dmorrissette Posted June 2, 2012 Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 The Armchair Aviaeologist bulletin A GENERAL UPDATE FOR OUR SCALE MODEL HOBBY CUSTOMERS 22 May 2012 Dear Dave, A number of decal sets - including both new and old releases - have sold out over the last few weeks, with a good number of others are either at, or approaching very low stock levels. Reviews such as this one on Hyperscale have certainly helped get the word out. In recent months there have also been similarly favourable reviews and project uses appearing in other scale-modeling media; both print and web. This, in combination with our subject selections, has resulted in a sharp spike in the number of decal sets shipping on a weekly basis since the beginning of 2012. With the Aviaeology marque now positively on the rise, we may soon opt for larger initial print runs to avoid availability slumps with future new releases in both 1/48 and 1/72 scales. For other scales however, initial runs may remain relatively small. SHIPPING STEADY... available in 1/72 & 1/48 scales Our revamped and expanded 418 Sqn Mosquitoes set (cover art above) is running a close second behind our 404 Sqn Beaufighters sets in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale orders shipped direct from the website. Both include the mounts of famous aircrew a variety of markings. While some of these have enjoyed perennial coverage over the years, the Aviaeology treatment offers new research and fresh interpretation of most subjects. Do you have related projects in the works? Visit our website to discover what is presently available, or request our most up-to-date price list via email to get a general idea of both current stock levels and the status of new projects. In This Issue COMINGS & GOINGS:: General Report to Model Decal Customers on Current Availability & Projects in Progress. AVIAEOLOGY RELATED Beaufighter coverage in print and web form THANK YOU! COMINGS & GOINGS: New or Re-editioned Aviaeology Decal Sets & a Few Near Term Projects The new production 404 Squadron Beaufighter sets have been going strong and steady since coming back from the printers. The 1/48 scale run has sold out and the 1/72 scale set is not too far behind. Even the 1/32 scale sets are going well; surprising considering what needs to be done to the venerable old Revell kit to bring it up to Beaufighter TF.X standard. If you'd like an independent opinion as to why these sets are doing so well, please take a minute to have a look at the Hyperscale website review mentioned above. Please note that, although temporarily out of stock, we have decided to keep the 1/48 scale set available for ordering on the website due to the anticipated late June / early July delivery of a fresh run, now in progress at the printers. As of today (22 May) a little over 35 percent of this new print run has already pre-sold and it does not appear to be letting up. A big THANK YOU to our retailers and direct purchase customers who have decided to either keep their back-orders with us. We're equally thankful to those who chose to cancel due to temporary unavailability with the intention of reordering once the restock is here. Please remember that we have to treat this on a first come, first serve basis for the sake of both sanity and fairness. The revamped and expanded 418 Squadron Mosquito sets - available in 1/48 and 1/72 so far - are following the trend. At the current rate, the first runs may very well be gone by mid/late June. As some customers have queried... we may add a revised 1/24th scale edition (the first edition AOD24005's having sold out last year) by the fall of 2012 or early 2013. The third subject lot in this small wave of re-editions covered 422/423 Squadron Sunderland sub-hunters and, while not as popular as the smaller aircraft types, continues to sell well. This indicates strong interest amongst fellow modelers in one of our designer's favourite subject categories... the 'war at sea' aspect of Second World War aviation history. The 1/72 scale sets have outsold the 1/48 sets (of which we printed far less) by a long shot. Still, going forward we plan to continue offering full "across all potential scales" coverage of these more scale-challenged subject selections. documentation cover graphics for new edition decal sets These very popular subjects - expanded in coverage and reissued as tight-tolerance, screen-printed editions as they are - have been very well received across all scales. We're inspired to do more... A similar re-edition of our long sold-out RCAF FR Spitfires is ready to go to the printers but we have decided to hold it back for a spell and make way for some new releases. These include 413 (RCAF) Squadron Catalinas (featuring Birchalls' 'Saviour of Ceylon' aircraft along with exclusive PBY-5 to Catalina Mk.I conversion details), "First Kill" Hudsons (featuring RCAF and USN sub-hunters operating out of Newfoundland and Maritime Canada), and Venturas in Canada (featuring RCAF, RAF, and US aircraft. The Ventura set is being done in both 1/72 and 1/48 and, thanks to the collaboration of the Ventura Memorial Flight Association and noted researcher / historian Carl Vincent, features an incredible array of well-researched schemes and markings. Preordering should be available on the website for all three sets (two scales each) incrementally throughout the coming few months. Of all of the other currently available Aviaeology decal sets the recently reworked IJN Aircraft Tail Codes series have now gone out of print (some individual sets at least twice). Meanwhile we've reprinted the Yellow set in both scales, while a fresh run of the White sets are in-progress at the printers (slated to be available concurrently with the 1/48 Beaufighter reprints). Demand is still strong enough that we plan do the same for the other two colour variations in due course... time, tide and other priorities permitting. There have been numerous emails on this one so we'll cover it here... Our top-selling Sharkmouth Typhoon sets have been through numerous reprint runs in all scales and are now completely sold out again. A final reprint of the 1/72 set is slated (now further delayed until July) but that will be it for this particular subject for a while. Meanwhile it is interesting to see that the manufacturer of the most-used 1/48 scale kit appears to have 'followed' our seminal research of this aircraft! However, we have yet to see the decals in their new 'Sharkmouth' boxing so cannot say whether or not both the wartime and post-war variations have been provided