Eduard - leaflet for distributors

[Tbolt]

15 minutes ago, Hook said:

Eduard 1/72nd Spitfire came out in 2016, while their MiG-21 hails from 2018. So that would make the Fishbed the more modern tool.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

 

Your right, I was mixing it up with the 1/48th scale version. Still Eduard's post war range in 1/72nd range has been pretty non existent since then, the Z-37 being the only one I can think of.

[Julien]

10 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

Eduard releases the kind of kits that will sell well and allow them to make really good money.

 

Exactly 

[drake122]

1 hour ago, Hook said:

Like their 1/72nd MiG-15s / 21s?

 

Cheers,

 

Andrd

I wouldn't say the Mig-15 is up to current standard (it is perfectly buildable nevertheless), but there is still a gap in the market for a proper Mig-17 (Airfix offering is mediocre at best in my opinion). Eduard Mig-21 line is perfect in 72nd, the only problem with them is that they promised (Eduard CEO himself claimed this on modelforum) many more versions- bis, SMT, R, later UM, and fail to deliver continuously since 2018. It is up for discussion whether that is a more popular subject than the Spitfires and Messerschmits they keep releasing over and over, but personally, I am just sick of this, as in their current range of 72nd scale kits, I am only interested in the Mig-15 and Mig-21, as they simply don't make anything else that is post war. It is a pity, because make good quality kits and I consider it wasted potential. 

[Hook]

11 minutes ago, drake122 said:

I wouldn't say the Mig-15 is up to current standard (it is perfectly buildable nevertheless), but there is still a gap in the market for a proper Mig-17 (Airfix offering is mediocre at best in my opinion).

If the Airfix MiG-17 was to the standards of Eduards MiG-15, what a wonderful world it'd be. 😎

 

I am equally looking forward to more versions of Eduards '21.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[lasermonkey]

2 hours ago, Tbolt said:

 

Although both very nice kits I wouldn't say they are to their current standards. Their current standard to me is probably from the Spitfire Mk.IX on.

I'm sorry, the MiG-21 isn't to "current standards"? I'm at something of a loss here, as I think it's a benchmark kit in 1/72. Fit and detail are incredible, especially for the money. I'd love to know where you find the MiG-21 kits lacking. My only complaint is that they haven't done any more versions yet.

[IanC]

19 hours ago, hopkp said:

Couldn't agree more, the poor, bedraggled WW2 horse has now been well and truly flogged to death several times over. What about a few decent kits of 1950s/1960s jets from Eduard done to its current standards for a change?

 

Up to a point.. Just because everyone and his aunt has done a Spit and a Bf 109 doesn't mean there's no need for new kits of these aircraft. Otherwise we'd be stuck with Airfix's 1960s efforts. 

 

A state of the art 1/72 Bf 109G/K series and P-51D will surely sell like hot cakes. Everyone jokes about the Bf 109G-6, but if you want a decent one where do you go? There are plenty of options, but none really stand up alongside Eduard's Fw 190s, Spits or Hellcats in terms of accuracy, detail, affordability and availability.

 

But yes, I can see if you're a fan of 50s/60s jets that's no use at all. 😄

[Thomas V.]

In its heyday, Hasegawa released all F-4 family in 1/72 scale in one year ( 1990 ), till unfortunate change of focus in 2009 they produced between 6-8 totally new aircraft toolings annualy, not counting subtypes .

In my view I compare Eduard to Hasegawa, they both heralded new level of quality in scale modelling, but again unfortunately Eduard does not have the numbers, number of kits announced( most unofficialy) surpasses twenty, with some like F4U, Me 262, MiG-15 being 6-8 year old " news", they have all the neccessary to issue far more, jets in the broadest sense are definitely what is lacking, from F-86 family, F-105, F-100 to quality Eurofighter, Gripen or F-35...

Edited July 17, 2022 by Thomas V.

[Tbolt]

2 hours ago, lasermonkey said:

I'm sorry, the MiG-21 isn't to "current standards"? I'm at something of a loss here, as I think it's a benchmark kit in 1/72. Fit and detail are incredible, especially for the money. I'd love to know where you find the MiG-21 kits lacking. My only complaint is that they haven't done any more versions yet.

 

Read my above reply.

 

4 hours ago, Tbolt said:

 

Your right, I was mixing it up with the 1/48th scale version. Still Eduard's post war range in 1/72nd range has been pretty non existent since then, the Z-37 being the only one I can think of.

