As a young modeler (28) i really value the information and experience of all you modelers that grew up with the hobby have. Please keep sharing your experience, and your nostalgia.

The other thing you mention is the print quality of the new decals. From what I can see, they’ve been printed digitally and not the traditional silk screen method. Digital printing makes colours from basic cmyk inks (plus a handful of ‘specials’ if the printing machine can facilitate them). This means that colours often have a ‘grainy’ appearance when you look at them closely. Screen printed decals on the other hand use ‘pure’ ink colours which eliminates the grain and invariably have crisper edges and richer colours (which aren’t always what modellers want, especially if they’re replicating machines which have been exposed to the weather for prolonged periods).

All these things about Eduard are the grumblings we all hear at the local club or model show. And surely Eduard hears them too, they have some truely remarkable well thought out kits that just stand out… then they have these odd manufacturing choices that leave you scratching your head wondering if you got a rebox or accidentally grabbed a different manufacturers kit by mistake. What I’ll be interested in hearing is a “ Let’s Talk about Dragon “( I foresee a rant almost loud enough to challenge Revell’s chapter 😂) Keep up the excellent work Peter, you’ve been saying what a lot of us have been thinking and your insight and examples shown really is engaging to Watch.

Loving this ' Lets talk about ' series 👍👍.

I think the sole advantage (if you want to call it that) of the new Eduard decals is for doing a metal finish where the carrier film is going to show up like a bug on a wedding cake no matter what you do, so it's nice to have the option of removing it but other than that, definitely a pain on normal paint jobs. Thanks for the thoughts on Eduard, I hope they do course-correct as I like their subjects and (most) of their kits in terms of detail and fit with the sprue gate exceptions you mentioned. Hobby 2000 in my opinion is doing great work. No, they are not a manufacturer but they have put out some great packages of other makers' plastic. I just did their rebox of CyberHobby/Dragon's 1/32 Bf-109E7 and it was a fantastic build. Masks included and the Cartograf decals were absolutely fantastic to work with, all at a reasonable price. Later Tamiya kits are just beautiful and I build one once in a while when I need a break from fiddling. Working on their Do-335 now and it's just incredible how well-engineered it is. I enjoy painting more than building, so it's a real treat for me, now only if their decals weren't awful...

Got to say I've only had very good experiences with Eduard kits, admittedly only 190s and Fishbeds. But coming from airfix kits the details are stunning and masks and photo etch are great additions.

Agreed, canopy mask sets are a must please manufacturers. And Eduard! What are you thinking with these completely crazy decals?? Fingers crossed my Eduard stash is pre 2021. I do like the instructions, masks, individual bags and paint call outs.

My first Eduard kit was the 1/48 Bf-108B in the black box and have since built several Eduard (32, 48 and 72 scale) kits over the years, with lots of enjoyment. I've had one real issue with an Eduard product. One of their masking sets was the wrong scale. It was for the 1/48 Tamiya P-47M, but it was too small to be 1/48 but too big for 1/72, turned out to be about 1/60, strange that. I personally prefer the sprue attachment point that goes round to the inside of the part. Generally, the sprue point is smaller on the outside where all the detail is, and thicker on the inside which makes it easier to clip the part and then sand the mating surfaces. Rather than having a larger point on the outside of a leading edge for instance and then having to sand and lose all that lovely detail in the process. As for the transfers, I agree they should have shown people the new style transfers and then put them in the box with an instruction on how to use them. I’ll probably test some of mine on a test kit and see how that goes. So interesting times ahead…

This video gives me the «old man yells at clouds» vibe

An interesting video Peter and one that is valuable to a relative newcomer to scale modelling like me - it is helpful to get your opinion on all these manufacturers. Look forward to the next one, whenever that may be. Chris

I'm building the Tempest Mk V myself as we speak :) However, the Bf110E has a dreadful fit on the engine nacelles. and I've had it half-built for nearly a year.

Hey peter, I think I have found a solution for the eduard decal film, this has worked for me twice in a row. After applying the varnish, decal, then settling solution, I waited 2 days. Instead of trying the enamel thinner trick, I applied masking tape over the decal, pressed firmly, waited a few minutes, then the film comes off perfectly.

That A-4 kit is very hard to find ,as it's discontinued . I love it and have bought a load for future building. The African paint job and decals are easy as 1 2 3

Academy is doing a great Zero right now, not a Swiss watch, but definitely 'quartz' reliability and spot-on build ability 😊

I have some Eduard kits on the pile, and am keen to try out their "different" decals, having narrowly avoided making a mess of the cartograf decals that have come with the airfix kits I've done.

I have zero problems with the gate connections. It is trivial to clean them up.

