Special Hobby Newsletter - January

Newsletter 01/2017 EN blog
We would like to wish all our business partners and customers a very peaceful Christmas holidays and for the coming 2017 we wish you good luck, good health and happiness in your personal and business life. It indeed is a great honour for us to be able to be producing for you not only plastic kits but resin sets and other accessories as well. Now we want to invite our customers and modellers interested to learn more about our production to visit the 2017 Nuremberg Toy Fair, or SPIELWARENMESSE 2017. We will be happy to meet you at the Special Hobby stand no. E-52 in Hall 7.
! IMPORTANT !
Important announcement for our customers, in February 2017 the following models of the 1/32 scale P-36/H-75 Hawk/Mohawk family will be re-stocked again so this could be a good time to secure your example.

The catalogue numbers of these items are A045, SH32003, SH32016SH32023, SH32038

On the other hand,
 HERE is a xls file for download with items which have now sold out and are withdrawn from production.
SPECIAL HOBBY PLASTIC MODELS
In the years before the outbreak of WW2, the German Luftwaffe introduced into service two categories of fighter planes. Besides the single-engined fighter types such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109s, there were also twin-engined, heavily armed fighters of the Zerstörer (destroyer in English) category put into the service.  The most well known Zerstörer type of the pre-war era was the Messerschmitt Bf 110. During 1940, it became clear that the type could not cope successfully with some of its assigned tasks due a lack of speed.  At that time, the Luftwaffe´s main high-speed bomber (schnellbomber) was the Junkers Ju 88, and its performance was such that it was clear that it could be easily converted into a heavy fighter too. The Junkers designers were well aware of the fact, and as early as 1938 they carried out a series of flight tests using the V-7 prototype with lower overall weight, and armed with one 20mm cannon and three 7.9mm machine guns. Following the successful tests production was commenced, by converting 20 Ju 88A-1 machines to Ju 88C-2 fighter specification. These airframes were fitted with shorter-span wings, a cannon and three MGs.  The same type of armament was used also with the later fighter version designated as the Ju 88C-4, which was built from the specification of the Ju 88A-5 bomber variant and featured a standard span wing with earlier Jumo 211F or G powerplants.
 
The machines had various styles of the canopy, and some of them were produced with heavier armament of two cannon in an under-fuselage gondola. The production run ended with a total of 120 C-4 airframes. The first Ju 88C-2 and C-4 machines were put on strength of newly-established night fighter units NJG-1 and NJG-2 and were used mainly in the night intruder role over the British Isles and in the Mediterranean. The machines did very well in difficult night fighting conditions, achieving several victories, mostly over enemy territory with their only means of finding the enemy their eyesight. It was only the later Ju 88C-6 version that was equipped with radar, and this version replaced the earlier dash two and dash four variants.
 
The Ju 88C-4 is just the version which we have chosen to model to enrich our production range. The basis for our model is the new ICM kit which depicts the A-5 bomber version and the original sprues are accompanied by a new sprue with grey styrene nose section parts and additional armament.  We have also tooled a new set of clear parts, detailed resin items and a large decal sheet that brings the modeller a choice of three rather attractive machines. The sheet is printed in superb quality by Italian company Cartograf, and has marking options for two all-black aircraft and one wearing a camouflage scheme. The model will be release as a limited edition only.
Following their defeat at the battle of Midway, the Japanese Empire lost also its strategic initiative in the Second World War and had to begin to think defensively. Because of the overwhelming supremacy of the Allied forces, a group of officers came up with the idea of suicidal attacks from the air. At first, standard airframes were used, which proved to be rather expensive and the development of a specialized, single-purpose aircraft was commenced. One of the so-called special attack machines was the Ki-115 Tsurugi. In January 1945, the Japanese Navy issued a special suicide attack aircraft specification which were handed over to Nakajima company.
 
