At the Nuremberg Trade Fair, I was fortunate enough to have a meeting with the owner of the newly amalgamated Squadron Signal/VLS along with several of the company's well-informed employees. The news is that there are big things happening in the company for 2007....

Primarily, the business of Squadron/Signal is publishing. MAny modellers 'cut their teeth' (and continue to do so) with their publications on Warships, Aviation and Armor. However, good as many of their titles are, there has been a need for some of the titles to be re-edited (to reflect new research) and for the lists to be expanded. Although with the sheer 'mass' of existing publications this is a daunting process, plans have been started to revise and expand the range, The published plans include both re-issues and reworking of many of the titles including a New series.

Starting the report with a look at what's coming for Aviation Modellers:

Three NEW Aviation walk-rounds are being published:

5545 - F-4E Phantom

5546 - Mig-17 Fresco

5547 - Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker

Specifically for markings, is:

6091 Worldwide F-16 Markings

In Unit Histories, two new titles:

6180 - 31st Fighter Group USAAF WWII

6181 4th Fighter Group in World War II

In Civil Aviation, a completely new series - At The Gate with the initial title being:

5801 - Douglas DC-8/MD-80

Moving onto books specifically for the Warship modellers, (initially), one useful new title:

5603 - Ohio Class SSBN on Deck

Moving onto material for the Armor Modeller again, one new title:

8103: Applied Modeling Encyclopedia - Armor (see photos at the side) This new book, published in collaboration with Euro-Modelismo of Spain, goes from basic assembly painting and weathering to advanced projects for the experienced armor builder. This is the second in a series which began with:

8102 - Applied Modeling Encyclopedia - Aircraft in a similar format to the previous book...

Moving onto VLS, things will continue very much as before with the 'core' ranges - Trakz, Warriors, Wingz etc. continuing to regularly release new items during the year.

As always, the new releases will be featured heavily in News and Reviews across all the component sites of the Kitmaker Network

My particular thanks to Michael McMahon and Gary P.Newman for the time they gave me during the Nuremberg Trade Fair.