The Aerodrome Forum - View Single Post - Mirage 1/48 Halberstadt CL.II First Impressions

MicroSculpt · 29 June 2009, 09:58 PM

Greetings, everyone!

Well, I got my Mirage Halbie today from Roll Models and FWIW I thought I'd offer an opinion after I had a look at it.

I must say it is obvious that Piotr Zielinski has put a lot of time and effort into producing this kit. It is very nicely presented and Mirage deserves credit for bringing us a brand new 1/48 Halbie.

It comes in a good sturdy box with nice artwork on the cover. It is a hefty box, filled to the brim with sprues, decals (3 sheets), PE, acetate instrument faces and instructions.

The instructions are in the form of a small booklet — full color throughout. Like the latest WNW releases, it features some archival photos as well as some images of preserved/restored details. However, compared to the WNW instructions, the Mirage booklet is a bit small which reduces the value of the images somewhat.

The amount of detail the kit attempts to represent is impressive. There is some variation to the quality of the molded detail. Some is wonderfully crisp and some a little on the soft side. There is some flash here and there, but no unsightly ejector marks that I noticed. All parts look free of any distortion.

I must say that the rendition of the wings is among the very best I have ever seen. The rib stations are crisply delineated, the trailing edges are razor sharp and the unique features of this aircraft's wing structure accurately captured. The upper wing components match the Ian Stair drawings in the Windsock Datafile perfectly!

Unfortunately, I must say that not everything in the kit matches the drawings that perfectly. To me there are issues with the fuselage. For one thing the detail on the exterior of the fuselage sides is inaccurate. There are thick "tapes" on the upper and lower fuselages edges that are just not seen in photographs. The fuselage also seems to be too long and a bit too shallow when matched to the Windsock plans. It is difficult to tell at this point, but this may impact the nose contours.

The interior seems nicely detailed. I like the separate framing that gets added to the sides, and the bulk heads. This will look very crisp and dimensional.

The tail surfaces are very thinly molded. But, I'm not sure if that is accurate. The Windsock drawings show them a bit thicker. At any rate, it will be difficult to attach these parts — They are too thin to accept wire to aide in assembly. Again, these parts also do not match the Windsock drawings in outline — the horizontal stabilizer and elevator seem too large.

I really hate to be critical of any details of this kit because it is obvious that the designers tried very hard to create a good kit. One possibility is that the Windsock plans are wrong (gasp!) and the designers are right. I don't know. I just used what I had at hand to compare. If anyone knows what plans this kit is based on please chime in.

Overall, this is an impressive and very worthwhile kit in spite of the aforementioned issues (all of which can be addressed with some modeling skill). It is certainly the most detailed kit of this aircraft to-date. The wings are beautifully done, and there is potential here to make a real award-winning model. I look forward to building this kit and I hope Mirage will bring us more WWI subjects (perhaps a Hannover?).

Cheers!

Tom

29 June 2009, 09:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
MicroSculpt Forum Ace Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Baltimore, Maryland Posts: 527	Mirage 1/48 Halberstadt CL.II First Impressions Greetings, everyone! Well, I got my Mirage Halbie today from Roll Models and FWIW I thought I'd offer an opinion after I had a look at it. I must say it is obvious that Piotr Zielinski has put a lot of time and effort into producing this kit. It is very nicely presented and Mirage deserves credit for bringing us a brand new 1/48 Halbie. It comes in a good sturdy box with nice artwork on the cover. It is a hefty box, filled to the brim with sprues, decals (3 sheets), PE, acetate instrument faces and instructions. The instructions are in the form of a small booklet — full color throughout. Like the latest WNW releases, it features some archival photos as well as some images of preserved/restored details. However, compared to the WNW instructions, the Mirage booklet is a bit small which reduces the value of the images somewhat. The amount of detail the kit attempts to represent is impressive. There is some variation to the quality of the molded detail. Some is wonderfully crisp and some a little on the soft side. There is some flash here and there, but no unsightly ejector marks that I noticed. All parts look free of any distortion. I must say that the rendition of the wings is among the very best I have ever seen. The rib stations are crisply delineated, the trailing edges are razor sharp and the unique features of this aircraft's wing structure accurately captured. The upper wing components match the Ian Stair drawings in the Windsock Datafile perfectly! Unfortunately, I must say that not everything in the kit matches the drawings that perfectly. To me there are issues with the fuselage. For one thing the detail on the exterior of the fuselage sides is inaccurate. There are thick "tapes" on the upper and lower fuselages edges that are just not seen in photographs. The fuselage also seems to be too long and a bit too shallow when matched to the Windsock plans. It is difficult to tell at this point, but this may impact the nose contours. The interior seems nicely detailed. I like the separate framing that gets added to the sides, and the bulk heads. This will look very crisp and dimensional. The tail surfaces are very thinly molded. But, I'm not sure if that is accurate. The Windsock drawings show them a bit thicker. At any rate, it will be difficult to attach these parts — They are too thin to accept wire to aide in assembly. Again, these parts also do not match the Windsock drawings in outline — the horizontal stabilizer and elevator seem too large. I really hate to be critical of any details of this kit because it is obvious that the designers tried very hard to create a good kit. One possibility is that the Windsock plans are wrong (gasp!) and the designers are right. I don't know. I just used what I had at hand to compare. If anyone knows what plans this kit is based on please chime in. Overall, this is an impressive and very worthwhile kit in spite of the aforementioned issues (all of which can be addressed with some modeling skill). It is certainly the most detailed kit of this aircraft to-date. The wings are beautifully done, and there is potential here to make a real award-winning model. I look forward to building this kit and I hope Mirage will bring us more WWI subjects (perhaps a Hannover?). Cheers! Tom