Internet Modeler Editorial
Well, the month of October has been a very busy month for many of us.
Children are back in school (and some adults). The hours of sunshine
for those in the northern hemisphere are getting fewer, and the holiday
season is a rising crescendo. For us here at Internet Modeler, it's
been busy as well. For myself, well, I have made the big plunge into
home ownership, having moved into our first house right as last month's
issue was going up. It's a nice new house, but it looks like we'll be
living out of cardboard boxes for a few months yet.
A week after that,
Matt Bittner and I teamed up at the Hobbyvisions trade show in Las
Vegas, meeting with our former editor Michael Benolkin. While at that
show we touched bases with many of the companies you all are familiar
with, such as Trumpeter (their new 1/32 Avenger and 1/48 Vigilante look
awesome!), Squadron (MiG-21 Walkarounds are coming!), and Sentai (now
run by Steve Ginter). Matt and I saw some very impressive tools as well,
and these will make an appearance in the pages of Internet Modeler very
soon.
In addition to seeing all the new products, we also met many of the
people behind the major companies out there. I had a great chat with
Jerry Campbell of Squadron, as well as the rest of the Squadron crew.
They all were very informative and excited about the products they're
bringing to market. Speaking of excited, the exuberance of the people
at Minicraft was infectious. Their new Flights of Fancy kits have some
great potential at getting younger modelers interested in the hobby,
while for those serious builders, well, they have some good stuff coming
as well, like a new E-3. Talking with both David Huff and Al Trendle
was a distinct pleasure, and I can't wait to see the next selection of
liveries for their DC-4 and 727 kits. By the way, in my review of the
United 727 kit last month, I noted some concerns about the blue color
on the decal sheet. David informed me that they based that off of a real
aircraft, and after looking at photos on airliners.net and elsewhere,
I have to concur with Minicraft's interpretation. It is nice to know
that they do research their subjects, and try to do it as thoroughly
as possible.
On returning from that trip, I found several boxes of new stuff to
review, much of which is in the pages of this issue (but some will show
up in next month). Great new products that appeared include the PYN-Art
Decals (you have to see these to believe them!) and some outstanding
resin detail sets from Pavla (the Corsa is going to be hard to resist).
As we get closer to the holidays I am sure we will see lots of new kits,
accessories, and references, so start making your lists today! |
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