Any one built the Micro Mir 1.48th DH 88 Comet ?

[keith in the uk]

I am thinking of getting this kit , at £ 57.00 ish its not cheap ( £ 70.00 + on  other sites )

Before i take the plunge i thought i would ask here for views and opinions , has any one built this kit yet ? and is it worth the money ?

Cheers Keith.

[Magpie22]

"Is it worth the money?" Depends how much you want one.

 

I am in the throws of building one at this time.

If you are expecting Tamigawa or Eduard quality, forget it. The parts are well moulded but the fit is atrocious. You will need to spend a lot of time in parts preparation - a lot of flash as well as adjustment to get a good fit. I decided early on that I would depart from the assembly order described in the instructions, as I could see a number of problems arising. I'm glad I did - trying to fix those engine nacelle problems with the landing gear hanging out would have been a nightmare!

 

There are also a number of errors. MikroMir have moulded all the control surfaces as fabric covered, when in fact they were plywood covered. The ailerons should be Frise type, not plain type. The fabric covered section of the wing is grossly done and will need to be filled.

 

The engine nacelles will also need some modification - the exhaust does not finish inside the nacelle, it comes out on the underside - and the carburettor intake has been omitted. Actually the engine nacelles on the Comet can be a .     Nacelles varied quite a bit, depending on particular aircraft, time frame, and engine fitted. You will need to know your subject.

 

Having said all that, I must say that it is looking like a Comet now and I am happy with results so far. I fell in love with "Grosvenor House" when it was taken out to Australia after its rebuild. I had to have a model of it, and I am happy with how this one is going, even if the time invested is about three times that I originally estimated.

 

Peter Malone

[keith in the uk]

Thanks Peter.

As this is the only game in town as far as a 1.48th scale DH88 Comet is concerned , looks like with a bit of work its not too bad. 😬

I can live with the errors and will have to bite my lip about the price.

Cheers K.

[Bengalensis]

I have it in my stash but haven't started it. Looking through it I expect a good deal of work, as Peter indicates above.

There is actually a build going on here on BM, it might provide some interesting thoughts:

 

[gingerbob]

On 10/31/2020 at 10:44 PM, Magpie22 said:

Having said all that, I must say that it is looking like a Comet now

 

Which is all it took for me to need one.  I've looked at it, but not started it, and it does look like it'll take some patience and possibly an open mind- my engines are going to be properly buttoned up, so I'll put as little as possible (necessary) inside, for example.

[Magpie22]

Hi Bob @gingerbob, and Keith @keith in the uk,

 

I'm just about at the painting stage and thought these photos might help. I'm more interested in the appearance of the A/C as "Grosvenor House" as she was when she won the air race and, so am not going into the detail @dnl42 is putting into his model. I'm not using photos of the restored example and I've tried to make the model and the cockpit as representative of the period as possibe, so have omitted things like the full harness - just lap belts. Ive also dispensed with the engines and split flap provided in the kit. The former would only be visible with the cowl open and just fitting the front cylinder where it can be see seen through the air cooling intake was enough for me. A lowered flap just destroys the lines of the aircraft and it would rarely be seen lowered on the ground - retracted as soon as landing roll completed and no need to open to acess systems. I filled the space with plastic card rather than  muck around with the brass bit.

 

I have added the carbby air intakes at the front of the cowlings and the engine exhausts on the exterior of the lower cowling - both missing in the kit. I elected to fit the truss inside the wheel bay but left off the U/C proper until after painting and decalling. There are some strange indentations on the upper wing near the trailing edge. I elected to fill and sand these to get a better representation of the fabric covereing in that area. The engine cooling air vents at the rear of the nacelle, onto the wing upper surface, will benefit from some work. You can also see where I have  needed to add extra filler - not too much needed. Micro Mir have moulded the main frames onto the canopy but there are others visible in photos so I cut these into the supplied masks, (which are also very slightly oversize). My example had a smashed single-piece canopy so I have had to cobble together the two-part canopy which Micro, for some reason, included. The canopy on the original aircraft was one piece and hinged to the side. Now to sort out the correct shade of red. MicroMir recommend a Humbrol matt colour! 

 

All in all, a rewarding build even though it has taken nearly three times the the time I estimated!

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

 

 

[Noel Smith]

Didn't someone make a Vacform of the DH88 many years ago in 1/48 of 1/32 scale?

I can definitely remember the old Airfix one in 1/72 scale and I think Frog may have done it in 1/72 scale also.

[Work In Progress]

On 12/19/2020 at 9:41 AM, Noel Smith said:

Didn't someone make a Vacform of the DH88 many years ago in 1/48 of 1/32 scale?

I can definitely remember the old Airfix one in 1/72 scale and I think Frog may have done it in 1/72 scale also.

Frog definitely did it as I have a couple - it's much better than the Airfix relic.  It came out in multiple guises over the years

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/frog-f168-dh88-comet-racer--159694

 

Others in 1/72 include  KP more recently 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/kovozavody-prost-jov-kpm0099-havilland-dh-88-comet--1135521

and SBS in resin

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/sbs-model-sbs7003-havilland-dh88-comet--945615

also Heritage in resin

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/heritage-aviation-models-hack72020-dh88-comet--206224

 

In 1/48 it appeared in resin from Aardvark and then Heritage (same moulds I believe, and according to Scalemates those mouls go back even further)

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/heritage-aviation-models-hack480xx-dh88-comet-racer--971936

 

The 1/32 one has the major airframe components in vac-form and is seen in Aerotech and Marsh Models boxes

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/marsh-models-aerotech-at32004-dh-88-comet--693913

[Cometracer]

It is undoubtedly a lot of work, but I think the result will be a good one.  There are so many liveries for the DH88 that one is spoiled for choice, and with a bit of minor surgery any one of the five can be modelled.  Of late are the French liveries.  The 1/72 kits seem to cover most of them, but just maybe the after market folks will provide us those options in 1/48.  I think Airfix really missed the opportunity here.  It's such a lovely aircraft and so significant to the history of aviation here in the UK.