Special Hobby EN

 Patrick Branly, a French modeller and a good friend is the author of these photos and models, which are three of his 1/72 Vampires built from various Special Hobby kits. The Mk.I version wearing RAF markings has been built from the  SH72383  kit, the Swedish J-28A Vampire  is a scheme that can be found in the  SH72339  boxing and the last one, with the 'avocado' colours of the Mexico air force comes from the  SH72453  kit. We are very grateful for the images, Patrick!

   Our May releases, the 1/72 Barracuda and Vampire kits will no doubt highly benefit from the addition of these CMK resin cast sets.    Besides those in the leaflet, we would like to mention also the figure sets for the Barracuda: F72326 Barracuda Crew members - Standing (3 fig.) F72330 Barracuda Mechanics (3 figures, aboard carrier w/raincoat)      And do not forget to use these photo-etches with your Vampire: K72029 Vampire Mk.3 Coloured photo-etched parts (perfectly okay for the Mk.I Vampire too, despite them being originally designed for the Mk.3)    Set Q72313 - Vampire Wheels are scheduled for June release, but are going to be available already next week.

   The Mk.I Vampire kit (SH72339) bringing two Swiss and two Swedish colourful and eye-catching liveries  is finally ready and out. Switzerland and Sweden were the first two neutral countries that acquired the Vampire jets for their military.   Last friday, our colleagues in the packaging department were quite busy packaging the first batch of the kits as you can see in the photos below. The decal sheets are printed by Cartograf, see here , the marking options are here .  

Besides the two Barracuda kits, one new and one re-issued, Special Hobby are releasing this May also the 1/72 Vampire Mk.I model, kit no. SH72339. We are so happy to announce that the decal sheets have arrived today from our Italian partners at Cartograf which means that we are finally ready now to begin packaging the kits and distribute them to our customers. As you can see, the decals are printed in Cartograf's usual top notch quality, what a sight for sore eyes!    

Recently, our team have finished all four camouflage option schemes which you will find in our 1/72 Mk.I Vampire kit. The Vampires operated by the two air forces as depicted in our kit wore quite eye-catching markings and once finished, the model will arguably form a centrepiece of every early-jet model collection.

Now, let us show you the colour side profiles of all the marking options the modeller will find in our take on the first mark of the classic British Vampire jet fighter, kit #SH72339. What might seem quite unusual to some, including us, is the fact that the marking option D, J-28 Yellow L was fitted with Mk.5 style of squared wing tips, making it an interesting exception in the Vampire Mk.I family.

   In few coming weeks, we are going to release our first boxing of the Vampire Mk.I early jet fighter aircraft model which will offer decals for four airframes as operated by two neutral countries, Switzerland and Sweden.    If you are into this arguably very colourful topic, let us show you the decal sheet design now. As you can see, the designer have tried to bear in mind all sorts of modellers and provided the Swiss national markings in two styles, ie the white crosses complete with their red background, both for the wings and tail boom fins, and those of you wishing to airbrush the red portions on their own will be happy with just the white crosses and other respective markings.

   Standa Hajek, our court artist, has finished yet another of his masterpiece paintings, this time it is for Special Hobby 2018 new release, the de Havilland DH100 Mk.I kit. While the main parts of the Vampire remain almost the same as with our earlier releases of the Mk.3 and 5 versions, the tailbooms, tailplane, cockpit canopy and some other items are new and specific for this version.