Hi Peter, in regards to the sprue attachment points, I believe some Tamiya kits (panther d, perhaps the sea harrier too) also do the ‘over the top’ connection points where you have 2 places to snip off from the gate.. just an observation I guess. I’m not sure if I like the design or not, just adds a little bit extra to the cutting & sanding phase

I dont know if its right or wrong but the North Vietnam option on their Mig -21 PFM (kit nmbr7454) looks wrong to me as the main colour is sand with brown and green patches....strange for a country that is a jungle envoirnment....it looks like a desert scheme you would see on an Egyptian or Syrian Mig-21.

Eduards latest Wildcat ends up as a beautiful rendition of the F4F but if it was your first model you could hit trouble as I don’t like the way the engine attaches to the fuselage. The kit is quite fiddly too . As for the decals I tend to discard them and hope Montex do a nice set of masks 😅

I love Eduard but it is a shame what they have done with their decals. I can live with the sprue attachment point issue but not the decals. I've heard nothing positive about them apart from the fact that if you do manage to get it right, they look good. It's just a shame they have not listened like that did when they released that dogs breakfast of the 109G. Everyone screamed so the pulled it and completely remade it. That was an entire kit! Come on Eduard. You are better than that. Revert to the old system NOW!

I agree with the Mirage III, My fist Eduard kit. Poor fitting for sure. Nearly gave up but decided to build the 1/72 Mig-21 Profi edition and by god possibly one if the best fitting kits I have ever come across in 50 years of Modelling.

I agree with you Peter. The fit of some Eduard sets is very bad. I tried to build the FW-190-D but there are so much parts that don't fit properly (Wings on the fuselage, machine gun hub on fuselage and wings). I stopped building the Eduard Focke Wulf and bought the (old) Tamiya one. I'am going to build that in the A or B-sceme from the Eduard's. Never tried to use their new decals, so fingers cross. I build already some nice Eduard models with old decals like Mig 21 and the F6-3. I hope Eduard will learn from your comments and make their models better fit. Indeed, mask sets should be in the box. Tamiya decals are very thick, I always use Tamaya's decals setter strong or super strong for their decals. When I use cartograph decals I use Micro Set and Fix. Thanks a lot for you informative video's

How do you remove that carrier film, I tried but did not know how.. Eduard (or any company whatsoever) should also improve some matters 1) The drawings in the instructions are small and do not always show the positions well enough. 2 The landing gear attachment to the fuselage, what they do not make sturdier and longer plugs and deeper holes to allow the, to more snugly and properly attached. 3) the canopy attachments always piss me off, in any models they have not invented how to properly attach them and alignment is always the problem.

I agree with you that CAD designers are employed who do not make models. This is OK as long ss new models are trialed by model makers to review and recommend improvements prior to production

I've not come across any issues with Eduard kits as yet. I've found them very good quality. Have to say, I've not come across those strange decals yet. Going off the track a it. I your opinion, what it the best 1/72 Eurofighter kit?

I don't agree with most of your criticism of Eduard. Yes, they should have told modelers that their decals had changed and require a different application technique to make the best of them. Having discovered that the carrier film is on top and can be peeled away, leaving a painted on look is far superior than having to spray and sand multiple coats of varnish in order to hide the decal film edges of your garden variety decals. Worse so with the ridiculously thick Tamiya decals. Far more work and risk to the model in my honest opinion. Also I prefer the way Eduard have done their part attachment points, as it is easier to clean up the mating surface than a gate which runs on external detail, and needs to be sanded away, risking potential damage to fine exterior detail. I think Eduard have surpassed Tamiya as far as selection, quality and detail years ago.

Very interesting review and l am really enjoying this series, a bit of an eye opener 😳 l would like to get the TORA TORA kit and l most probably have the skills now to get over the problems but the decals no l don't think so and anyway they are other Zeros out there but will try to get the 190 thanks to think l could have got that Zero and would not have had a clue what was going on also watched half the live feed last night enjoy what people were saying 👍

Should put both options in. So all the super experts who have never had one of these decals go wrong on them can feel all good about themselfs, while the other 99 percent of us can finish what are fine models on the whole

Damn, I've got one Eduard kit, the 1/48th Spitfire Mk Vc ProfiPack. It looks like a beautiful kit, but sadly it is a 2022 boxing and has the dreaded new style decals, and the weird sprue gates (although they only look bad on the fuselage as far as I can see. I was keen on getting some more of their kits as they are reasonably priced here in New Zealand, and they have some very nice kits of aircraft that I really like. I might still get some, but I will see how I get on with the decals. Hopefully by the time I buy another one they will have reverted to the old style, otherwise if it's a disaster I will have to get aftermarket decals, which gets very expensive down here. The only aftermarket decals I have bought are for a 1/32nd Stuka from Eagle Cal. They are superb, but the cost of postage from the US to here was more than the decals cost.