 

[Seboo]

Vl. Sulc's today's response on Modelforum.cz regarding Eduard's plans:

 

mira1974 writes:Hello, may I ask, as a fan of everything Czech and Czechoslovakian, how many Zlín Z-37 /72 servus boys and Zlín Z-226 and 126 limiters were produced and sold. I am quite interested in how quickly our planes are sold. I just ask, can we look forward to more Czech and Czechoslovakian pieces? Besides the L-13 Blaník? For example, L-60 Brigadyr or L-200 Morava would be interesting, and I would welcome the whole Z-37 series for myself, but I'm afraid I'd probably be the only one. Thank you for your reply Mira

I won't give you an exact answer, I'm in Boston and I don't have the time or the mood to analyze sales statistics, but the general rule is that these civilian and, moreover, only locally attractive projects are significantly less interesting from an economic perspective than military projects focused on the main themes of world history. So projects like Spitfire or Mustang are many times more interesting than Czechoslovak sports aircraft projects. It is similar with them, as with the First World War planes. We also do them for reasons of technological development or training of new designers, with the fact that they also strengthen our position on the domestic market. At the moment, we do not need to start any other similar project, on the contrary, we need to do profitable projects like the Wildcat, P-51B or Bf 109K or the 72nd Bf 109 series. We are fully charged for this now and it will be our main topic for the next few years. I don't see another sports project in the next five years at least. But projects oriented to the domestic market will be there, only they will be mostly military aircraft. And we will complete the Trainer project by releasing other ready versions. This also includes the constructed Blanik.

[Hook]

55 minutes ago, Seboo said:

Vl. Sulc's today's response on Modelforum.cz regarding Eduard's plans:

I'd wager Eduard makes only very limited or no profit at all from releasing models like the Z-37A Cmelák or Zlin Akrobat / Tréner (after all, generally speaking kits of genral and agricultural aircraft hardly heard of outside the country of origin do not tend to set the modeller's world alight), instead using the profits generated form sure sellers like Bf 109's and Spitfires to compensate for those labours of love. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Piotr Mikolajski]

9 hours ago, drake122 said:

Let's be honest here. Do you think other companies don't have similar amount of sales data to go through?

 

Every modelling company has hard data on the sales of their own products and this is something obvious. But they don't have hard data on the sales of other companies' products, because that is a company secret.

 

Eduard is first and foremost a manufacturer of aftermarket items for kits. The production of models itself is in the background and this Mr Sulc has emphasised many times. This does not mean that it is unimportant, but the difference can be seen, for example, by the number of new products - a few dozens of new tool add-ons released every month and three new tool kits per year on average.

 

They have tools to analyse their own sales, but this is at the same time an analysis of the popularity of add-ons for models from dozens of other manufacturers. On this basis, in turn, it is possible to assess the popularity of various themes, and this popularity is no secret - World War II fighter aircraft models sell noticeably better than Cold War jet models.

 

With a wide distribution network, they talk to many distributors and from them, too, they have another portion of information about which types of models sell better and which sell worse.

 

By producing extras they can judge the quality of the models, and the prices of the models in the shops are not some kind of secret either. If you put it all together, you can get a pretty good picture of what will sell better and what will sell worse.

 

Then all you have to do is add to this the internal rules for evaluating themes. Generally they are similar everywhere - labour intensity, time, cost, number of potential kits per theme and so on. And this produces a list of what is worth doing and what doesn't make sense to do, because with an identical investment there will be much less profit from it.

  

9 hours ago, drake122 said:

However, the modelling market is not only about WW2 planes.

 

Eduard produces add-ons for all models, from World War I to the latest combat aircraft.

  

9 hours ago, drake122 said:

Eduard just does what they do because these planes sell relatively well on our local market

 

LOL, local market is about 20% of their sales, 80% of the kits is sold abroad. And this is not the secret either, Mr Sulc wrote about it many times.

  

9 hours ago, drake122 said:

not to mention the cost and effort to produce them is much lower than for example a modern jet

 

So you expect the company to subsidise production?

 

After all, it is obvious that if the production of an aircraft X is more expensive and the expected profits are lower, no one will release such a model. Running a company is not charity, if the spreadsheet shows that it doesn't make sense, then nobody will go for it.

   

9 hours ago, drake122 said:

So, while we know why Eduard has this company policy, we are not obliged to like it.

