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In-Box Review
148
Mirage F-1C
Resin replacement cockpit, ejection seat and engine air intakes for the Italeri kit
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by: Tim Hatton [ LITESPEED ]

New release from Pavla Models are a resin replacement cockpit, ejector seat and engine air intakes. These resin goodies are designed for the Italeri 1/48 kit.

Contents.

C 48022 Mirage F-1C.
All the contents are contained in a transparent vac formed blister pack. It contains:
-1 x cockpit tub/front landing gear bay.
-1 x MB.Mk4-FIRM4 ejector seat.
-2 x side walls.
-1 x control panel.
-various control levers and switches.
-1 x hydraulic ram for the canopy.

The cockpit tub and front wheel bay have a fantastic level of detail in them. The tub has some very nice low relief details on the side wall including a throttle quadrant on the port side. There are a couple of small resin pieces to attach in this area. The cockpit floor has two foot rests just in front of the seat and two rudder pedals. The separate resin control stick is fixed to the cockpit floor. The rear wall has lots of cast details including some braided cables and junction boxes, all very busy looking. The resin hydraulic ram for the canopy has a locating hole in one of the boxes of the rear wall.
The front wheel bay also looks busy with cables, boxes and framework. There are two very positive looking holes for the kit oleo. The combination of the cockpit tub and the wheel bay will go some way to adding that all important weight in the front of the kit to avoid tail sitting.
The Martin Baker MB.Mk4-FIRM4 ejector seat looks superb. Again some lovely detail including harnesses, harness fastenings, cushions and seat firing rings. You may notice a slight dimple at the top of the seat cushion, this is not a fault with the casting. It replicates the look of the cushion on the full size seat. The rails on the back of the seats are also reproduced. Each seat comes with a small casting block that needs to be removed before fitting into the tub.
The instrument panel looks quite superb with the dials and switches in low relief and will certainly benefit with some careful painting and highlighting. The top of the instrument panel has some great detail including cabling, HUD and the radar scope which protrudes a little past the instrument panel into the cockpit. The HUD will require you to scratch build the glass panel, no problem use the clear plastic from the packaging. The instrument panel has a small casting block to remove as well as three very thin flow channels. If you could have a man of the match for each resin release then this instrument panel would be my choice for this release. Superb.
Side panels both have control levers cast onto them as well as some framework detailing.
There are a small number of small resin switches and levers attached to a single block.
Instructions: have very good, detailed and clear black line drawings, some very fine draughtsmanship evident. There are plenty of colour references for the instruments and seats. Some surgery is required to the kit to enable the fitting of the resin parts. The cockpit walls need reducing in thickness from the inside by about 1mm. The shelf where presumably the kits instrument panel sits and the rear bulkhead behind the seat need removing.

C 48022 MIRAGE F-1C Air Intakes and Air Scoops.
These are a direct replacement for the kits plastic air intakes. The lips of the intakes are very thin. Panel lines are nicely done and recessed. I really like the representation of the air inlet that is cast into the outer walls of the air intakes. Both air intakes are attached to block that will need to be removed. There are a couple of air scoops that hopefully replace the kits parts. I say hopefully as there is no instruction as what you do with them. The scoops look very good with the inlets being hollowed out. Both scoops are cast on a single block.

Available separately is:

S 48036 MB.Mk4-FIRM4 Ejector Seat.
See above. Contained in a resealable plastic bag. No painting instructions.

Conclusions.

This is a excellent release by Pavla Models and it continues their policy of producing quality resin and vac formed products for kits that a lot of us have in our stashes. I must admit I don't have this kit in my stash, but I will be correcting that very shortly. Nice one Pavla Models.
SUMMARY
Highs: Excellent detailed castings.
Lows: No painting instructions for the separate seat.
Verdict: Highly recommended if you are building or buying the Italeri 1/48 Mirage F-1C
Percentage Rating
90%
  Scale: 1:48
  Mfg. ID: See text
  Suggested Retail: TBA
  PUBLISHED: Aug 02, 2011
  NATIONALITY: France
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 90.86%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 88.99%

Our Thanks to Pavla Models!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Tim Hatton (litespeed)
FROM: ENGLAND - NORTH WEST, UNITED KINGDOM

Aircraft are my primary interest from WWll to present day.

Copyright ©2021 text by Tim Hatton [ LITESPEED ]. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AeroScale. All rights reserved.



Comments

Good timing with this news Tim, I have just started looking for bits for the Italeri kit.
AUG 02, 2011 - 03:31 PM
   
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