I had the same bad expérience with a dora wings kit, the promising Caudron Simoun. Nothing matches, engine does not fit into the fuselage, poor joints, impossible to just glue parts on the fuselage joint... Because you just can't access... Etc. Happy you hear your caveats..

Hi Peter, I enjoyed your video on Eduard and here is my opinion, for what it’s worth. Yes, I think they are hit and miss kits and I started building their Fw190 D-9 kit around 10 years ago and got a bit bogged down with it and stick it on the shelf of doom. Fast forward to this year when I decided to give them another go and bought their 1/48 scale Spitfire Mkviii and what a beautiful kit it is too. It has the best wing to fuselage joint I have ever come across, perfect. However the kit was let down by a few things, the top engine cover is moulded it two haves which needs replacing with a resin one piece. And the exhausts were more complicated than it should have been. But I rate the kit and I’m now building another with their Brassin engine, gunbays etc. But the decals are a disaster, I did get them down reasonably well but were not a great experience. The gain is not worth the time and chew. So I hope Eduard change them to normal decals. I applaud them for trying to move the game on but I think it is a failure. Last point on the sprue attachments. I don’t have the Zero yet so I can’t compare in the flesh but the spitfire seems to have the same style of attachments. Now for me there are a success because on the spitfire they are only attached on the mating surface of the parts and not the external surface of the kit. Meaning, all you have to do is trim the attachment flush with the mating surface and a near flawless joint can be achieved. I will be buying the Zero kit shortly but I would be interested if you could check again to confirm the attachment point is only on the mating surface. A Sorry for the long message but I did enjoy the video and wished to chip in my view. I look forward to you next video. Cheers Neil

The mirage must be around 20 years old. As for the Tempest a most enjoyable build.

That Mirage kit is the only plastic model that I have ever abandoned out of utter frustration. It is a pile of rubbish. I probably could have finished it, but eventually I messed up the painting too through my own fault, which made me throw in the towel. I stilll have it hoping that I can get their overtree but it dented my enthusiasm for Eduard. I have used their Brassin sets and photo etch sets and they were superb!

The Eduard kits are brilliant. I have built 16 of them so far Spits, mig-21, Fw-190 and bf-109. Never face a problem other than the decals in more recent ones. Even the peel off decals have improved over time. However, I agree with you and I still don’t like them.

Anyone built the 1/48 hellcat?.... bought it from a model shop on a whim a couple of weeks ago, I’m a bit worried now!..

Another great review. On the strength of the one Eduard kit I've built I would have happily bought any of their other offerings. Now I'm not so sure. However, you see this so often in the wider world when a manufacturer with a great reputation lets themselves down. Hopefully, they'll make some changes.

I have a couple of recent-ish Eduard kits in the stash, a 1/32 Me109 Special Edition AdlerGriff, from 2020, and the very extensive decal sheet looks pretty good, and a couple of 1/48 Mig-21pf kits from 2021 (they were v cheap) which are odd in that the extensive stencil sheet - (almost as many as a phantom) seem to be normal older type decals, presumably from the original release, but the main marking sheet look like the thicker top carrier type - not so bad that they can't be used, but I am confused by them. No mention in instructions of course. You didn't mention the initial word from Eduard was that the Newer decals were supposed to be used the same as older types. Only later did they release videos showing how to peel them, but still saying it was unnecessary. Not necessarily related to Eduard, but I am in total agreement about your comments about the amount of research that sometimes seems to go only as far as taking a scan of some museum exhibit, and cursory examination of a couple of photos, (dare we say Black Buck Vulcan). Another example from Airfix, on another otherwise excellent kit. They scanned a civilian Chipmunk that was not representative of the type in-service. The cowling/Exhaust combinations do not match.The exhaust is the original thin sloping design that comes out of a large hole in the bottom cowling, but the nose cowling is the later type used in the fatter horizontal exhaust that exits at the rear & has a heating pipe Something 5 minutes of research would have found out. At very little cost or research, they could have provided both options. (I won't go into the tiny WWII spitfire pilot blobs that are meant to be the crew figures).

I totally agree. I stopped buying Eduard as using the decals is quite painful. After spending a great deal of time building and painting a kit, I am not going to take a chance ruining it by using Eduard's decals. I cannot understand what they are thinking about making such a truly awful decision. They do bring out some very interesting kits, but its not worth taking a chance with their decals.

