I have built the Eduard 1/48 scale Mirage IIICJ in the Weekend Edition boxing (Mirage IIICJ Kit Review), and while it is a nice model out-of-the-box, it actually can be enhanced by using Eduard’s supplemental photoetch set. The single-fret set concentrates on the cockpit interior and adds just a handful of exterior details.

As you can see from the pictures, the cockpit looks much more realistic and has a great depth due to the sandwich of photoetch parts representing the instrument panel. While it might sound complicated, it is actually very simple to assemble. I only used a pair of tweezers and a #11 blade to position the parts. I used Future as my glue, which also provided a bit of a glass look to the dials.

The seat is also enhanced with the addition of the set’s seat belts and face-curtain handles. Ensure you add a notch in the seat’s head rest (use your hobby knife blade) to provide a seat for the face curtain handles when they are being glued. My accompanying photos show the seat before I’ve applied a final finishing coat, so you can see some of the glue mess. Sorry about that!

As all of these parts are prepainted, you only have to do some minor folding and gluing and you are good to go. The external details relate to some antennas, the tail pipe, and the drop tanks.

While this is not the best set for a complete beginner, if you have done a bit of photoetch work previously you should have no problem working with this set. It will substantially enhance the look of your model. Again, I recommended this set to modelers with a bit of experience working with photoetch.

I would like to thank Eduard Models and IPMS/USA for the review sample.