Dear business friends,

   I would like to wish you a very happy New Year 2023, health, prosperity and joy, both in your work and personal life. With the start of the new year, we are here again with our Special Hobby Newsletter, the very first one in 2023. This Newsletter is bringing you the information on our January new releases, the upcoming models and sets scheduled for the next months as well as information on our attendance at the 2023 Nuremberg Toy and Model Fair which we are going to attend following a two year pause. And due to all the changes accompanying the fair, our stand will be located at a different place, in Hall 7A, stand No.E14 which we will be sharing with your Eduard friends. Do come and visit us, we are definitely looking forward to meeting you there and we will be happy to be able to show you what we are working on, what is being prepared for you, that said including one quite interesting surprise. 
   This month’s edition focuses on three injection moulded models, each of them in a different scale, then let us mention the resin cast 1/48 scale Zetor 25 tractor among all other resin sets and models. Its smaller cousin in 1/72 sells exceptionally well and the demand lasts still. Which is why we have made the decision to upscale it to 1/48. I also would like to point out to the M66 bomb sets which are made by combination of standard resin cast items and direct 3D print. We also have quite wider range of pre cut masks this month, besides two sets making the masking of wheels and clear parts of recent models easier for you, we have also prepared two rather extensive mask sets devoted to the Swedish Viggen splinter schemes which do always pose a challenge to the modeller and perhaps often scare many a modeller off this type of paint job. 
   To be released in February are three sets made by the direct 3D print method, starting with a relatively simple 1/35 MG3 machine gun set and on the other side of the spectrum you might find the Centaurus engine with its covering panels removed. This set is made for the 1/48 Special Hobby and Eduard kits. Somewhere between these two, at least in the means of complexity might be the Stugna-P set, depicting the modern Ukraina-made anti tank guided missile in 1/35 scale. During the coming spring, we will be releasing a few more sets for Revell’s PT Boat kits. And our range of styrene kit sets will get a welcome boost in the form of one more reboxing of our little and yet superbly detailed and truly top-notch 1/72 109 Emil kit, this time it is going to be the Bf 109E-1/B bomber version, a kit dubbed ‘Hit and Run Raiders’. Then there will be many other kits, to name a few the P-40D Warhawk/Kittyhawk Mk.I ‘Four Guns’ in 1/72 and DB-8A/3N ‘Outnumbered and Fearless’ in the same scale. We also might be able to get ready for the customers the quarterscale SK-37 Viggen Trainer and the Airspeed Oxford Mk.I ‘Gunner Trainer’, though the release date of these latest two models need to be confirmed still in the February Newsletter.
   We look forward to receiving your orders.
 
A.    Riedel

SPECIAL HOBBY PLASTIC MODEL KITS

Heinkel He 162A Spatz ‘Captured Birds’ 1/72

One of the many wunderwaffen supposed to save the Third Reich, but failed eventually, was also the Heinkel He 162A Spatz jet fighter. This aircraft was a part of the Volksjaeger programme and became involved in the war only at its very last stages. Luftwaffe’s jet engine powered aircraft were very welcomed booty of the Allies and the Spatz jets were the most numerous of all jets that got into their hands. These rather diminutive jets were tested in the USA, UK, France as well as in the USSR.
   Excellent and detail-oozing kit whose parts offer flawless fit are now joined by a sheet of decals with markings of machines test-flown in all the mentioned countries.
 
-    Superb injected styrene parts
-    Interesting colour schemes
-    Also available for the kit are: M72030 spray masks, F72365 figures, resin sets 7443 He 162 Engine, 7444 He 162 Gun Bays, Q72361 He 162 Ejection Seat and Q72362 He 162 Wheels.

Fiat G.50-II Freccia "Finnish Aces" 1/32

   Finland, a country much smaller than its Goliath of a neighbour, the Stalin’s Soviet Union, kept purchasing any suitable sorts of armament all over Europe in the years 1938-39. In Italy, the Fins bought a batch of the Fiat G.50 fighter aeroplanes. Despite some difficulties with petting the planes over to Finland, the new Fiats arrived just in time to get involved in the Winter War. They fought bravely in the war, and they also did so later in the Continuation War. And as in FInland the conditions were a bit different to sunny Italy, the airframes had to be improved to some extent. These alterations involved the empennage, dorsal sections of the fuselage, propeler spinners and a few more. So in the end, the appearance of each machine varied a bit throughout its service. And the same happened to the camouflage schemes worn by the Fiats. Starting with original Italian schemes which gave way to new Finnish colours better suited to the new environment. And it has been our aim now to cover all these changes in our model, too. In the box, you will able to chose from free various Finnish machines, two of which come in two various schemes each. They are as flown by such aces as was Kapt. R.O.P Puhhaky and Luunt. O.Tuomimen, and we could not omit his famous „Blue 6“ of course. Besides the decals, the kit contains four sprues of styrene parts, a clear styrene canopy, a set of finely detailed resin parts including the excellent replica of the Fiat A.74 radial and also a fret of etches.
-    Very interesting camouflage schemes of Finnish ace fighter pilots
-    Etches and resin parts contained in the kit
-    Also separately available: Q32168 Wheels and M32007 pre-cut masks