I have long experience with Eduard kits. In fact this is my favorite brand nowdays. I am not talking about reboxed kits, cos usually they are good kits with plenty pe, masks and resin goods. You will be satisfied if you get one. BUT, the true Eduard kits are awesome, and best in terms of details, precision, quality. Eduard's MIG-21 is the best kit ever. I have build already 3 of them and I am not going to stop. If you look for building a plane, check if there is a Eduard kit on market. About decals...You can master them, just some practise is needed and the result is much better from thick decals from for example Tamiya etc. Or buy a decal set of your wish I you want to work the old way. There are many tutorials how to put properly Eduard decals on yt.

Hopefully Eduard are listening!!

Hi. I have some Eduard but haven't built them yet so I'll have to reserve my judgement until then. Tempest V.................Widcats, Hellcat, P51 D-5, Spitfire VIII, P400 and Bf108 and have a Rufe on order. Quite the spread of their production time so we shall see. On the injection gate subject, if you model armour , you will see it on Tamiya's Notek lights. It lets you remove the gate without damaging the curve of the rear edge or the light. On a wing edge it leaves a thin rectangle of plastic on the edge of the actual wing surface but allows a sufficient opening to inject the necessary amount of molten plastic into the mould. The previous method, that you see on older kits, results in a large, semicircle of plastic that is on the wing leading or trailing edge and can be more difficult to clean up. And often this circular gate would bulge out onto the joining surfaces of the wing as well. Anyway, looking forward to more rants. Dragon? I had a Panzer 1 of theirs that didn't make it. Almost binned it but then thought I could put it under a tarp in a diorama. Cheers 🦘🦘🦘

Your manufacturer reviews are great Peter and more importantly will get modellers' views right in front of them. And acted upon...hopefully. I agree with your points about Eduard's strengths and weaknesses. They have some history of acting to remedy their mistakes. Eg the excellent 190A-4 on your bench was a complete retool of an earlier 190A/F series which had a reputation for fine detail, but were almost completely impossible to build without divine intervention. Likewise when their Bf109G-6 was found to be dimensionally inaccurate, they scrapped the tools and started over for their current generation of 109 kits. I like their willingness to try and innovate, provided as they have done so far, they suck it up when they fail and fix things. Personally, I really appreciate their excellent subject research, finely detailed surfaces, their Profipacks - everything in the box for a fair price, the weekend concept for a super low price point, overtrees for those who want to build up a spare parts stash economically, resin and brass after market upgrades for those that want it and their robust boxes (yes I'm looking angrily at you Revell!). I also think they can take a lot of the credit for redefining a new standard for 1/72 kits before Arma Hobby also spotted the opportunity and really ran with it. My main grumbles with Eduard are the shrinkage dimples on some parts and overcomplex design which demand a lot of dry fits and adjustments. Tamiya always give the builder confidence. Eduard kits need to be approached with a whole different mind and skillset IMHO.

I have a handful of Eduard kits in my stash. 3 spitfires in 48 scale, and a Mustang in 48 scale. Based on the comments in the video, it seems like we can almost say Eduard lets their kit designers work on what they love, and it seems obvious what they love. Spits, mustangs, and 109s. My only "real" criticism of the spitfire i just finished, is that unlike tamiya or other brands, there's nothing really in place to hold the spinner. A polycap, or a one way flanged pin would help. I felt it necessary to glue my spinner in place. One of the biggest plusses (imho) is on the profipacks, you can opt to use the provided PE parts, or you can build without.

Regarding the infamous decals this is what Eduard says about them (they should know, I think) "Lately, the justification for rejecting our decals has been centered around the alleged need to remove the carrier from them when applied. It is surprising how many modelers mention this feature as a negative, even though we ourselves do not state or recommend such a thing. On the contrary, we actually present them as traditional decals, and the carrier does not need to be removed from them. Just treat them like any other decal, apply them to a glossy surface and paint them with clear varnish after drying. The carrier then becomes invisible on the surface. By the way, the fact that the varnish has irregular edges and has a relatively wide overlap around the color motif of the decal has a significant effect on the fact that after varnishing, the edge of the varnish on the surface of the model is practically unrecognizable. And it doesn't even need a thick coating of clear. So please, people: you don't actually need to remove the carrier after applying the decals, and the wider offset doesn't matter; it can't be seen on the finished model!" (Eduard newsletter December 2023) I don't take one side or the other; everyone is entitled to like or dislike a product, but it should be done based on facts. Eduard never intended for its decals to be used by removing the carrier film. It is a byproduct of its new manufacturing process. It can be done and works, but it is unnecessary. Applied traditionally works as intended so I don't understand the controversy.

I have to agree. I have built the Spitfire, Me 109 Hellcat the only one that went together well was a 1/72 La 7 . A few others . They are difficult to build and look ok in the end but they are as you say. Problematic. The plastic is too hard so can come apart

The new sprue attachments on the wing edges as an example, are an attempt to prevent the surface blooch that results from trimming, this way the work is done on the mating surfaces and not on the aircraft skin.

