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

Dave83 · 30 June 2009, 12:29 AM

thanks for the first impressions ! !

Realy nice i was also thinking to bye this kit !!

Regards David

Flamingo · 30 June 2009, 02:32 AM

Thanks for the detailed review.

The Halb Cl.II is a good example not to rely on drawings!
The horizontal tailplane is drawn too small in span, later admitted by Ray, so the larger kit part is good news!
Compare with the photo on page 21 and try to establish the proportions.
Compare the kit fuselage with period photographs and study the walkarounds of the Krakow machine (Aircraft Color Profiles by Janusz Swiatlon)
to get an opinion of the kit's accuracy.

Never trust published drawings or dimensions without careful cross-checking, regardless of scource!

jsontag · 30 June 2009, 05:54 AM

I too was thinking about buying this kit, and after reading what you said I think I will buy it now. Thanks.

Tripehound · 30 June 2009, 06:06 AM

Just went to the above link. The tailplane is THIN!

GarrardA · 2 July 2009, 10:54 AM

Here's a few shots I made of the kit. Got mine earlier in the week on EBay for $56 and $6.50 SH.

Overly pleased. Especially like the seperate fuselage framework as well as the wing jig.

Cheers, Gary Adams

BLOWHARD · 2 July 2009, 06:46 PM

Just to throw one more voice in here; those Windsock drawings ARE NOT correct

MicroSculpt · 3 July 2009, 03:29 AM

Glad to hear that the Windsock plans are (gasp) NOT accurate.

I've compared the kit fuselage to photos and it appears to follow them closely. The forward fuselage agrees well. The fuselage still may be a bit long from the rear gunners cockpit to the horizontal stabilizer. But that could be distortion in the photo.

Tom

BLOWHARD · 3 July 2009, 08:27 AM

I just got my kit yesterday. I'll post my own review soon. On a glance it looks like Piotr drawings compare very well to Dan-San Abbott's drawings. I've got quite a lot of research built up for the CL.II profile I'm working on. Once I've gone over it all I'll put in my own take on the kit.

Dan_San_Abbott · 4 July 2009, 07:27 PM

Hi Tom:
I would not classify the Datafile drawings of the Halb.Cl.II, as accurate. On a scale of 1 to 10 , they are a 5 at best. I refer to those drawings as quick and dirty. I have that kit and I would say Poitr Mrozowski did a damned good job on outline and details. Further, if this was in 1/32 scale, it would be on a par with Wingnut Wings. The instructions are excellent. It is the best 1/48 scale kit I have seen! Finally, someone got the lower wing rightThe trailing edge is curved, not straight, curved! All the mouldings are clean a crisp, just like Wingnut Wings.
From his photos and the interior detailing, I could do a a very accurate structural drawing. Compare his details to my drawings in SCHLACHTFLIEGER! what the hell, I can't knock the Poitr, He has used SCHLACHTFLIEGER! as a reference.
Blue skies Tom,
Dan-San