History 

The  French SMB-2 Super Mystere was the first Western Europe-produced jet fighter to break the speed of sound in level flight. Until the introduction of the Mirage III type, the SMB-2 remained the most powerful French fighter. And when the Mirage came to the service, the Super Mystere were transferred to fighter-bomber units where they flew for a very long time.

SMB-2 jets were also successfully exported to Israel where they proved against the overwhelming Arab superiority. And as in France, when the Israelis finally got their Mirages, the Super Mysteres were re-delegated to the fighter bomber role. Later in their career, the Israeli SMB-2s had their engine replaced with a US-made unit. When struck off service, the remaining SMB-2s were sold off to Honduras. Our model kit contains parts for both engine options. The decal sheet originates in our SH72417 release enabling modellers to build one of two French machines (both with the original Atar 9B jet) or a Honduran option with the longer tail section housing the Pratt and Whitney J52 engine.

In the box 

This is one of four boxings from Special Hobby of the SMB-2 Super Mystère, and it has been released also by Azur/Frrom.

Packed in a top opening box, the SMB-2 Super Mystère features one of the marking options as the box artwork. The sides show all the marking options available in this boxing.

Inside the box you will find seven dark grey sprues, one clear sprue in its own bag, 3 resin parts and the large decal sheet. A set of folded A4 size colour instructions complete the contents.

The kit comprises of around 129 parts of which 30 are not used. 

External detail for the SMB-2 is pretty good with recessed panel lines and fasteners adorning the fuselage and wings.

Although they look a little heavy in the pictures, once primer and paint go on they will appear more subtle.

Control surfaces are moulded integral to the wings, tail planes and rudder and are in the neutral position.

Two resin strakes for the tail are supplied for scheme C.

Interior detail is pretty good for a 1/72nd scale kit. The plastic ejection seat is only used if you are modelling the French version and is made up of six parts, but no harness is supplied either as a photo etch part or decals, so making your own or using some aftermarket parts could be used as quite a bit of the cockpit can be seen through the canopy.

The instrument panel has a decal for the dials, and a setting solution for the decal will need to be used as there is raised details on it. The side consoles have raised details so painting these parts will need to be done as no decals for the sides are supplied.

The resin MB MK.6 seat is one part and features a cast harness, and carries a lot more detail then the plastic offering, but it is only used on the Honduran machine. Casting is pretty much flawless.

The air inlet which takes up just over half the fuselage is made up of four parts, which includes the nose gear bay, and an intake fan. No weight for the nose is indicated in the instructions too stop it being a tail sitter, but there isnt a lot of room to put any in.

The exhaust is made up of three parts and has a little detail, but your really not going to see much in the tube once its all built up.

The kit contains parts for both engine options, to build one of two French machines (both with the original Atar 9B jet) or a Honduran option with the longer tail section housing the Pratt and Whitney J52 engine.

The undercarriage bays have a little detail in them in the way of spars which one the main bays are moulded into the underside of the wing.

As already noted the nose gear bay is part of the air intake and also has a nice bit of detail in the way of spars.

The main undercarriage legs are made up of three parts each, including the one piece wheels. Detail is quite good, with the wheels having a tread pattern moulded onto them.

The clears parts are crystal clear and have raised framing.

Two main canopies are supplied so you can have the choice of closed or open.

One part is needed for the closed main canopy and five parts are required for the open main canopy.

The windshield as with the main canopy has raised framework.

No masks are supplied but Special Hobby do sell an aftermarket set.

Two sprues of weapons are supplied, which hold various dumb bombs, fuel tanks, and missiles.

Only the missiles and fuel tanks are used in this release, so plenty of weapons for the spares box.

Decals, markings and instructions 

The instructions are printed on a folded A4 size paper, and consists of 12 pages, with the last three for the three full colour profiles. The booklet is matt in apperance and in colour for most of the build with internal colours given along the way.

For building the two versions of the Super Mystere, each build section has either a red or blue tab for either the French or Honduran versions. An orange tab is common to both machines.

The cover has a short history of the Super Mystère in English and Czech, followed by the parts tree map over two pages. The build takes place over ten pages.

The build sequence looks easy enough to follow once you decide which version you are going to build.

The decal sheet is fairly large with a few stencils printed on the sheet, along with the insignia's and numbers for the three colourful marking options supplied.

The decals are in register and very nicely printed by Cartograf.

Three marking options are supplied, two are for 1960s French machines in natural metal, and a mid 80's/ late 90s Honduran SMB-2 in a wrap around three colour grey camo scheme.

Conclusion

Special Hobbies Super Mystère looks to be a nice little kit with enough detail to keep most modellers happy, although you could detail up some areas with some aftermarket parts.

The build looks to be easy enough to follow, and with three interesting marking options it is pretty good value for money.

Mfg. ID - SH72523

Suggested Retail - 22.90 €

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This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. 

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