....and while watching your excellent video, rant and all (😉), I picked up Eduard's reboxing (#1165) of Accurate Miniature's SBD-5 Dauntless in 1/48! Oh dear! 😳😲😅😆😂

I allways buy aftermaket decals when building Eduard

You know something’s gone wrong with a modelling company when they employ porn stars for their promo videos…

Hobby 2000 are re-releasing Hasegawa kits with masks and Cartograph decals

I think using the Mirage to judge Eduard is a bit harsh, it would be like using Tamiya's Sea Harrier to form an opinion on them! That being said, that is the risk a manufacturer takes if they release a bad kit - if that's someone's first experience of your products then you've lost a potential customer, if that person is a KZfaqr who loves a good rant then you may have lost even more! I agree that the decal situation is ridiculous though, whether you're supposed to peel them or not, the fact that so many people have had issues show's they have messed up. You also made a great point about the rough texture on the plastic, what a shame when there is all that lovely detail 😞 Anyway, thanks for an entertaining and informative video 👍

I think that Eduard make two types of kit: mainstream releases and niche/enthusiast projects. The mainstream kits, like the 109s and Zero, are terrific kits - they put a lot of effort into getting the history and accuracy right, and do a lot of valuable research, which they publish freely. The less mainstream kits, possibly including the Tempest, have a finite amount of design work on them because they don't expect to sell as many, so they take a little bit more building, but they still build well enough. Not a massive fan of the new decals though, and the game has been upped by the Mengs and Vespids of this world, but Eduard are a good company.

I actually think you went a bit easy on Eduard Peter. Some years ago I built their 1/72 Spitfire, it was a total joy the best 1/72 kit aircraft kit I ever built, BUT... I Fully agree with you on the decal debacle I have not purchased an Eduard kit since and not likely to in the future until they sort out the decals. But also I have had more build issues with Eduard kits than any other brand, I have had more issues with out of register old style decals than any other brand. Eduard often re-box other brands kits and don't tell you, the Lysander for example. Then there is the photo etch, that is often ill fitting, that comes with instructions but no paint instructions, if you're adding additional parts what colour should they be??? then the pre painted photo etch with its horrid lumpy texture that you then have to colour match too in your cockpit often a nightmare in its own right. I love eduard resin, I really like some of their etch, I think they have some great ideas, but as you say the application is not where it needs to be. Also 2 years ago they massively hiked their delivery cost to the UK which more than cancelled out my 20% bunny club discount. taking all of that into account, I don't buy thier kits anymore and I by there aftermarket only if I cannot find an alternative. There are people who are Dogmatic about how good Eduard are in the same way some people are dogmatic about how bad Airfix is but you have to challenge your prejudice to see the truth. Like Rome, Eduard have fallen and it is now just a place to visit to pick up an occasional expensive item while looking on at the the ruins of a once great empire. Top video Peter.

Doesn't Eduard re-box older plastic and just add photoetch and other enhancements?

Hi Peter, a good honest and factual review. Me…whilst I’ll go and get additional photo etch or resin bits….decals are not something I would generally tend to buy in addition to the kit. Got to be honest since the arrival of the new decals and the challenging feed back got to be honest I’ve subconsciously stopped buying their kits. Your point on Arma Hobbies is so true in my opinion and they seem to be stealing ground on Eduard and others. Ref: Ratner you are soooo right….as I recall…..and I may be wrong….It was an after dinner speech. Best Regards Gary

Seems this applies to every company? Eduard has some brilliant kits out there.

Yes definately in agreement for aircraft mask sets, and Tamiyas 1/24 cars!

Oh no, I got a few eduard kits and they look scary and complex. I was hoping for a good rant. I just looked at my Mystere and vampire kits and to my horror, they are really complex. I really want to build a good Mystere and this one looks like it's going to be a struggle.

You really need to branch out on the Eduard line. I have built the mirage and it was a bit more challenging, but it is an old kit that came out in 2004. The tempest although newer, I I have not built this one, 2018. This kits I built turned out wonderful. Not only were they pleasurable to build, but they also give you different versions of the same model, at different price points. If you like extra detail and can justify the extra cost, get a profipak. If your on a budget, they offer a weekend for substantially less.

I'd like to see a video build of the Zero. Are up for it?

Hi Peter, I do agree with your views on Eduard. I have watched a few of your reviews and Rants, I do enjoy them but why do we never see you build anything?

Would love watch you make a ZOUKEI-MURA talk. I know, they are very niche but to me, they are high on the top together with Wingnut Wings :)

I applaud the new decals and have no problem at all with them. Eduard, please keep producing these decals and ignore the nay sayers! 👍🏼

I love Eduard kits, I find the decals a challene true but with patience they work fine.

