Plane Bits | Mirage IIIE Enhancement Kit
Reviewed by Saso Knez
It has been quite some time since I had done one of these. As you might known the Revell Mirage IIIE was reissued a few months ago. Since the kit itself is dated to the late seventies a lot of work is needed to upgrade it to today's standards. A lot of work or ideally a nice detail set. When I discovered that there is a company named Plane Bits in Australia, who produces a complete enhancement set for Mirage I hoped I had stumbled across such a set. Unfortunately I have to report this is not the case.
The first complaint is that the box with the resin bits came completely crushed. It is a long way from Australia to Slovenia, when one comes to think of it it is a long way to anywhere from Australia so Plane Bits should reconsider a bit stronger packaging. But to be fair, everything inside the box arrived undamaged.
Instructions
Plane Bits has supplied the modeller with extremely comprehensive instructions, which include both the textual and drawn description of the incorporation of the detail set. In the instructions it becomes evident that the set covers two areas (cockpit and undercarriage) with part being PE and resin. Even without additional reference you should have absolutely no problems in building the kit with this set.
Cockpit
The Mirage IIIE multi role fighter evolved from the Mirage IIIC interceptor. This lineage is evident also in the cockpit, a small interceptor-ish cockpit fitted with everything that a multi-role fighter needs. The result is a very cramped cockpit. The cockpit supplied in the Revell kit is fictional. It has nothing to do with the one found on the real fighter. If you are in doubt then check the complete photo essay of the Mirage IIIE cockpit here. Plane Bits attempts to provide a complete replacement cockpit.
Tha main issue I have with this set is the quality of the casting. While the parts seem to be mastered well enough the casting is simply not good enough. If anyone remembers Marine Air parts I have to say that Plane Bits is similar.
The parts are covered with bubbles and the detail is undefined. But on the other hand some parts are provided in the form of PE.
The quality of the small PE fret is really outstanding. Most of the PE parts are intended for the cockpit and they are without doubt the best part of the whole enhancement kit. Also a very positive side of the cockpit parts is that they all fit very nicely in the fuselage.
Also if one can overlook or camouflage the poor resin parts the completed cockpit gives a good appearance of the cramped Mirage cockpits.
The Rest of the Set
The rest of the set addresses the undercarriage. It provides a detailed nose landing gear bay, since the Revell kit has none. Then the next thing that the set provides are the undercarriage bay doors These look nice, but when comparing them to the walkaround images I cannot say that they are that accurate. But again I leave it to the reader for the final judgment.
The last thing supplied in the set are resin wheels. While they are quite nice...
....I fail to see any improvement over the original Revell parts.
Covered with bubbles and the detail is undefined. But on the other hand some parts are provided in the form of PE.
Maybe I am spoiled. Recently when someone says detail set I think Black Box, or at least Verlinden. Before you purchase you have to realise that Plane Bits is simply not in that league. What Plane Bits is is a small courageous company that decided to improve an really ancient kit while casting and producing everything at home or at least in the neighborhood. While that worked fine with the PE parts it backfired with the resin. Given the relatively high purchase price of 39 AUD I give this set two stars. I will leave it up to the modeller to determine if this set is worth purchasing, but as a guideline I will say that this set bumps the Mirage from the seventies into mid eighties.
To Plane Bits I would offer my sincere congratulations for the brave offer, an advice to change the caster and a suggestion to market the PE parts as a separate set for the time being.
Plane Bits can be contacted at: vichobbycentre@bigpond.com.au.
© Saso Knez 2004
This review was published on Saturday, July 02 2011; Last modified on Wednesday, May 18 2016