During the early years of WWI, many experiments were made to drop bombs from airplanes to the ground. The first projectiles were thrown by hand while the latest were carried under the aircraft and released mechanicaly, very much like during WW2.
Stielhandgranate M1917: favourite amongst German airmen in WWI. One of the modifications of this hand grenade in 1917 was to add the star-handle at the end of the trigger pin cord cover. This allowed to arm the grenade even while wearing the thick air crew gauntlet.
Würfgranate 15: Grenade (made by AEG) for the Granatewerfer 16 light grenade launcher. The favourite weapon of Schlachtstaffel air crew during WWI due to the hitting power of its splinters. Grenades of this type were also used by polish airmen during the 1920 Polish-Bolshevik war.
P.u.W. (Prüfanstalt und Werft der Fliegertruppen - The Test Institute and Workshops of the flying troops) bombs, were the principal weapon of German bombers in WWI. Stocks of these bombs captured at Poznan-Lawica were subsequently used by the Polish Air Force until the outbreak of WWII...
(Source: kit instructions)
German WWI & Polish WWII Light bombs set (248001)
Mirage Hobby's 1:48 scale German WWI & Polish WWII Bombs set comes in a small top opening cardboard box.
The content of the set is the following:
- Three sprues of medium grey injected plastic, each cut to fit inside a clear bag the box.
-Bomb types included in the box used by the Germans in WWI for their D,C,CL,J,G,R etc... aircraft types (set 248001).
- 12,5 kg P.u.W bomb (X24)
- Stielhandgranate M17 (X12)
- Würfgranate 15 (X12)
- 75 kg P.u.W. bomb (X8)
The quality of the plastic parts is ok but the surface of the bombs are a little bit rough and if there is minor flash here and there.
- One small A5 sheet printed in color are provided in the box with assembly instructions, a useful painting guide (Vallejo paints) and less than impressive thumbnail reference photos.
This set is obviously designed for the new Mirage Hobby Halberstad CL.II kits, but they can be used on other aircraft (especially WW1) or for diorama purposes.
Conclusion
It is a good idea for Mirage Hobby to provide these extra sets. One almost never see the inclusion of the bombs to a kit. And the German WWI or Polish WWII bomber offers plenty of display possibilities.
Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here on AeroScale.
SUMMARY
Highs: Good subject matter. You will need to work with an optivisor or magnifying system. Lows: Individual parts are tedious to work with. At least one locator pin and corresponding locator hole per bomb half would make them easier to work with. We really could use some PE bomb racks with these.Verdict: It is a good step in the right direction. Too many good WWI and 30's Polish aircraft don't come with munition stores. Even with modern jet age kit companies have after market stores sets. Mirage has don us a great service.
About Stephen T. Lawson (JackFlash) FROM: COLORADO, UNITED STATES
I was building Off topic jet age kits at the age of 7. I remember building my first WWI kit way back in 1964-5 at the age of 8-9. Hundreds of 1/72 scale Revell and Airfix kits later my eyes started to change and I wanted to do more detail. With the advent of DML / Dragon and Eduard I sold off my ...
These munitions could be found on various German WWI 2 seater aircraft.
Imagine the item at far left and second from right being used in The Alb. C.III kits from Eduard or Hobby Special. Or doing a diorama of a machine being loaded / armed before flight. Karaya Halb. CL.IV, Mirage Halb. CL.II(and soon their CL.IV), Eduard Roland CL.II, Freightdog / Blue Max Models Halb. CL.II
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