We are now past Scale Model Challenge, with only a small handful of shows left to attend to before the New Year.  We’ll first be off to France, in Alsace, then in Belgium for our second participation to the ‘Caméléons’ show in Fleurus, then will be in London for the Guideline Publications’ Plastic Model Show early December.

Our provisional show schedule for 2019 is already online, there will be changes, no doubt, but it’s looking like an interesting year with several new shows and a few ‘big ones’ like Vienna, Moson, and Brno just for the first half of the year.

We took the opportunity in 2018 to establish ourselves into another ‘niche’, that of the ‘Egged Tank’, and it has paid off, not only in terms of sales, but also in terms of pure fun, and maybe more importantly for some, with the return of our 1/72 AFV range, and even new kits and figures in our 1/35 AFV range.  The Belgian JPK is likely to be our next 1/35 venture, while three new 1/72 AFV kits are due to be released in late January already, and few more also planned for later in the year.  As Meng is still releasing new World War Toons kits, we are also very likely to continue expanding our range of cartoonish conversion kits.

The 1/144 and 1/100 aircraft scenes have seen fewer (than usual) RetroWings new releases this year (please blame Meng’s World War Toons releases for that!) but we have about 15 new 1/144 and a couple of 1/100 detail or conversion sets awaiting casting, and several more in the making.  And our long-awaited 1/144 MiG-21 ‘Analog’ conversion kit is now out!

With Scale Model Challenge, held in the Netherlands in late October, we almost reach the end of the 2018 show season.  It’s been a pretty interesting year in terms of shows, we have visited several new places, reached new audiences, and we have learned many things too.  2019 promises to be as varied, and we are looking forward to trying out another handful of new shows, while our ‘highlights’ are likely to be the IPMS Austria National Convention in Vienna, MosonShow in Hungary, Brno in the Czech Republic plus the IPMS Belgium National Convention and SMC again in October.  With the revival of our RetroTracks range, we are planning to visit On Track in Folkestone in February and a further UK visit is planned for March with the Southern Expo.  Time will tell (in fact we may know in a couple of days already as we are writing just ahead of the crucial EU-UK meeting of the 17th of October) whether further UK visits will be on the menu past the Southern Expo…  Customs fees, long waiting times at the ports, probable chaos on the M20 and A2 in Kent will be, unfortunately, strong points against crossing the Channel.

More positively, we will soon be releasing our long-awaited 1/144 MiG-21 Analog (conversion kit with decals), and the Schmalturm turret for the World War Toons Panther kit.  Lots of further 1/144 sets are in the making or being cast but this will be, in terms of release, for later this year and early 2019 already!   Keep up to date by visiting our Facebook page where we present pictures of patterns in the making, and tips about future releases!

Happy scale modelling, Folks!

We’ve entered the busiest time of the year, show-wise that is.  Nine shows left before the end of the year, including eight over the next eight weeks.  This will take us to the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France and the UK.  And we are hoping that politicians get their fingers out of their a…. as Breixit looms, a hard one at that, as this will potentially have serious consequences for us, least of all our attendance at shows in the UK post 29 March 2019, which may go down to… zero show.  We have two shows in the UK this year, in St Ives (IPMS Brampton) at the end of September and in London in early December.  As things stand right now, the Southern Expo (IPMS Hornchurch) in March might well be our last attendance at a UK show, which would be a shame really…

Let’s hope sense prevails!

Anyway, we’re now off to Breda in the Netherlands to present, in particular, our latest World War Toons endeavours!  We hope to see you there!

It’s been a long time in coming, but Victor is finally here!  Victor is the companion to our earlier Un-dead Bride bust; the happy (!?) couple can at last be re-united for your painting pleasure!

Also new is our M4A1(76)W conversion kit for the still sooooooo cute Meng ‘World War Toons’ Sherman M4A1 kit.  And with yet more World War Toons tanks being released or announced (Somua S35, Pz 38(t), Pershing, Stuart,..), we have enough work for the next two decades, we think..!   Fun has come back to scale modelling!  Enjoy!

