Well, we couldn't make the U.S. Nationals, so we decided to stay home and keep busy with goodies for all our customers:

Our new 1/700 HMS Starling kit (K 742) is now in the hands of the caster, and we then have to sort out the PE once the first castings reach us. However, we can now finalise the price at GBP 25.49.

We had a slight problem on the WEM 1/350 F-Lighter PE! The attachment tags were left off one of the components, and as a result all the frets have an empty hole at this point. We've therefore had to remedy the situation and etch another batch. This has left us with about 50 of the old frets which we can't use with the kit. However, they do contain some useful bits & pieces, such as rails, doors, a couple of 20mm Flakvierlings, 37mm singles, 4 single Oerlikons, etc., etc. So, all these goodies are yours for a bargain GBP 1.70 per fret as WEM PE 35Flaklighter.

Speaking of the F-Lighter, we will begin shipping the kits next week after the new etch arrives. It's the ideal opponent for your 1/350 USN PTs and RN MTBs/MGBs. Peter Hall has worked out a nice range of possible camo schemes.

PE 7208, our 1/72 USN battleship catapult will combine photoetch with cast parts. The artwork and master patterns have gone off for etching/casting. We won't be able to set a firm price until we get cost quotes for the cast parts, but you can pre-order now for one of Mad Pete's latest creations.

Speaking of Mad Pete, we've also received the master pattern for PE 7221, the USN Mark XIII torpedo and it has gone off for casting--looks really nice. Peter will now be working up the PE details and roll-off racks for it, so everything will be ready by the time the castings come back. They'll be packed with 2 torpedoes per set. Pre-order yours now. Of course, these will work equally well with 1/72 scale USN torpedo bombers and dioramas....

New Colourcoats paints continue to arrive. In the aircraft range we've received 6 more of the Regia Aeronautica colours so we now have 14 of the 18 colours on hand. In the armour range we've added ARUS 02, Marine Corps Green (FS 24052).

So, while we couldn't make the Nats, we've been slaving over hot computers to make sure you all don't run out of things to do.

And we've come up with some more surprises that I should be able to announce before too long....

Cheers,
John Snyder