of December is the aforementioned Zero kit released in Limited Edition
line under the name “Tora Tora Tora!”. It is a Dual
Combo item and further details are provided
within the pages of this newsletter further on
down. Other versions, and the sequence of their
release, will be described when we get to new
items planned for next year.
Kits in December
Up to the summer, our production capacity was
taxed to the limit in an effort to replenish our catalog items to the point where there was virtually nothing left for the fine-tuning of new molds
or production of new releases. In any case, work
was being done on new molds, and by the summer, we had three new sets ready for testing and
fine tuning. These were the Camel, the Trener
and the Zero. At the time, our stock of catalog
items had pulled itself together and we turned
our attention to some of those fine-tuning duties. The results are evident, and they speak for
themselves. We have been able to release the
first new kits of all three types over the last four
months. All are in the Limited Edition line. In
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September, it was the Camel in the ”Camel & Co.”
kit, in November it was the ”Trener” kit, and now,
for December, we have the A6M2 Zero Type 21
kit. With the Tora Tora Tora! Limited Edition package, and ProfiPack editions of the Trener and
Camel kits, all three of them are being offered
in December simultaneously. The latter two are
now more specific items , as the Camel is released as a Bentley BR.1 engine powered specification and the Trener kit focuses on the Z226M/
MS, which is an upgraded version powered by an
M-137 engine. The sequence of these releases is
the result of the scheme which was introduced
last year and fine-tuned during 2021. You may
have noticed that beginning with the Mustang,
the sequence was to release the Limited Edition kit as the first, followed by the ProfiPack, and
then finally by Weekend kits. The typical release
structure of any month then contains something
from each line, Limited, ProfiPack and Weekend.
For December, this includes one Limited Edition
kit, two ProfiPacks and a Weekend Edition kit.
This is complemented by another Limited Edition and two ProfiPacks as re-editions for this
month. The ProfiPacks are the Tempest Mk.V
Series 1 and a MiG-21PF, both in 1:48th scale. The
Limited Edition kit is the familiar Tornado GR.1
in 1:72nd scale under the name “Desert Babes”.
Back in June, this kit sold out before the end of
the week after its release, which was enough to
contemplate a second edition. I believe that this
time around, Desert Babes will last longer than
before. A portion of these kits will be sold with
posters depicting the nose art carried by the aircraft in the marking options. These will be the
same as those that were offered with the previous 1:48th scale version of the kit of the same
name. The noted Weekend kit is the Bf 109E-7 in
1:48th scale. We picked out some nice marking
options for this kit that will go against the common perception that this was exclusively a tropical version of the Emil. It wasn’t. The defining
features of the E-7 were the engine used (the DB
601N) and a fuel system that allowed the carriage of a fuselage drop tank.
ding a 3D printed engine and PE landing flaps
will be available in January, and in following
months as well. The engine will be released in
two versions. The first one, to be released in January under Catalog Number 648694, is a one-piece matter intended to be used with closed
maintenance panels cowling, as a ”ready-to-fly”
configuration. The second offering of the engine
will be more detailed and complex, with separate pistons in a fairly classical Brassin rendition,
with a complete exhaust piping and with all the
equipment on the rear side of the engine and on
the firewall. Obviously, this one is intended to be
displayed with open cowling panels. Similarly,
the landing flaps will be offered as two different
products, one photoetched and one 3D printed. If
the Zero is your bag, whether you have opted for
the Limited Edition Tora Tora Tora! kit or January’s ProfiPack, you have plenty of time to decide
which accessories are right for your project.
There will be no shortage of options anytime
soon.
There are many other accessory items as well.
For example, we have two Space sets that cover
Remove Before Flight tags in 1:48th scale, and
another two sets covering American naval flags
in 1:350th scale. Those are also part of the Spa-
December Accessories
In the accessories line, we have, naturally, the
first items available for the Zero, although not
a lot, being at the beginning of this theme as we
are. It comes in the form of a TFace mask, for
both the inner and outer clear surfaces, a 3D
printed seat, resin wheels, bronze landing gear
legs, Space and LooK sets, steel seat belts in the
Zoom line, and a stencil data decal sheet in the
Eduard Decal line. Other accessory items, inclu-
INFO Eduard - December 2021