Azur FRROM 1/72 Super Mystere B.2 'Late'

The Super Mystère represents the final step in evolution which began with the Dassault Ouragan and progressed through the Mystère II/III and Mystère IV. While earlier Mystère variants could attain supersonic speeds only in a dive, the Super Mystère could exceed the speed of sound in level flight. This was achieved thanks to the new thin wing with 45° of sweep (compared with 41° of sweep in the Mystère IV and only 33° in Mystère II) and the use of an afterburner-equipped turbojet engine.

The first prototype Super Mystère B.1, powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7R, took to the air on 2 March 1955. The aircraft broke the sound barrier in level flight the following day.

As the Super Mystère B.2, sometimes known as the SMB.2, the aircraft entered production in 1957. The production version differed from the prototype by having a more powerful SNECMA Atar 101G engine. A total of 180 Super Mystère B.2s were built.

In 1958, two Super Mystère B.4 prototypes were built. Equipped with a new 48° swept wing and a more powerful SNECMA Atar 9B engine, the aircraft were capable of Mach 1.4. Production never materialized because the faster Dassault Mirage III was entering service.

In 1973, the Israeli Air Force and Honduras Air Force upgraded their Super Mystère B.2s with a non-afterburning version of the Pratt & Whitney J52-P8A and new avionics. In Israeli service these upgraded SMB.2s were also known as the IAI Sa'ar (after a Hebrew word meaning "storm").

The Super Mystère served with the French Air Force until 1977. In addition, 24 aircraft were sold to the Israeli Air Force in 1958. The aircraft saw action in the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. They were well liked by the Israeli pilots and were a match for the Arab MiG-19 aircraft in air-to-air combat.

In 1976, Israel sold 12 complete airframes to Honduras. In 1979, Honduras purchased 4 more complete airframes, totaling 16 aircraft. They were involved in numerous border skirmishes with Sandinista Nicaragua and were finally withdrawn from service in 1996, replaced by 12 Northrop F-5Es. The 11 surviving aircraft are for sale as surplus and 1 more is preserved at the Honduras Air Museum.

For decades, the only nice Super Mystere available in this scale has been by Airfix. While it was top notch in the 1970s, there has been a need for a newer technology kit. Thanks to the Special Hobby/Azur/FRROM folks, we now have an up to date kit. You would expect one with a lot of parts and we do have that. In addition, there are no photo etch and no resin parts, which would make many who do not like dealing with these materials.

This kit's plastic is identical to the 'early' version with basically just the markings and instructions differences. To recap, some of the features of the kit are full intake and exhaust that start and end with the compressor stages, a well done cockpit with a decal for the instrument panel, and a separate external exhaust piece for those boxings to come that have the extended tailpipe section. There is no indication of any nose weight, but there is room above the intake for it. The underside of the intake is the nose gear well. A separate nose piece is also provided.

Wings are an upper and lower wing section and the upper section has the outer well piece. The inner piece is inserted into the appropriate fuselage half prior to assembling the halves. Landing gear are very nicely molded  with all the oleo scissors molded in place. Gear doors are also nicely done and there are no ejector marks on the inside. The inner main gear doors are usually closed on the ground, but open options are provided.

The kit instructions have you complete the seat late in the process and there are five pieces to this assembly. You are able to pose the canopy open or closed and separate pieces are included. Under the wings you have a pair of fuel tanks with pylons and outer missile pylons with missiles. Two different size fuel tanks are included so you have a choice. The mounting holes on the underside of the wing are a bit shallow and will need to be deepened.

Instructions are superb and in color. Paint references are with Gunze paints. All three options are in the later camouflage scheme which uses, for the most part, the same shades as in the US SEA scheme. Of course, looking at photos, you can see some differences, so use your own judgment. The box art plane is from EC 2/12 'Cambrai' in 1974 and has an LeKG  42 zap. Another EC 1/12 'Cambesis' from 1971. Third is an EC 1/10 'Valois' aircraft from the early 1970s.  Included in the decals are a full set of stencils. The sheet is superbly printed by Cartograf.

It is great to have a more modern kit of what I think is a neat aircraft. This boxing provides markings for aircraft that were in the later camouflage and while not all that many folks like complex camo schemes, these make for good looking aircraft and is well worth adding to the collection of ny one who likes French aircraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Super_Myst%C3%A8re

June 2019

Thanks to www.frrom.com for the preview kit. You can find this kit at your favorite hobby shop or on-line retailer.