News from Special Hobby 05/2025

Dear business friends,    May is a month associated with the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. We wanted to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its end by releasing a pair of Mosquito kits. Unfortunately, due to technological reasons, we have to postpone the release until June. Instead, this May newsletter will offer you a kit of another historically very important aircraft. The kit of the first British jet aircraft (and the second jet in the world) Gloster Pioneer gets back to our offer in 1/48 scale. The second representative of the British design school is the 1/72 Vickers Wellington Mk.IC kit with a large choice of colour schemes. The last plastic kit of the May newsletter is the 1/72 SN72007 Kriegsfischkutter ‘WWII German Patrol and Minesweeper Ship’. Finally, we can proudly say that the KFK is finished. We have been preparing the kit for a really long time, but we believe that the long preparation was reflected in the quality and that modellers will appreciate it.    We have also prepared the first accessories for the KFK, you can find masks and 3D-printed depth charges in the newsletter. We have prepared another accessories for the 1/72 SMB-2 Super Mystère kits, the Atar 9B engine nozzle. We have prepared a conversion set for the Mk.III SD version for the nice 1/48 Airfix Lysander kit, designed for dropping agents. We have also prepared accessories for the Mosquito kits, you can find the first three in this newsletter. We look forward to your orders. A. Riedel SPECIAL HOBBY PLASTIC MODEL KITS

Kriegsfischkutter ‘WWII German Patrol and Minesweeper Ship’    1/72 Art.no. Scale Barcode 100-SN72007 1/72 8595593132303    During World War II, the German armed forces occupied a huge part of the European mainland. This included the coast from northern Norway to the coast of the Peloponnese and the Black Sea coast in the occupied USSR. This entire coast had to be guarded and defended. The capacity of German patrol vessels, including the captured ones, was not enough for this task. Therefore, based on the requirements of the OKM, the Kriegsfischkutter patrol boat, abbreviated as KFK, was developed. Because the need for these ships was enormous, large-scale production began in both German shipyards and shipyards in occupied Europe. 42 shipyards in seven countries were involved. It was the largest naval project of the Third Reich. Over 1,000 ships were ordered, and 612 were delivered by the end of the war. KFKs were assigned to many Marinegruppenkommando along the entire European coast. Within these commands, they were assigned to the relevant flotillas. They were first deployed in 1943 and fought intensively on all European seas until the end of the war. 554 ships out of a total of 612 built were used in combat and 135 of them were sunk in combat. A large number of KFKs were captured at the end of the war and were used at least briefly in many military navies. After the war, KFKs were also used in Germany during the dangerous mine clearance of the Baltic and North Sea. The plastic model of this ship consists of a total of ten sprues of plastic parts. One of them is made of clear plastic. Decals and instructions are provided for one German KFK. The hull of the kit is 32 cm long and 9 cm wide. Více informací

Vickers Wellington Mk.IC  1/72 Art.no. Scale Barcode 100-SH72499 1/72 8595593132501    The Vickers Wellington is one of the symbols of the bombing offensive against Germany. After heavy losses in daytime raids at the beginning of the war, Wellingtons switched to night raids. They kept flying in this role for the entire first half of the war. Then they were transferred to Coastal Command, where they served as anti-submarine aircraft. They formed the armament of British RAF squadrons, but foreign squadrons, Czechoslovak, Polish, New Zealand and Canadian, also received them. The kit contains six sprues of gray plastic parts, one with clear parts, resin cast exhausts and a sheet of decals. These offer markings for two machines of Polish squadrons, one of them in anti-submarine scheme. The other machines flew in RAF night scheme. In addition to the Polish one, named Elzunia (Lissie), the decals contain the markings for two Wellingtons of RAF squadrons. One of them, with a large emblem under the cockpit, flew in Africa. The second, purchased with the money of the native king Nana Sir Ofori Atta I, KBE, ruler of the Akyem Abuakwa Kingdom in the British colony of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), operated from Britain. The last machine from the offer is one of the most successful Wellingtons of No.311 (Czechoslovak) Sqn. RAF Více informací