 

Of course. Mr Sulc would write that you are not obliged to like the company and its policies, but you are not obliged to buy its products either.

 

It is up to your judgement as to whether the product we offer provides you with a utility and benefit that matches its price, or whether the quality/price ratio is interesting enough for you. If it is not, you will not buy. We understand this and have no problem with it. We don't blame you for it, nor do we scold you for it. On the other hand, if you don't like our product, I'd appreciate it if you didn't scold us. I think it's enough if you don't buy it.

 

Source: https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?p=2462447#p2462447

   

9 hours ago, drake122 said:

Especially after they have advertised things in the past in other ariplane categories that they ultimately failed to deliver. 

 

And what specifically has Eduard promised, given a release date and failed to deliver without any explanation?

 

I am eager to find out, because when one starts checking such claims, it turns out that:

• the announcement was not an announcement, and only someone thought something or overinterpreted a statement (as in the case of the new P-39 in 1/48),
• the topic in question was only considered without any decision on production,
• the topic in question is something the company would like to do, but there are dozens of such topics,
• no one gave any specific date (as in the case of "some chance" for a new MiG-15 in 1/48),
• it has been made clear that there will be delays (as with the Bf 109G-12 and K-4 in 1/48).

Anyway, in general it would be nice if those complaining had some better idea of what was going on in the company in question.

 

Since the beginning of 2020 we have had a coronavirus pandemic and the disease has also affected the Eduard crew.

After the fire in December 2020, the company had to rebuild the entire stock of models, so their availability and the order in which new products are released has changed.

Since last year, the industry as a whole has been struggling to cope with the constant increase in the price of various products and services, affecting the change in the cost of producing models at virtually every stage, from cutting moulds to packing boxes.

 

And yet a large proportion of those complaining behave as if they have no intention of noticing all these problems and as if they do not accept that this has an impact on kit production.

[hopkp]

43 minutes ago, Hook said:

I'd wager Eduard makes only very limited or no profit at all from releasing models like the Z-37A Cmelák or Zlin Akrobat / Tréner (after all, generally speaking kits of general and agricultural aircraft hardly heard of outside the country of origin do not tend to set the modeller's world alight), instead using the profits generated form sure sellers like Bf 109's and Spitfires to compensate for those labours of love.

It would indeed be very interesting to know how well those kits sell. Just from a personal perspective, I've bought all of Eduard's Zlin kits (Akrobat and Tréner) but very few of their Bf 109s and Spitfires. Why? Because I've more than enough of the latter already and am really liking getting my hands on something that's a little bit different; the kits are beautifully moulded, fit well and have some great colour schemes, what's not to like? Most of my modelling friends have bought the Zlins/Tréners too, so I think that there may be a bigger market for these than people might think. Would I have bought them 10 or 15 years ago? Maybe not, but I think that if they live long enough most people will eventually tire of endless 109s and Spitfires, no matter how 'definitive' they might be..... 

 

P.S. If Mr. Sulc's watching, I'd definitely buy a 1/48 Cmelák too if Eduard ever scales it up!

[Piotr Mikolajski]

1 hour ago, hopkp said:

It would indeed be very interesting to know how well those kits sell.

 

The company makes money on them, but certainly not as much as on military aircraft. That's pretty obvious, by the way - the Cmelák and the Akrobat / Tréner family were exported to a dozen countries each, so in many countries people would be happy to build themselves a kit like this. But, unlike aircraft such as the Bf 109 or the P-51, which they will build a few kits, in the case of the Cmelák or the Akrobat / Tréner they will build just one or two kits.

[Hook]

18 hours ago, Tbolt said:

Still Eduard's post war range in 1/72nd range has been pretty non existent since then, the Z-37 being the only one I can think of.

The recently released 1/72nd S-199/CS-199 kits, while based on the Bf 109, are strictly speaking post-WW2.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[ruudster]

I"ll probably pick up a S-199 just to support Eduard's 1/72 revolution (not super interested in the plane/schemes).  They do make very nice kits and i look forward to their future releases.

