Ol' Scrapiron

Seats & Stingers... I had to set the top turret aside as the risk of ruining it outpaced the odds of improvement (for now, at least) Today was mostly a painting day as I turned to the pilots seats and the twin 50s in the tail. Nothing terribly exciting. I'm not happy how "rough" the edges of the seats look -- not sure if that is supposed to be cushion wrapping over the edge or not. I was trying to get the look of a green seat cushion rather than the yellow floating seat. Something about them bugs me and I may do some surgery before I am through. I do like the stinger guns, even if this will be almost completely hidden once the fuselage goes together. Anyway, here are the pics for tonight. - - - That's all for tonight

Well, that didn't take long... The barrels for the turret guns proved stronger than I had thought. Problem is that the shielded guns didn't fit into the plexi dome due to some extra thickness around the troughs. After some cursing and a lot of squeezing in an attempt to force it in I decided to take a step back and solve the problem before I ruined everything. The first step was breaking off the barrels and shield (dang, they were secured much more than I expected). I tried lopping off about 1/5 of the front end of the gun bodies thinking that this would allow the curved shields to be inside the clear part but a few attempts to get things straight and secure enough for test fitting made it obvious that the clear part was going to be cracked or crazed if I continued. One of the barrels actually bent/twisted out of shape during the ordeal. I cut some new strips to fill the trough independently of the guns. A small dot of CA was applied to the tip of the strip and glued into the topmost part of the trough. When that was cured (enough) I trimmed the length and carefully bent it enough to be glued into the lower part of the turret. - Now the plexi fits nicely over the gun stocks (which probably did not need to be shortened after all. - As for the damaged barrel, I think I am in luck that I am doing the standard B-25J nose because there are extra guns meant for the strafing gunship version. I will pinch a couple fresh barrels from those and try to cleanly attach straight and level to the turret. I have sacrificed my ability to raise/lower the barrels so I'll just have to pick the elevation that looks right and be happy with that.

Top o' the Morning... Yesterday I started in on the top turret. I usually rely on my own photos for reference (personal preference) but the 16 Mitchell's I have photographed, the only one I've actually been inside is the CAF's Maid in the Shade and amazingly I did not get any shots that would help here. As the grandson of a B-17 top-turret gunner, I want to give this area some extra attention. I did find these images online so I had something to work with. (not my photos) I noticed that all three of these had the seat extended but the kit had it stowed. I crafted a new seat from sculpey (plus several spares) and then shaved off the molded-in seat. I aslo wanted to recreate the shields that blank off the gun troughs. However the order I did things in created some unnecessary challenges and I would probably do this differently next time. I cut some thin strips from soda can and punched a hole in the center. I could only enlarge the hole so much before the strip would be damaged, and the barrels would not fit through... so I sliced them off. [next time I would punch the holes large enough and then trim down to the width of the strip needed] Using a pin vise, I drilled into the gun stock enough to insert a tiny length of 24-gauge wire as this was small enough to pass through the holes. This is the same method I use for attaching the barrels of guns that pass through the plexi (so they can be removed rather than breaking off. [next time I would make the holes large enough for the barrels to pass through without doing this] I snipped the wire length before I attached the strips and found that when the glue dried there was not enough wire exposed to attach the barrels. Oooooops. - It took quite a bit of finagling to get the barrels glued on parallel and straight without the benefit of the wire that was supposed to help (and now was just a glue encrusted nub working against me) They're not perfectly aligned, but as long as they don't break off I think they will work. - Note to self: make sure to paint the printed side of the soda can before gluing it on the model. After comparing the end result with the reference images, I ma go back and repaint the O2 tank to have only one strap... but maybe not. My eyes need a rest now.

Work in Progress... This post is basically a progress report so I can document some of the extra detail work to date. I realized that I was slowing down as the dreaded "buttoning up of the fuselage" approaches. Still work to be done for sure, but I didn't want to be looking at the sealed fuselage and ask why I din't take pics along the way. So here she goes -- warts and all! The ugly shine is actually because the wash is still wet when I snapped the pic and the flash lit it up. Storage cabinet and radio shelf - Rear fuselage interior area with ammo boxes for waist gunner and tail gunner. Scratch O2 tanks and fire extinguisher. Ammo feed belt to tail gun made from small zip tie. - Bomb bay seems pretty big when it is empty. A wash of AK Engine Oil applied to create a greasy environment. (A much thinned wash of the same was applied to the ribs/stringers detail throughout the fuselage.) The right side gets two bombs. and the left gets one - - - I had just assumed these were 500-pounders, but with three filling the bay, they must be the 3 x 1000-pd load that the Mitchell was known to deliver. They do fill the bomb bay nicely Anyway, just a post to remind me what still needs doing and to preserve a look inside in case I get too far ahead of myself and glue it together without making a record of what's gone into it so far. Next up the various guns -- waist guns, tail twins and the top turret. (or whatever shiny piece distracts me!)

Third message sent with pics of Miss Angela and Yankee Lady that should have whet you need.

I sent you some larger pics.... and just found another shot that should be exactly what you need. Second message in just a minute.

Your crew is almost too nice to hide inside the plane. Nice work.