SK-37 Viggen ‘Trainer’ 1/72

   The SAAB 37 Viggen was simply an aircraft well ahead of its time. Rather unorthodox solutions brought by the designers not just allowed to meet the requirements, they also caused that the Viggen even exceeded them in a couple of respects. The Swedish Air Force placed order for several versions of the aircraft which would comprise the same basic airframe and would differ by additional equipment based on the role the version should operate in. The type’s avionics was also among the very top at the time, the Viggen was the first military jet to feature an onboard computer with integrated circuits. The version first introduced to service with the Swedish military was the AJ37 Viggen, followed shortly by the SK37 two seat jet trainer, the SF37 recce version fitted with cameras in the modified nose section and the SH37 anti-shipping variety with different type of avionics and capable carrying a dedicated armament. Around ten years after the initial version had been introduced into the service, a second generation of the Viggen, the JA37 fighter started to emerge from the production line, and employed up-to-date avionics and slightly longer airframe with much more powerful engine.
   Our SH72381 reboxing of the Viggen offers the SK-37 trainer type. The decals and marking schemes allow you to build three various airframes which cover all three styles of camouflage schemes worn by the Viggen. We have for you a natural metal Viggen, a standard splinter scheme as well as a  two-grey machine

-    colourful and eye-catching schemes
-    superbly detailed model
-    also available are resin detail sets, pre-cut masks for clear parts and the splinter scheme consisting of several shades

MASKS

Fiat G.50B Bicomando MASK 1/32

   Pre-cut paint masks designed for the clear parts and undercarriage wheels of the Fiat G.50B Bicomando model.

Fiat G.50 Freccia MASK 1/32

   Pre-cut paint masks for the clear parts and undercarriage wheels of all single seater versions of Special Hobby’s Fiat G.50 Freccia kits.

AJ/JA/SF-37 Viggen (Single Seater) Splinter Camo MASK

   Pre-cut masks that make painting the Swedish splinter scheme almost a piece of cake. This set is designed for the single seater version of all Viggen airframes.

SK-37 Viggen (Two Seater) Splinter Camo MASK

     Pre-cut masks for painting the splinter scheme typical for Swedish Viggen airrcraft. This set is for the two seater versions.

RESIN KITS & SETS

Sd.Kfz 250/251 Crew in Winter Uniforms 1/72 / for Special Armour and others kits

  Two German soldier figures which add more life not just to our Special Armour range Sd.Kfz 250 kit (SA72019). One of the troop sits on the top of the vehicle armour while the other one stands beside.

Mirage IIIC Late - Atar 9C Engine Nozzle 1/72 / for Special Hobby kit

   The Atar 9C engine nozzle for the improved Israeli Mirage IIICJ jets.

2000 Lb Bomb AN-M66A2 equipped with Fin Assembly M116A1 (2 pcs.) 1/48

   The 2000 Lb M66A2  bomb was developed during WW2. However, both the US army and naval air forces  kept using it in the Korean War, too. Our finely detailed resin cast bombs have 3D printed stabilising fins and photo-etched fuse arming propellers.

LAU-33 Zuni Rocket Laucher (2 pcs.) 1/48

   The LAU-33 launchers with two five-inch Zuni rockets were usually used on F-8 Crusaders and A-4 Skyhawks of both the US Navy and Marines during the Vietnam War. And the launchers were also used by the French on thein Crusaders. Our nicely detailed LAU-33s are cast one-piece and are of the correct dimensions unlike simile sets of some other producers. The set offers two launchers.

Zetor 25 ‘Agricultural Version ’ 1/48

   The Zetor 25 tractor was among the first products of the post-war Czechoslovak industry and the very first tractor to have been produced by the Zetor company. Until 1961 when the production was ceased, a total of 160,000 Zetors left the production line of which almou 100,000 had been delivered across both Europe and Asia. We are now launching the 1/48 scale Zetor 25 model kit as the previous Zetor 25s in smaller 1/72 scale (models MV128 and MV129) have been a phenomenal Access with the customers. Model kit no.8062 portrays the aricultural vision of the tractor. Contains etches and decals.

Junkers Ju 87D/G Exhaust 1/72 / for Academy and Special Hobby Kits

   Finely detailed resin cast exhaust with hollowed out ends are much better than the originál styrene parts of the Ju 87D/G kits released by Academy and Special Hobby. As these exhausts are a direkt replacement to the styrene items, they are very easy to instal on your model.