The chief designer Kunihiro Aoki and his team came up with the Ki-115 project which was built from non-strategic materials and was meant to utilize a choice of several power plants, although in practice all of the machines built were equipped with Ha-115 powerplants. The type was to be armed with a semi-embedded bomb carried under the fuselage and a special, simple and jettisonable undercarriage was to be used to increase the aircraft´s performance after take off for the mission. As early as March 1945, first flight tests of the prototype machine took place, during which several problems occured, namely the view from the cockpit was insufficient during taxiing, the unsprung undercarriage legs caused considerable trouble and take off itself was aslo difficult. That all led to many alterations being implemented to the airframe, the most visible of which was the addition of the flaps on the wing trailing edge. By the end of the war, as many as 104 machines had been built, but none of them ever saw a real combat deployment, which is the reason that the type was not issued its Allied code name, as the Allies did not even know of this type. There were two more versions planned.  Navy should have had their version which was to be known as the Toka, and the other was to be fitted with an enlarged wooden wing, but neither design left the drawing board before the end of the war.
 
The kit consists of one sprue of plastic parts, one with a clear part and a set of detailed resin parts. The decal sheet caters for three production machines in the markings of the Japanese Army.
The kit contains the same sprues as the previous one but offers different camouflage options, now in so-called "What-If" schemes.  A clear canopy sprue and detailed resin parts accompany the basic plastic sprue, and the decal sheet brings the option of one Japanese and two captured machines, one British, the other with US marking.
WE ARE PREPARING

100-SH72342
L-13 Blanik

100-SH32068
IAR 81C

- boxart in process

100-SH48188
AJ-37 Viggen "Show must go on"

- boxart in process

 
Please note, that we still have a discount on our CMK sets. Check them out on our e-shop - just click on the link below.

CMK SALE
The set allows to display the starboard side weapon bay open. You will find there the bay itself and also separate parts for the machine guns, bulkheads and the cover panels.

AFFILIATION: UK / WW II
Finely detailed resin replica of the largest fuel tank to be ever used under the Mirage F.1 jets and in service mainly with the CR and CT versions.

AFFILIATION: France, present
The set enables to have the control surfaces in deployed position (ailerons, landing flaps, elevator and rudder). All the surfaces are nicely detailed with realistic rendition of the covering and hinges. Contains also all new tail plane stabilizers.

AFFILIATION: UK / present
This detail set comprises a resin replica of the Garrett TPE331-12B turboprop engine unit with all necessary details and parts for the engine compartment, the firewall, engine bearers, various accessories and cowling panel.

AFFILIATION: UK / present
Detailed set of the cockpit comes as a base resin part of the cockpit floor with side consoles. The additional parts offer the pilots´ seats, sidewalls, control columns, instrument panels and another items. To make the instrument panels more realistic, a piece of clear film with printed on instrument faces has also been included in the set.

AFFILIATION: UK / present
This set is designed to improve the Tucano´s exterior and offers open fuselage baggage compartment and its covering panel, a new speed brake, new undercarriage panels and new antennae.

AFFILIATION: UK / present
The set contains 12 pieces of different heads without any head covers. Each of the heads has specific features and is unique, none of them comes twice in the set. These heads can be used for any pilot figure from any historic period. 

AFFILIATION: universal
This set cotains 8 pieces of military pilot heads in their flight helmets. Each of the heads has specific features and its helmet too, none of them comes twice in the set.

AFFILIATION: universal
Detailed figure portraying an American Marine with a M2A1 flamethrower from the 1945 Iwojima fights. The figure consists of 13 parts, its head and arms are separate while the body is cast together with the flamethrower tanks. The weapon has been extensively detailed and will be built from 9 parts.

AFFILIATION: USA / WW II

Comments

  1. This is a great inspiring article. I am pretty much pleased with your good work. You put really very helpful information. Hire a Virtual Assistant India

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Very first 2023 surprise for you from SH - the 1/72 F-84F Thunderstreak aka Super Hog

News from Special Hobby 03/2024

News from Special Hobby 1/2023