Global Scale Modeller

Guys,

I've done a few over the last year and tbh I find them difficult - the plastic is thin and sometimes the fit isn't that great - I'm currently doing a
BF108 Profipack.

Lots of sanding - is it me (probably) - what's your experience?

John

I've always found them top notch. Their LTD kits (which doesn't apply to the 108) are someone elses molds that they stick their own PE and masks in and repackage, so you may find the odd issue with those but I've never built a bad original Eduard kit.

To be honest i do like them
I made the MiG-15 Royal class and the MiG-21 PFM
The MiG-15's are okay but the don't have locating pins and holes on the fuselage so it is a bit fidely to get them lined up
The MiG-21 was a really nice kit
And i really don't have anything bad to say about that one

All the other Eduard kits i have been building where limited editions and those are based on kits from other manufacturers
Well not all of them are but most anyway
There are a few Limited editions based on their own kits
But those are either MiG-21's ,FW-190's or Spitfires in 1/48 and a couple of BF-109's in 1/32

Their kits are in general nice, but they have reboxed a lot of old kits from obscure manufacturers with eduard PE and better decals. thats where most problems come from.
i also found their 48 scale fw190 almost not buildable (fuselage and wings have very little in common) and only recently a fellow model builder in the club found a way to do them almost perfectly which involved heavy clamps and unusual approach. their 48 scale bf110s are hard to build as well, mainly because of the nose cowling and engine cowlings. i threw away two models only in the last 15 years and both were eduard (named f190 and bf110), so be warned.

My Hellcat which i'm building at the moment is very nice, with no fit issues. But this is my only eduard build so cant speak with too much experience.

The only one i had any real issues with was the ltd edition la5, the others i have built went together fine.

Had a real problem with their ME109..cant remember which version, no way the front nose was going to fit the main fuselage, the nose had to be at least 2mm bigger than fuselage, used as a test piece now....haven't bought an Eduard since.

Interesting opinions guys

I found their mig-21 to be an excellent kit, perfect as far as fit goes. I really liked the fw-190 as well, although I think it's designed to have all the panels open, I struggled to get them shut but got there in the end!

End of the day, you've got to research the specific kit. ALL manufacturers, and I can't emphasise this enough, have released good and not so good kits. Boiling it down to just the company isn't going to do you any favours.

Edit - one of their bf-109 kits was apparently way off scale, and had other problems. So they retooled the whole kit to correct things, not many companies do that!

chief5437 wrote:I found their mig-21 to be an excellent kit, perfect as far as fit goes.
Edit - one of their bf-109 kits was apparently way off scale, and had other problems. So they retooled the whole kit to correct things, not many companies do that!

The cost of producing a master mold MUST have gotten dramatically cheaper in recent times. EDUARD didn't quibble and we have had some obscure kits from other companies. So one might think that the number of sales might be a lower these days for the company to get it's initial investment back ??

These days they can make the molds with a computer and a cnc machine
That is faster then the old school method of hand carving the molds
Allthough that is the really old way of making them

Their packaging gets me every time. The only model manufacturer who's kits artwork make me 'have' to have it.

The kits themselves I find unnecessarily complicated with minute tolerances resulting in a misalignment having quite a large knock on effect. But, get it right and you have a lovely looking model.

I've had issues with their 1/48 Bf 110 just like Hamilkar Barkas said. Other kits have been really nice. And their Mig-21's are just beautiful!!!

I just read an interesting article about Eduard company from a Finnish scale modelling magazine. They're located about 100 km from Prague in Obrnice, near German border. It was really interesting to read that the same guy that draws the Bunny-mascot is actually their specialist about WW2 German Luftwaffe units. They started with photo etch -releases and they're still the vast majority of their income along with the mask sets. For plastic kits they're using a mixture of aluminum for molding even though its more expensive than the normal steel molds. One single mold costs like 40 000 euros. They have about 100 employees. Turnover has been around 4 million Euros per year. Highest selling plastic kit have been the 1/48 Fw 190 A's different versions with 90 000 units along about 60 000 1/48 Spitfire kits.

Eduard had some issues with their first 109 G-6 (also with their E's too as far as I've heard) but now they've made over 150 corrections to their new G-6 Late kit. The owner said in the article that their biggest advantage to many other manufacturers is that they can make plastic kits along with all the extras and add them to other kits too (like their Limited Edition releases). What I found interesting was that they´re really pushing to get their decals to match high quality producers (like Cartograf I could imagine...) In the past I've had some troubles with Eduard's decals...

But anyhow... seems like "decent" company and hopefully they can evolve even more.

Olli

Opapapa wrote:I've had issues with their 1/48 Bf 110 just like Hamilkar Barkas said. Other kits have been really nice. And their Mig-21's are just beautiful!!!

I just read an interesting article about Eduard company from a Finnish scale modelling magazine. They're located about 100 km from Prague in Obrnice, near German border. It was really interesting to read that the same guy that draws the Bunny-mascot is actually their specialist about WW2 German Luftwaffe units. They started with photo etch -releases and they're still the vast majority of their income along with the mask sets. For plastic kits they're using a mixture of aluminum for molding even though its more expensive than the normal steel molds. One single mold costs like 40 000 euros. They have about 100 employees. Turnover has been around 4 million Euros per year. Highest selling plastic kit have been the 1/48 Fw 190 A's different versions with 90 000 units along about 60 000 1/48 Spitfire kits.