I will say Eduard has been fantastic with me customer service wise, had some minor damage to one or two pieces on the photoetch and clear sprue and they sent me a new set of each no questions asked no receipt or anything. I enjoyed building my Maltese spitfires

Of course, compared to the crude WWI planes they started with... And Tamiya cannot do everything, although I wish they could! The good news is that my Arma Hobby Hurricane arrives tomorrow.

Nearly bought that tempest last week and changed my mind always trust your gut instinct lol

Just finishing a clear pro 1/72 which looked to be amazing but flipping heck it fought me every step. Nothing fitted, the instructions were frustratingly vague photo etch that would never ever fit and I think my frustration with it made me make a lot of silly mistakes. It looks sort of OK in the end but not for the faint hearted. Give me an Airfix starter set any day.

I do like the Eduard range and the idea or simpler weekend and profipak etc having the photoetch and masks and generous decal options. If they had to save money and not go belly up maybe thats the motive. Arma hobby who equally provide astounding detail as Eduard do had to jettison photoetch in there expert range which was a real shame. Having said that they offered resin parts,same good quality decals but from a much smaller range of course. On Peters point Arma hobby had excellent communication with their fans,emails etc asking what we thought. Eduard offer amazing detail,excellent instructions which wipe the floor with ICM,try building a Merlin engine in any of their many Spitfire kits! You have the simple and experienced choice which Arma have copied. So ok decals are an issue although ive not tried them. To be honest the points Peter made are all relevant but i do think we are a bit spoilt these days. We are modellers not puzzle makers. File,sanding paper,attention and skill oh and scalpel nurse! Think what the old kits were like and our hobby grew from that and is here today with all the millions of bottles of splodge we enjoy buying ( dry paints??!!) My advice. Build a Mistercraft kit and checkout old Heller and any Mistercraft decals and everything will smell of roses!!! The things nightmares are made of. Keep going Peter. Treat yourself to a Sky kit or clear Prop or Dora Wings. Itll cheer you up. Older companies are bigger,have large overheads and lots of old molds and lets be honest,new people coming in wont mind a pre 2012 Airfix or a revell tank etc. A lot of us are the middle aged experienced back to the hobby enthusiasts, but there are 1000s of build,paint,enjoy modellers to. How about discussing a lesser known brand and have a stiff Brandy. We love you Peter even if the new Eduard decals dont! :-)

It would seem that Eduard have shot themselves in both feet with the new decals and sprue attachment points. Having said that, my experience with their kits has been pretty good. My maternal grandfather was killed in action along with his pilot back in 1917 while they were fling in a 20 Squadron Bristol Fighter, so my main interest in aircraft kits is the First World War. Eduard are my main provider of kits of such aircraft in 1/48 scale. So far I have built 18 Eduard models from that period. I only had problems with one (number 19 - the SPAD XIII). This was due IMHO poor design of the kit. In the Eduard SPAD XIII the lower wings are connected to eachother by two flimsy plastic rods that you glue to the fuselage before covering them up with a piece that fits below them and forms part of the fuselage underside. Needless to say, both rods broke off as I attempted to do this and I have not been able to get them to line up properly or strongly enough since then. The Dragon kit was better in having the lower wing and fuselage below it as one piece, so I discarded the Eduard SPAD, for the time being at least, and built the Dragon one instead! All the other models went together well: Eduard’s DH-2, Nieuport 17, Sopwith’s Pup, Triplane, and Camel, the SE5A and (of course) the Bristol Fighter. For the Germans I have built their Fokker Triplane and DVII, various Albatros types, the Roland C11, the Pfalz DIII. I have yet to build some more Eduard from both sides. I had to turn to Roden for the Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter and the DH-4, and the now defunct Aeroclub for a FE2b and RE-8. I know of Wingnut Wings but they are too big for my flat and too expensive for me. Although I dabble with WW2 and even jets they have all been from other manufacturers. I have never built Eduard kits of post WW1 aircraft as they were not making the kits I wanted at the time I wanted them. So to summarise, Eduard are to be praised for their WW1 models. I don’t know about the rest, but have yesterday ordered one of their Sopwith Camels with the Clerget engine. I hope I don’t encounter the same problems you have described regarding the decals and sprue attachment points! My apologies for the length of this, it took almost as long to write and edit as your very useful video took to watch. Your ones on Airfix and Revell were also good, and could you now move on to Roden and Copper State Models? And how about a “how to deal with PE” video, since I always find that difficult. Keep them coming.

Peter, the Modelling Weekly channel of 2nd September gives a tutorial on these decals. It is hard to deny, that if they do work, the result is quite impressive.

