1:48 Mirage 2000 (B, D, N) (GREECE) pilots sitting in ejection seats MB Mk.10Q (2 pcs)

A delta over the Aegean

The Mirage 2000 is the last large French fighter built on a pure delta wing, that is on a shape with no horizontal tail. The aerodynamic drawback of such a layout was made up for by an electronic flight control system that stabilizes the aircraft many times a second and gives the pilot back the behavior he expects from a fighter. The Greek Air Force has operated these machines since the end of the 1980s and their two-seat versions serve for training as well as for combat tasks. In the rear cockpit the second man sits in the same seat as the commander, which with the Martin-Baker Mk.10Q type means a design that allows the aircraft to be abandoned in an emergency even on the ground, with no take-off run.

Two men, seats included

The set contains two figures, both seated, and the ejection seats with them. That is an essential difference from figures on their own: the seat from the kit is not used, a casting takes its place, so what goes into the cockpit is a complete unit. That is also why its scope goes beyond the single standing figures.

Figure and seat in one piece

Seated is precisely the pose where injection-molded plastic fails completely. The thighs make a sharp angle with the torso, the straps cross over the chest and the arms disappear between the body and the sidewall – none of which can be pulled out of a steel mold. A flexible mold does not have this problem, and so the casting arrives as a single shape, buckles and all. Before gluing, try the cockpit dry: the casting tends to be taller than the original part and the floor of the tub sometimes has to be lowered a little so that the canopy will close. Paint the seat first and the crew only afterwards, or the brush will not reach into the recesses.