With the late August model shows in Mons, Belgium and Mulheim-Karlich in Germany comes the countdown to the big ‘end of the year’ shows such as Plastic & Steel and Scale Model Challenge…  We are working hard to add on onto our existing catalogue in time for those shows, and this includes the latest batch of ‘World War Toons’ add-ons and conversion kits.  Our re-launched 1/72 AFV range is doing well, and despite a slightly postponed release of the Belgian Mk.VI tankette and of the AEC Regal Clubmobile due to some technical issues, we are back in track and have just announced the next three releases (four, if taking into account the Brossel 780B TAL kit we have acquired from AFV+ and plan to re-release shortly), due out late January 2019: the Lorraine 28-1 command vehicle, the rare Citroën-Kegresse P104 armoured car and the rather larger Berliet GPE4 tank transporter, all of which are already available on pre-order at special prices.

All those AFVs have meant that we have had less time than usual for of other ranges, but rest assured that more RetroSF and RetroWings stuff is coming, very soon too..!

As we are shipping our latest two 1/72 RetroTracks items, the VCL Mk.VI/47mm FRC and the AEC Regal Clubmobile, we can now unveil the nature of our next 1/72 AFV kits.

We plan to release not two, but three new kits at the end of January 2019 and those will be, just like the previous kits, available on a pre-order basis via the RetrokiT website.  The three kits are: Lorraine 28-1 Command Car, Berliet GPE Tank Transporter and the diminutive Citroën P104 half-track.  All three are available from the RetrokiT website at a special ‘pre-order’ price from now until the 27th of January 2019, date after which the regular retail price will be applied and production will from then on strictly meet online orders, also meaning a slight delay before shipping.

In the meantime, we are also very pleased to add the beautiful AFV+ Brossel 780B TAL to our 1/72 RetroTracks range.  AFV+ have unfortunately stopped producing patterns but this change of label means this kit will remain available for the forseeable future

We will soon be attending to our first dedicated ‘Military Model Show’ in years..!  Meng’s World War Toons kits certainly have been a hit with us, and we are busy adding to this new range of conversion kits for them…  It’s hard to stop because with subjects like the Sherman, the T-34, the Pz III,..  there are soooooooo many good ways of developing the ‘lighter’ side of the hobby.

WWT is not everyone’s cup of tea, of course, and our conversions are maybe not what or how some modellers would have seen them.  It’s difficult to please everyone, but we are not trying to please everyone and our creations, we feel, must keep an ‘air of WWT’ and above all reflect the individual preferences of our pattern-makers.  All in all, we must say the range is a success so far, and therefore, expect a lot more from us over the coming months.

Speaking of ‘tanks’, work on the Belgian Mk.VI/C.47 FRC and the AEC Regal Clubmobile is going well and it is still planned to release both kits late June – early July as planned.  You can follow the making of those patterns on our Facebook page.

Back to this ‘Tank’ show then.  It’s being organised by a good friend of ours, John, of Paper Panzer Productions and is being held in a little known, but very interesting part of the Belgian army museum in the outskirts of Antwerp, Belgium.  We will only offer ‘AFV’ related products (with a few Bananaaas! of course!), so pre-order via e-mail if you want us to bring you aircraft or non-AFV-related SF/F stuff!

Happy modelling!

We are already going back to France this coming Saturday, this time near Lille, after a very nice week end spent in Compiègne.  We hope to unveil a couple of new items in Beuvry-la-Forêt, including a T34/85 turret for the World War Toons T34 kit.  This series of Meng kits is proving to be pretty popular and we are having a ball designing conversion kits and adds-on for those little gems…  More Sherman and T34 bits are in the making.   But more ‘serious’ work is also underway with the next two 1/72 RetroTracks kits (or patterns, rather) being designed, along with more 1/144 aircraft items.

Although the Beuvry show is a two-day affair, we will only be present at that show on the first day, as we are expected in Middelkerke, Belgium, on Sunday.  There, we look forward to seeing again a few good friends and sample a rather rare and pretty amazing Belgian beer..!  There will not be enough for everyone, so come early…, and stop by the RetrokiT stand while you are there!

Our next pit stop is in Compiègne, France, on 12-13 May 2018.   This gives us a bit of time to recoup after a busy month of April..!  Not that we can go on holidays just yet, as there are patterns to check one last time before being sent to casters, there are more patterns to complete, and of course new projects, suggestions and ideas to investigate and research.  No rest for the wicked!

We’re off to Scotland for the IPMS Scotland Nationals, where we’ll be proud to show off our latest releases (check out our Facebook page for the latest info).