Eduard had some issues with their first 109 G-6 (also with their E's too as far as I've heard) but now they've made over 150 corrections to their new G-6 Late kit. The owner said in the article that their biggest advantage to many other manufacturers is that they can make plastic kits along with all the extras and add them to other kits too (like their Limited Edition releases). What I found interesting was that they´re really pushing to get their decals to match high quality producers (like Cartograf I could imagine...) In the past I've had some troubles with Eduard's decals...

But anyhow... seems like "decent" company and hopefully they can evolve even more.

Olli

Very interesting, do you have a link to the article?

Very interesting, do you have a link to the article?

It's a common modellers paper magazine called "Mallix". And it's in Finnish...

But if you have any further questions about the article I'm happy to translate it for you!!!

Olli

I'm interested enough for you to make good on your offer, thank you

I'm interested enough for you to make good on your offer, thank you

Thanks mate! It's going to take a while though...

And good luck on monday!!!!

Olli

That's just friggin great. I have 3 1/48 Eduard kits in my stash, one is a FW190 and one is a Me110.

Shoot me now!

Stokesy44 wrote:That's just friggin great. I have 3 1/48 Eduard kits in my stash, one is a FW190 and one is a Me110.

Shoot me now!

I know loads of people that have built the 190 without any problem and I've built the 110 again with no dramas

Paul wrote:

Stokesy44 wrote:That's just friggin great. I have 3 1/48 Eduard kits in my stash, one is a FW190 and one is a Me110.

Shoot me now!

I know loads of people that have built the 190 without any problem and I've built the 110 again with no dramas

My faith is restored!

The 108 is an older kit of theirs and is known to have some fit issues. Do a google search for Brett Green's build for an example. As mentioned the reboxings of other manufacturers plastic are a mixed bag. The more recent kits by them are very nice (bar the 1/48 FW 190 and Bf 110 which can be tricky). The 1/48 Spitfires are fantastic. Eduard always admit problems with their kits as mentioned before. No manufacturer has a catalogue of perfect kits

I've built a couple of their Hellcats, which were a joy. The Mirage III, not so much. I've built one of four p39s (two dual combo boxings) which was nice, but the mood's not with me to assemble her sisters. Nice kit, though. All 1/48, btw.

I also have a bf110 in the stash, and was thinking about moving it up the queue, as I want to practie some mottling before taking on Revell's 1/32 190. Having second thoughts, now...

Having problems with the Dauntless..... Its turning into a nightmare.... First Eduard kit ...they take a lot of getting used too, noticed with the instructions the arrows pointing where parts go can be confusing and if your not perfect on placement can cause problems later on going to carry on with it though.

The Dauntess is a bit of a challegne
I just finished mine and i can say that once the cockpit is finished it all is pretty straight forward

I've just build the 108, and it's certainly not their best, although I actually quite enjoyed it. The tooling is from 2002 - the more modern Eduard kits are exceptional. I'd go as far as to say they are the best manufacturer out there. The 109, Spitfire and MiG 21, for example, are breathtakingly brilliant.

MarkVerploeg wrote:The Dauntess is a bit of a challegne
I just finished mine and i can say that once the cockpit is finished it all is pretty straight forward

Had a day off it today,looks a good kit but I was getting annoyed with myself when things weren't going to good,going to try another way to put the cockpit into the fuselage,the time and effort I've put into so far I don't want to put on the shelf of doom

Dropis258 wrote:

MarkVerploeg wrote:The Dauntess is a bit of a challegne
I just finished mine and i can say that once the cockpit is finished it all is pretty straight forward

Had a day off it today,looks a good kit but I was getting annoyed with myself when things weren't going to good,going to try another way to put the cockpit into the fuselage,the time and effort I've put into so far I don't want to put on the shelf of doom

I found the gun mounting ring the hardest to place
I actually glued the fuselage first and then placed that ring
Once that was dry and firmly in place i placed the cockpit
You can simply lower the fuselage over the cockpit part
It will require some moving around but it does fit if all the parts are in the right place
In my build i knocked the small instrument panel off the fuselage side because i placed ittoo far to the front
But the instructions don't show the actual position for that part very well
On the other hand you won't see it once the plane is build as the large panel with the radio or what ever it is is the middle will cover it

ive built the Hellcat twice and a couple of spits as well as a couple Me 109 also the limited edition Tempest

The Hellcat is a dream to build no problems at all.

Same with the Spits beautiful kits

With the Me 109 if you sand down the front of the engine the cowling fits like a glove its just a case of removing enough material.

The Tempest the main problem was the resin cockpit and getting it to fit with the wheel well so i had to remove a bit of the floor it then it fitted well.

Ive forgot the Mig 21 SMT again beautiful kit.

As with any kit it pays to test fit and take your time.