This may be irrelevant to this thread, but my complaint about Eduard concerns my 1/16th scale Eduard Schwimmwagen. Virtually no positive location points for parts, and very vague instruction leaflet. for my first experience of Eduard , I am not impressed, but it is probably one of their early productions.

The first time I saw sprue tabs like this was with a Takom tank kit with a million parts(seemed like a million). Not a fan.😂

Hello, I dont usually comment on Vids as I watch them on TV, but I enjoyed this and I also enjoyed the Airfix and Revell talk's. I decided to comment as I only have 1 Eduard kit and after seeing this, I wont be buying any more. They are quite pricey and yes the detail is stunning but as you pointed out, the sprue gates are wrong and the transfer's (decals) are also wrong. Keep this kind of thing up, looking forward to the Tamiya one, ever tried there sea harrier, I think it is, not for the faint hearted

Peter, I was hoping you’d address some technical issues of the fit and construction. Im currently working on a Eduard 1/48 scale Mustang from The Chattanooga Choo Choo kit. I am so disappointed with several, and counting, of how the kit is constructed. First, the canopy doesn’t fit over the guide rail. Not even close! Second is the hole for the gear main mounts to be inserted into. VERY flimsy and doesn’t fit well. The tail wheel is very difficult to insert into the wheel well and flimsy! The wing tank attachment to the parent rack is virtually non existent. The will require a good amount of glue to hold the tank to the parent. I came close to chucking the whole thing in the trash can on two different occasions; something that I rarely do. Ill be much more cautious of buying Eduard kits in the future. Thanks for making this “rant”. I was feeling alone in my protestations until I saw your video.

IDK, I built both the Mig 21 SMT and the Spitfire Mk XIV or something and they were beautiful kits - the Mig's considered the best in the business. However, these were pre-stupid decal saga so I don't know. Are they Tamiya? No, but they are not Revell or Kittyhawk!

Brexit would be a large reason not to attend the UK Shows from outside the UK. Too much hassle with customs if you are bringing in stuff to sell. I know of one trader from the UK that was coming to a Model Railway show in Dublin who was refused entry as they had no docs, Turned back to the UK. Would not blame a company for not attending given the customs issues plus trading at shows in Europe for EU based companies now is much more attractive.

went to your current clip to see why the title..i think if you are to continue with this tack you must show ..your work and the kit itself as you explaine..look forward to those post ..regards nikki

The Mirage III was a pig of a kit which I gave up on.....life's too short!

I'll have that fw190 if u don't want it peter I love that particular kit lol

Hooray for flakey plastic that can't be sanded without opening up yet more blisters, happy times (sarcasm)!

The Eduard P-51 D and BF-109 F-4 profiPACKs and the Limited Edition Spitfire Mk V were amazing!!! The older P-39 I’m doing right now is very meh. The 109 had old decals and they were awesome. Those new declas are absolute garbage. Now I just leave the “removable” layer on and clear right over it.

The HGW Wet Transfer decals are a similar concept to the newer Eduard sets, and I found them truly awful and a complete waste of money. The A-4 is a lovely kit and build and the decals went down with no problems at all, even that black flash over the fuselage sides around the nose. I've built a few Eduard kits, including the Tempest which I don't recall being especially challenging, even with the addition of the resin Sabre engine. Probably also worth mentioning that they do re-box other manufacturers kits and add their own detail sets to complete the package (Hawker Typhoon - Hasegawa, Westland Lysander - Gavia), which I think is a good move on their part.

Well, I almost made it through one of Peter's videos. made it half way this time. Maybe next time.

bought their 1/48 Mig-21. Never again.

Building still 3 years later a eduard Spit, damn it's boring....

No coffee cup or shirt from them either. Keep up👍👍👍👍👍🤔

The Eduard Mirage is a very, very old kit for them now (15 plus years)... The FW-190A-4 is 2017 and the Zero is 2022, so only 5 years apart, not 7... Since the Spitfire Mk IX of 2013 (a new still unbeaten worldwide standard imho: The best of Tamiya can barely even share the same shelf, especially with a deeply weathered wash: Also, Tamiya's 1/32 Spit IX is far less accurate, having a huge transition angle between the cowling and spinner). Eduard are simply on another level, but accuracy is still a bit iffy on small details like the P-51 MG openings, Tempest V windscreen, or the lack of P-51 cowling fasteners (which Airfix overstated, but still better than fictional dots). Tamiya accuracy in 1/48 has only really improved since their Me-109G-6/ Ki-61 (I absolutely detest their 2003 P-47), but both the Eduard 190s and the P-38J have cowling shape issues... The new Eduard decals are outstanding, revolutionary for metal finishes in how easy they are to peel, and work fine without peeling, although the long film edges do want to curl a bit. There is not much wrong with the new Eduard decals, and I will occasionally buy Eduard kits just for the decals alone. The Zero's red markings did look grainy, but this has not been repeated in other colours, and may not even show up that much once washed and weathered.