Gloster E.28/39 Pioneer (Squirt) ‘First British Jet’ 1/48 Art.no. Scale Barcode 100-SH48017 1/48 8595019311022    The first British jet aircraft and the third one in the world that succesfully took to the air was the Gloster E.28/39, called the Pioneer or Squirt. Its development was no doubt the result of the work on the first British jet engine by the designer Frank Whittle and his company Power Jets Ltd. Development of the Power Jets W.1 engine began already in the pre-war years. The first experimental engine was running in 1937. In the spring of 1939, Frank Whittle visited the Gloster company and established cooperation with the chief designer of Gloster, George Carter. The Ministry of Aviation also supported this by issuing the E.28/39 specification. It required Gloster to build two experimental aircraft that would verify that the jet engine could work in an airframe. George Carter designed a small, all-metal aircraft with a nose landing gear. Only the control surfaces were covered with fabric. The landing gear could be very short, due to the absence of a propeller. In the nose of the aircraft was the intake duct of the jet engine, which forked in front of the cockpit and joined behind it. The aircraft did not carry any armament, although the specification originally called for two to four 7.7 mm machine guns. Both aircraft built, W4041 and W4046, did not have cockpit pressurization or even heating, and also lacked a wireless equipment. The flight tests of the W4041 were started with F/Lt. P. E. G. Sayer at the controls on 7 April 1941 and the aircraft reportedly took off several times during these. The official first take-off took place on 15 May 1941 at Cranwell base. The tests of the first prototype were carried out with several breaks until 1944, as the Power Jets W.1 and W.1A engines  were constantly under development and changed often. In 1944, W4041 received a more powerful W.2B engine and modified tail surfaces with added stabilizers. The machine kept flying until the spring of 1945 when it was handed over to the Science Museum in South Kensington, where it is still on display.     The kit consits of two grey styrene sprues, a clear plastic sprue with the canopy, fret of etches and a sheet of decals with markings for the prototype in two respective forms. Více informací

SPECIAL MASK

Kriegsfischkutter MASK 1/72 Art.no. Scale Barcode 100-M72059 1/72 8595593132785    Pre-cut spray masks for the new Kriegsfischkutter model kit released in the Special Navy series. Více informací

RESIN AND 3D MODEL KITS & SETS

Lysander Mk.III (SD) Conversion set 1/48 Art.no. Scale Barcode 129-4495 1/48 8595593132709     The Lysander was produced in several versions intended for reconnaissance and observation. Due to its excellent STOL characteristics, a version intended for dropping agents behind enemy lines was als oproduced. It was designated Lysander Mk.III SD. It was used both in Europe and in Asia. We have prepared a conversion set of this version for the new Lysander kit from Airfix. It offers not only detailed conversion parts for the exterior and interior, but also decals for a total of four machines. Two operated from Great Britain (one of them with D-day stripes), two were flown in India. Více informací

Aermacchi MB-326 Open Electronic Nose Box 1/48 / for Italeri kits Art.no. Scale Barcode 129-4496 1/48 8595593132730    This set offers the open electronics compartment in the nose section of the widely used MB-326 trainer aircraft model kit. Více informací

SMB-2 Super Mystère Atar 9B Engine Nozzle 1/72 / for Special Hobby kit  Art.no. Scale Barcode 129-7522 1/72 8595593132693    Detailed resin cast jet engine nozzle for Special Hobby’s SMB-2 Super Mystère kits. Více informací

SMB-2 Super Mystère Seat 1/72 / for Special Hobby kits Art.no. Scale Barcode 129-7523 1/72 8595593132747    The new Special Hobby’s Mosquito model kits can get their detail levels even higher with the use of these finely detailed resin cast undercarriage wheels. The tailwheel leg is made of special tough material. Více informací

German DM II Depth Charges (6 pcs.) for KFK and other ships 1/72 / for Special Navy kit Art.no. Scale Barcode 129-N72046 1/72 8595593132716    3D-printed depth charges designed for the Kriegsfischkutter model as well as for other German 1/72 vessel models. Compared with the styrene ones these possess much better detail levels and come in one piece each so you do not need to assemble the charge from four separate parts. Více informací

Mosquito Dinghy Box 1/72 / for Special Hobby kits Art.no. Scale Barcode 129-P72041 1/72 8595593132761    3D-printed dinghy compartment also including the dinghy itself. The Mosquito had this box right behind the canopy on the top of the fuselage which makes it a detail very well visible. Více informací

Mosquito Exhausts (PR and Bombers with two stage Merlins) Art.no. Scale Barcode 129-P72042 1/72 8595593132778    3D-printed and superbly detailed exhausts for our new reconnaissance and bomber Mosquito models with two stage Merlins. Více informací

Romeo Ro.43/44 Beaching Trolley Art.no. Scale Barcode 129-4329 1/48 8595593122717 Resin cast transport trolley designed to fit model kits of the observation and reconnaissance Romeo Ro.43 and fighter Romeo Ro.44 float biplanes. This set gets back to offer as the SH48240 Romeo Ro.43 ‘Spanish Service’ has been re-released recently. Více informací