for. Still on the subject of Typhoons, once this summer's line-up is done and dusted, we'll turn our attention to the RCAF Typhoon Squadrons. All scales of course. Another subject of interest that has generated a lot of emails is "Hurricanes"... Ranking right up there with the Sharkmouth Typhoon and ASW Liberators sets in terms of total numbers shipped, our multi-scale, two part Vital Storm Hurricane coverage has been very well received to the point that some of the sets have enjoyed 3 or 4 reprint runs since their launch in late 2010. The only one slated for further reprinting in the near term is the 1/72 scale part 2, as it has been sold out for some time. All of the others are still available direct from our website (and possibly a few retail vendors), though the inventory is getting very (perhaps even very, very) low... less than 30 of each 1/48 scale set, a little better for the 1/72 scale part 1 set, and less than 20 of each 1/24 scale set. The 404 Squadron Mosquitoes range of decal sets is only slightly ahead of these in terms of availability, with approximately three dozen each of the 1/72 and 1/48 sets, and only 18 of the 1/24 scale version remaining. With inventory approaching zero, we'll be leaving the Hurricane subject file alone for a while to focus on a large stack of Spitfire research ranging from Mk.Is through to Mk.XIVs. More on these in a later Armchair Aviaeologist. When we return to Hurricanes in a year or two, we plan to continue picking through the Mk.I research and to add later marques to the Aviaeology Decals roster. There is also a fair sized research file here on Coastal Command Mosquitoes... fattened up as it is during Terry's dig into 404 Squadron's use of the FB.VI(Coastal). The steady depletion of our 404 Squadron Mosquitoes decal inventory offers a natural starting point for this lot to be turned into decal projects. The first of these is likely to be Norwegian Outriders: 333 Squadron's armed recce specialists. A Banff Strike Wing extravaganza will follow not too far behind that. Other Mosquito projects are lurking in the wings. Soon - hopefully as summer turns to fall - the Aviaeology Decals range will make its initial venture either side of the Second World War (available generic post-war RCAF markings notwithstanding) with a number of releases covering individual aircraft subjects from our critically acclaimed book Early Canadian Military Aircraft Volume 1 and another half dozen (three sets in two scales) covering CF-100 Canucks in both Canadian and Belgian service. Again, watch future editions of the Armchair Aviaeologist for progress reports and release dates. Beaufighters Illustrated! Aviaeology's Researcher / Illustrator in other Digital & Print Media. 1) Vintage Wings of Canada's History and Heroes Cover art for an illustrated story contributed to Vintage Wings of Canada. Along with flying some of the most beautifully restored vintage aircraft on the North American continent, Vintage Wings of Canada also publishes the weekly e-magazine . The e-zine's editor, Dave O'Malley is constantly on the lookout for Canadian aviation related stories and strives to remain topical throughout the year. For 2012's Black History Month in February, tipped by a related article by another researcher (who is also an Aviaeology customer) he solicited a detailed excerpt from our own Terry Higgins' book-in-progress on 404 Squadron. Terry rewrote parts of his existing text to spotlight Black aviator Allan Bundy's career on the squadron, and the resulting article is laced with rare photos and profile illustrations of the squadron's Beaufighters and Mosquitoes. Combined with the compelling story loaded with details of dangerous operations over the North Sea and Norway, the overall piece is sure to be of interest to the WWII era model builders within your customer base. Feel free to pass the link on as you see fit... it may inspire a model or two! 2) Scale Aircraft Modelling Magazine's forthcoming Canadian-themed July 2012 Edition With an expat Canadian at the editor's desk, this 32 year old British magazine has run a Canadian-themed edition every summer for a number of years now. This year's special will feature an in-depth article by Terry on the equipment, paint, and markings details of 404 Squadron's Beaufighter TF.Xs from 1943 through to 1945. Terry has supplied the magazine with a good number of supporting photos and a 'profiles and plans'-illustrated, informatively captioned six-page pullout feature. Some of the photos and images will be published therein for the first time. Although the aircraft of 404 Squadron are illustrated and described, the article will be of particular value to any modeller looking for reference material on the Beaufighter TF.X in Coastal Command service. Multi-talented Canadian model builder Vic Scheuerman has also contributed a "how to" on building a 404 Squadron Beaufighter using the Aviaeology set - decals and documentation equally - as the core of the project. The Scale Aircraft Modelling cover for June 2012 The July issue should be brimming over with Beaufighter material MANY THANKS To all of our customers. Thanks to you 2012 is looking really good for Aviaeology. Your response to our wares has been very encouraging throughout the past six years, to say the least. It is comforting to know that most Aviaeology customers are repeat customers. We will do our very best to keep you coming back for more into the foreseeable future with attentive subject research, detail-oriented project execution, top notch production quality, and responsible customer service. All of the exciting projects currently on slate would not be coming to reality without your continued encouragement and support. Keep an eye on the next few Armchair Aviaeologists for the usual pre-order deals and ongoing project updates. <a class="imgCaptionAnchor" href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=00108N4A-4x_Xui1phHyH-Q3YBRtFR26eZrwLN3nMtjzferASwfpUmufJ1Ruu8JjigrWW9Pm-WlfYcRXIFEihgEsps4bIhLbyyxJEDIZt_wlVAgn9oNa8McihJHOyKHUYkX5_ivgWbG8euHX441waEMvVGtWfiu-5FY" shape="rect" target="_blank" track="on"> Quick Links... Our Website The latest News Posts Aviaeology Books Aviaeology Model Decals Aviaeology Profile Prints Join Our Mailing List! Thank you for taking the time to consider our latest offer. We hope to be in touch again very soon. Alison and Terry Higgins for SkyGrid Studio / Aviaeology Publishing Forward email to someone else who may be interested Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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