[Harold55]

Personally, and only from the outside I think Eduard is a very well run company.  I know where they started as I have a number of their early WWI kits and I know where they are now and it has been an amazing story to see this growth.  I think they are justifiable prudent as to new project as limit the number they commit to each year.  They have an excellent basis to know what might sell well give their knowledge of aftermarket sales.  We can also guess about what sells well when we see reboxings and different versions of kits released.  Clearly WWII fighters seem to be cash cows which will generate revenue for them for many years.  I just can not be critical of a company that makes good choices, has great products and manages to stay in business.  And besides, I am going to get me a Wildcat, Camel, Spit Mk.Vc & and Zero.

[tony.t]

I'm still hoping for a 1/48 MiG-21F and -21UM, one day.  Eduard's MiG-21 kits are very good and merit further development.

I much prefer 1960s-1970s Cold War jets but, with a sad sigh and heavy heart, realise that WW2 era dominates the market (and has since I started making models over half a century ago, which is why they bore me, utterly).  

 

Interested to know what AM Eduard might be doing, if anything, for the 1/32 Fly Tunnan.

 

Tony 

[SleeperService]

As I'm hor's de combat at present I've been sorting the stash and making plans. I'm very surprised that most of my purchases over the last couple of years are from East European manufacturers including Eduard. This is down to nothing other than planes on my bucket list are getting released by them so they get my money.

I think we'll all be a lot happier if we celebrate what gets released rather than what doesn't - that's how capitalism is supposed to work after all. Yes I wanted a 1/48 Cmelák then Maco produced one a couple of years back and very nice it is too. We may be seeing a 1/48 PZL104 Wilga soon which will make me do my happy dance too.

As this is an Eduard thread then may I suggest that any items 'announced' say 3+ years ago are just ignored as 'vapourware' much like armour modellers used to deal with Dragon.

Having just scored the old 1/48 Tempest kit for £10 I'm a very happy bunny today.

[manuel]

58 minutes ago, SleeperService said:

As I'm hor's de combat at present I've been sorting the stash and making plans. I'm very surprised that most of my purchases over the last couple of years are from East European manufacturers including Eduard. This is down to nothing other than planes on my bucket list are getting released by them so they get my money.

I think we'll all be a lot happier if we celebrate what gets released rather than what doesn't - that's how capitalism is supposed to work after all. Yes I wanted a 1/48 Cmelák then Maco produced one a couple of years back and very nice it is too. We may be seeing a 1/48 PZL104 Wilga soon which will make me do my happy dance too.

As this is an Eduard thread then may I suggest that any items 'announced' say 3+ years ago are just ignored as 'vapourware' much like armour modellers used to deal with Dragon.

Having just scored the old 1/48 Tempest kit for £10 I'm a very happy bunny today.

you would say 1/72 PZL 104 Wilga, isn't' it?

Edited July 19, 2022 by manuel
add a picture

[Circloy]

22 minutes ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

It doesn't work in such a short timeframe. The time from the start of work on a model (collecting documentation and analysing it) to the arrival of boxes on the shelves can be estimated at 2-3 years.

Yes, sometimes it can be shorter, but often it can take longer, because projects are queued and the delay of one affects the delay of the others.

 

The basis of modelling is patience, and some modellers aggressively demand information (or even the opportunity to buy) a model that was announced just a few months earlier.

Don't say that in front of a railway modeller, they expect 3 generation of models & one of each livery variant in that time.

[Stephen]

The Eduard August releases are available to purchase on their website with 20% off from 20th-27th July.

 

https://www.eduard.com/ 

[tony.t]

21 hours ago, Borisz said:

 

Maybe one day you can build aircrafts from the 3rd world war, dont worry.

 

Why would I want to build WWZ subjects when I'm interested in 1960s-1970s Cold War jets? 

 

Eduard could do a fab job with a MiG-21F-13 and -21UM as they suggested they might do one day, and we could use a -15UTI too. Maybe repackage the Airfix Lightnings and Sea Vixen with Eduard extras. 

 

Tony 

 

 

[Homebee]

Info Eduard Vol.21 August 2022 - issue 150

https://www.eduard.com/out/media/InfoEduard/archive/2022/info-eduard-2022-08en-ev.pdf

 

 

V.P.

[SleeperService]

On 7/19/2022 at 1:08 PM, manuel said:

you would say 1/72 PZL 104 Wilga, isn't' it?

I can't find the thread but I think the new kit will be in both 1/72 and 1/48 to keep everybody happy. Answer kits apparently.

[Hook]

On 8/2/2022 at 7:54 PM, Homebee said:

Info Eduard Vol.21 August 2022 - issue 150

B-25 Strafer incoming!