Halberstadt CL.IV H.F.W. - 1:48 Mirage Hobby

[Viking]

Halberstadt CL.IV H.F.W.

1:48 Mirage Hobby

The Halberstadt CL.IV was designed as a follow on from the same companies CL.II design. It incorporated many changes based on comments and feedback that the company actively sought from front line units. A major aim was to make the airframe lighter whilst retaining its strength, and the way this was done was by shortening the fuselage. The tailplane, fin and rudder were redesigned to compensate for the shorter coupled arrangement. The new aircraft utilised the same Mercedes D.III as its predecessor, but the improvements meant that it was actually faster and more manoeuvrable. Production was also undertaken by the Roland company, but they 'improved' the aircraft by lengthening the fuselage by some 15 inches, and reworking the wing design. The new wing proved to be weaker than The Halberstadt original, and thus delays were incurred with Roland production while they corrected this mistake.

The CL.II and IV proved to be very useful ground attack machines, working in cooperation with German ground troops by flying in advance of them and softening up targets. This concept was later developed into the 'Blitzkrieg' used so effectively in the opening years of the second world war.
Typical of the Halberstadt 2 seaters was the bathtub shaped cockpit opening, enabling both occupants to work in close proximity, and with excellent communication with each other.


The kit.

Mirage Hobby have released Halberstadt CL.IV H.F.W.(Early production batches/ short fuselage) version as a follow on to their earlier CL.IV and CL.II kits. The kit comes in a large box (for a 1:48 biplane) which is pretty well filled with plastic parts, decals and instructions. In fact the first thing to strike me was just how many plastic sprues there are in the box, full of parts. It is fairly obvious that some of the sprues are common with the other Halberstadt kits, which both makes sense and leaves you with useful parts that can go into the spares box.

The plastic is a medium grey shade, forming sharp mouldings and very little flash, although there are a few minor sink marks here and there. The overall quality is very good, with some very fine parts and excellent detail.

I was very impressed with the jackets on the machine guns, which have real depth to the fretted slots, and I would be tempted to use them as they are without using the etched brass alternatives. They really do look good enough to do that.

The wings are single surface (I.E not a top and bottom to be glued togethcdr) and plain rib tape detail and fine trailing edges. There is a very subtle fabric sag effect, just visible between the ribs and out on the tips, which should look good once the lozenge decals are on. However it is very restrained and may also not be that noticeable, only a build up will tell.

A complete Mercedes D.III engine is provided, although the detail looks a little softer than on the rest of the kit, it should still look good when built up. Advanced modellers may wish to wire up the magnetos, but very little will probably be seen once it is installed.

The cockpit interior is fully provided for, with framework, bulkheads, fuel tank, instruments, radios, seat belts, ammo drums, etc. Mirage have packed a lot of detail in there, using etched brass where necessary, and it should make up into a highly impressive unit. The etched brass fret even provides a template for marking and cutting out the cooling holes in the engine cowlings for one of the versions.

Instrument faces are supplied on a sheet of clear film, which will need painting white on the reverse side. While not as easy to use as decals they do give a superior glazed look when finished.

The struts and undercarriage legs are very finely moulded with a 'scale' thickness to them. The fuselage interior framework looks a little more substantial, and will benefit from mould seam lines being scraped down.


Decals.

Four sheets printed by Mirage themselves are provided, one with all the national and unit markings to cover three different options.

Two sheets of 5 colour lozenge are supplied for upper and lower, also containing plenty of rib tape material in narrow and wide strips. They are laid out as bolts of fabric material, for the modeller to apply diagonally to the flying surfaces. Again the printing is excellent, and the colours are to my eye exactly right. Lozenge colours are a source of disagreement among modellers, but I like these a lot. They have a good tone & density and no one colour overwhelms the others.

Finally there is a sheet of mottle, to represent the stippled brush effect that Halberstadt applied to their fuselage sides and top. It will need cutting into shapes to apply, but should give a far better representation than most could achieve with paint. It is a lovely blend of greens and purples, and plenty is supplied.

The quality looks extremely good, up there with the best producers. The printing is very sharp and everything is perfectly centred. The white borders to the Eisenkreuz are perfectly symmetrical around all four arms, for example. Carrier film is very thin, and occupies no more surface area than it needs to under each printed subject. Best of all, the colours are exactly right with the lozenge sheets being near perfect. All in all, very impressive.


Conclusion.

This is a very well presented kit and should build up into an impressive model. As there is a lot of fine detail and construction work it is clearly aimed at the serious/experienced modeller. Everything is in the box to produce a real winner, with no need at all for any aftermarket additions.
The whole package is very well thought out, with good quality plastic parts, useful brass etch, and superb decals. The only (minor) criticism is that there are a few sink marks to be seen, but the sort of modeller who would build this kit will deal with those without even blinking.

It is nice to see aircraft like this getting attention from manufacturers, particularly as there are very few Great War 2 seaters available in 1:48. This one is an essential addition to any collection.


Highly Recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[stringbag]

That's a comprehensive looking kit John.

Thanks for the equally comprehensive review

Chris.

[wyverns4]

Must have

Nice review!

Christian, exiled to africa