MPM Production have sent us seasons greetings and details of their latest and forthcoming releases . Also announced is a historic change of name - the MPM label will make way for the company's dominant brand Special Hobby across their styrene kit range.

It is almost unbelievable but the last month of the year has already come again. It is my wish now to express our thanks to all our customers for their support of our models and to all our business partners for their kind cooperation. We do believe it will remain the same, or get even better, during the coming year. And of course, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.

The beginning of 2016 is going to bring our long-awaited Mirage F.1 models family, a bit later also the really huge and superbly detailed 1/32 Tempest kit, there will be 1/35 3,7 cm KPUV vz.37 /3,7 cm PAK 37(t) and 7,5 cm Gerbirgskanone M.15 / 7,5 cm cannon models and one very important change in our company is also to be expected.

MPM Production, s.r.o (Ltd) has a long time tradition, having been in the business since 1989. And of course, there is still some development within the company which allows us to respond to changing market conditions and modellers and business partners´needs and desires alike. So, in order to distinguish us from other companies which have adopted a similar title we have decided to change the name of our company. Therefore MPM Production Ltd will change from the first of January to become Special Hobby, Ltd. This decision has been taken because Special Hobby is our most successful production line and it is already well known amongst modellers. Along with the change of business name we are also reducing the product lines that we provide, so that Special Hobby will now cover all aircraft models, Special Armour will cover military vehicle subjects and Special Navy will cover ships and submarines. Production of resin sets and models will still continue under the CMK trademark.

SH32013 - 1/32 model 339C/ D Buffalo Mk. I
In 1940, Great Britain was left alone in its fight against Nazi Germany. However, the USA, being the biggest democratic world power, managed to find ways to help the UK and one of the means was a weapon supplies. However, the aircraft types to be delivered were of rather various quality, there were some excellent types indeed, while some others were almost unsuitable. One of those types the UK had put big expectations in were Brewster Buffaloes. Soon after them being delivered, the British RAF found out, though, that the Mk.I version machines were not suitable for the European battlefield. Having realised that, the RAF transferred the Buffalo fighters to the Pacific with the hopes of them being far better against Japanese aircraft, this led to the British Buffaloes being known mainly for taking part in the defeat of British forces in Malaya and Burma. It soon became clear that Japanese fighters, supporting their ground forces in the devastating attack against Singapore, possessed much better performance than their British counterparts. On top of that, the British were usually taken by surprise and the Japanese fighters enjoyed their advantage of height and speed.

Now, we are happy to be able to bring you a re-release of our 1/32 British Buffalo model kit. It comes with no less than nine sprues with plastic parts, an injected clear canopy, set of resin parts and a PE-fret. The decal sheet provides for four eye-catching camouflage schemes of the Buffaloes from the fightings over Singapore and Malaya. There are machines of RAF No.453 (RAAF), No.488 (RNZAF), No.243 and RAAF sqn No.21, each of them is adorned with some cartoon or other embelishment, as for example a dragoon, a doggie or a boxing kangaroo and the last of the machines wears a tally markings in form of small swastikas standing for the pilot´s victories during the Battle of Britain. The model will be offered only in a limited quantity.
MRP: 45.00 €

SH72325 - 1/72 Arado Ar 96A
The training of pilots and another flight personnel in the newly built Luftwaffe took place in so called Flugzeugführerschule A/B, or Flying Schools A/B, with aircraft of A1/2 and B1/2 categories. For the B1 category advanced training in those fighter schools, the Luftwaffe requested in 1935 a new monoplane (low-wing plane) type of all-metal construction and Arado company was assigned with the task of its development and production. The development itself was quite a demanding one, the resulting prototypes being rather different one from another. In the end, the production was based upon the Ar 96V-6 prototype and the type was know as the Ar 96A, in which the Argus As 10c engine was used and both Arado and AGO companies were involved in the production. During about one year´s service of this plane, it became clear that the type´s engine was suffering from low output, therefore the Luftwaffe opted to use the plane´s final version instead, that being known under the Ar 96B designation. This version was powered by a more powerful As-410 engine (and is available in a model form under cat.nos. SH72312 and SH72315.) As the Luftwaffe prefered the B version, the earlier machines were freed for export. At least one of them found its destination in Bulgaria during the course of WW2, five machines were taken over by the Slovak State military. However, the A type main user was the Royal Hungarian Air Force, which also became the second largest user of the Ar 96 of all versions.

From the first glance one may think that, apart from the engine installed, the Ar 96A and Ar 96B are identical aircraft. False impression, though. As the As 10c engine was significantly lighter, the wing-to-fuselage position was different from the B version, this also led to a different angle of the wing root section of the leading edge. Therefore, we simply had to make complete new moulds for this model. The PUR resin parts are also different. The kit contains a PE fret, the decal sheet caters for five quite interesting camouflage options, two of which -the V6 prototype and the Slovak machine - flew with a rare wooden prop. All the remaining machines, it means the German Flying School machine and both the Hungarian planes (each of them in a different type of camouflage) used a standard metal propeller.
MRP: 11.98 €

WE ARE PREPARING:
SH72289 Mirage F.1 CE 1/72
SH72294 Mirage F.1 CG 1/72
SH72292 Nomad Mk.I 1/72

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