iam not a great modeller maybe bit better than average because ive been at it for nearly 50 years!! but i must have been luckly but i built the Mirage in March no problems no warps or bends a nice build and made into a good model cost less than £25 i think ive only built 4 Eduard kits mig 21 good kit and hellcat in 1/72 and 1/48 combo very good kits and the mirage mine was a good kit ,ive built some crap kits over my 50 years some cheap some expensive iam a modeller i build whats in front of me some test what skills i have got some just need some glue and build themselves any way like your rants cant wait for the next one who will be?

You sound like you're describing Revell aircraft kits of the 1970s, not Eduard! Or better still, Mach 2 but everyone picking up one of those kits usually knows they're in for an "extended project" or a "skill builder" type kit. I'd expect better of Eduard, shames.

Just a thought, I have built 3 kits now with the new style of decals and not once have I had a single issue with them. Eduard do state you don’t need to peel anything away from the decal they are not designed that way, I simply used micro sol and set and they look amazing, as good as there old style decals for sure, so people stating the pain to peel them off is rather self imposed as eduard have stated numerous times this isn’t necessarily, after a clear coat and a flat coat the look amazing believe me. Maybe try the decals before forming your opinions on others peoples findings.

Good. Call it how you see it. Too much sycophancy amongst model builders generally. Edit: that said; "but even fil phlory..." oooh the great fil phlory? Legend in his own paint booth 😂

I have seen a few sink holes and surprisingly a small amount of flashing on their 1/48 Spitfire Mk V kits! I think their quality control has dropped. I totally agree, not to tell customers by a small note in the box about their new decals was terrible! It caught me out! But I do love their decals when you know how to apply them.

Of course every modeler looks at things from their own perspective and has their own priorities. But Tamiya (or Zoukei Mura et al.) better than Eduard? Maybe in some bizarro alternate universe, but not in this one. I can cut and dress a multitude of thick sprue gates and fiddle about with minor (or even relatitively serious) fit issues with much less drudgery than I'll spend trying to bring the surface detail of a Tamiya kit up to what is now, thanks in large part to Eduard, industry standard. I do agree with the point about the somewhat "dot matrixy" look of some of the newer decals, but to me the peelable carrier film is a major plus, not a minus, and well worth the effort for the result.

I think part of the problem with the new decals is modelers want to get to finish line and don't wait for the decals to dry up after applying. I've used them and they were pretty good. The key is to wait a few hours after applying the decal then putting Tamiya tape over the decal to lift the carrier film. Once its lifted partially you can take tweezers to remove the film. don't apply too much pressure with the tape and be gentle with tweezers. But you're right not informing their customers of the decal change was a cock up on their part.

Having built 5+ Eduard kits as well as Revell and Airfix and all the other brands, I would rate Eduard best of the rest. Most certainly outrunning Airfix (trenchlike panellines amongst others) and Revell (poor fits). Having said that, it also makes a huge difference what the built year of the model is/was. The Eduard Mirage is from 2007. When judging all of Eduard based upon that feels unfair. They were only founded in 1989 and there quality curve most certainly is steeper than some longer lasting companies... Well there you have it; another reaction triggered ;-) BTW So far I'd rate the Eduard decals higher than Tamiya's sticke.... ermm decals.

When you ask ‘What were Edward thinking?’ The answer very probably is ‘They weren’t’. Or rather they were, but were thinking of their own situation not that of their customers. Decisions such as this are usually driven by a new management team which has looked purely at the bottom line. I’m reminded of Mercedes when they did a similar thing a few years ago…they cheapened the quality of the steel in their cars which led to huge corrosion problems. Their reputation took a massive hit and they spent a fortune repairing the damage.

Aren't you Noel Philips' long lost brother? 😁

IDK, I've been very disappointed with Airfix considering all of the hoopla over their new toolings. Recently built thier Hurricane Mk I in 1/72 and ran into fit issues on the second part I glued up! Still, compared to virtually all kits made more than 30 years ago, Revell, Airfix and Eduard are light years ahead. In the past one just assumed that some fit adjustment would always be necessary (unless it was a Tamiya shake and bake kit.) Of course, you spent two or three times as much on the Tamiya kit to get that fit.

Having seen this id never ever buy an Eduard kit and if the fanboys want to shill for bad production and design fine. Thats their prerogative but dont attack reality when its obvious or decry a guys ability when bad production is responsible.