Tanks for the memories... As I mentioned a few days ago, I took a closer look at the molded-in O2 tank and decided it really had to go. It looks too small for my eye and certainly would be challenging to try and match while representing the correct number of tanks. The solution was to make "quickie" tanks from Sculpey clay. However the first batch had been based on the ones I made for the B-17, and these would be pretty big in the Mitchell... Yep, waaaaaaay too big Good thing is if the crew were forced to ditch in the Med and were attacked by a rogue Great White they could use these to keep track of the shark (Quint: He can't stay down with three barrels on him. Not with three barrels, he can't.) I made up a second batch of O2 tanks that were about half the size Checked against the kit part Painted the new barrels and then coiled some wire to add a straps but then decided just painting would be simpler and look more like straps/bands. I cut off the molded tank and blanked the hole off with a scrap of soda can. For the hosing I stretched some sprue nice and thick, then right before it cooled I pushed the ends back together to form some nice curly sections. Then all you have to do is find a suitable section and glue in place. These hold their shape better than wire, but that was my second choice. So here are the two tanks installed in the waist section of the plane... there will be a second pair installed behind the pilot's seats forward of the top turret. That's all for tonight.

Here are some I have taken of that area... hope something may help. These are my own shots so if you need a better look at something let me know and I can get you a larger file. B-17G 44-83514 Sentimental Journey - B-17G 44-83684 Picadilly Lilly II - B-17G 44-83735 Mary Alice - - B-17G 44-83785 Shady Lady - B-17G 44-85718 Thunderbird B-17G 44-85784 Sally B - B-17G 44-85790 Lacey Lady - B-17G 44-85813 Champaign Lady - B-17G 44-85829 Yankee Lady - Always good to see your updates on this amazing project!!!

Yiiiikes! Scrambling for a silver lining: If it had to happen, at least it was on a generally flat area free of detail. Hopefully when it cures you can use a blade to scrape it down so only light sanding necessary and paint might hide imperfections. good luck. They need a SCREAM option to go with the like button -- something more horrific than "Sad"

They should bottle this stuff... At the forward bulkhead of the waist section there is sizable tank I initially thought might be one of the big yellow Oxygen tanks I usually see in B-17s. The more I looked at the kit part, the less convinced I was. Also, the B-17 had a dozen or so tucked all over the front end, flight deck and above the ball turret. So I asked around to see if that indeed what the mystery object was and, if so, where else in the plane these might be found. My trusted expert on all things vintage aviation, Karl Hauffe, confirmed it to be the same O2 tank as found in the B-17, and shared this chart indicating in the B-25J there would be two used behind the pilots seats and another two stored in the waist area. From what I've seen, the particular Mitchell I am building was a B-25J-2-NC so I will go with the more forward waist area mountings. Rather than trying to duplicate the existing (and somewhat questionable) tank in the kit I will be shaving that off and replacing with my own creations. I had done this before while building my grandfather's Flying Fortress in the B-17 STGB Problem is, I could not find the really simple O2 tank template I made up. After searching far longer than I should I made up another. On a small sheet I glued four evenly-spaced strips of styrene (I used other strip sections for the spacing). The material for the tanks is Sculpey clay. Roll very tiny balls of clay about the size of a single pea (the ones in this pic area actually too big) Gently roll the "pea" over the template and it will elongate as it picks up the pattern of grooves Here is the stages of the final "tank" Left: soft uncooked clay Middle: Baked for 12 min at 225F Right: Cooked, cooled and painted They are not perfect, but they have a character to them and I can make a dozen in a few minutes. With straps and a regulator cap on one end they should look the part. Here's what they looked like in the earlier B-17 project - Unfortunately all the links in my B-17 build were broken when my web host switched servers. I will try to re-link them as there were some interesting scratchbuilding experimentation.

Da bomb! Short update this evening. I have been doing some painting for various ammo boxes and details in the fuselage, but the only thing worth sharing are the three 500-lb bombs. While looking through the different examples I have photographed at museums and in wardirds on display the only constant is the inconsistency of markings. I know the differences indicate whether it is a TNT GP or High Explosive or incendiary etc, but I went with something simple that works for me. A little extra wire added something even though it probably will be unseen if these get mounted properly. I might add a small flap of paper at the front for the armorers label. I went with three alternating coats of two shades of OD allowing colors to show through slightly because the bombs would have been stored outside and weathered in the sun (I see photos of that at England bases so I would assume the same for MTO bases). I also painted the back finned section a different green because they are created separately and only paired up with the bombs before a mission. Most of my photos showing the GP ordnance are from B-17s, but here are some specific to the B-25 (though I chose to ignore them as painting references.) B-25D 43-3374 at the NMoUSAF; displayed as a Doolittle Raider on the deck of the USS Hornet - B-25J 44-30823 “Pacific Prowler” at McChord AFB That's it for tonight.

That is niiiiiiiice. Beautiful sheen to that silver.

Being Nosy... I asked around to determine if the nose section floor would have been metal or wood sheet and the consensus was for aluminum floor. So here's the nose section as it stands. - It looks like the darker wash may have crept up on the top edge of the foldaway seat so I'll need to revisit that. I also want to look into some wartime pics to see what extra bags/maps/equipment/pin-up posters, etc., that might be appropriate for this area.

A sight for sore eyes... Before the paint was dry on the wings I was already looking through my photos of the various Norden bombsights that I have shot inside B-17s and elsewhere. First my reference pics In the museum at the Maddingley Cemetery, Cambridge At the Imperial War Museum, London - - In the B-17G 44-83575 Nine-O-Nine (from my flight in 1998) In the B-17G 44-8543 Madras Maiden (from my flight in 2018) In the B-17G 44-85740 Aluminum Overcast (from my flight in 2017) In the B-17G 44-83546 “Movie” Memphis Belle In the B-17G 44-85813 Champaign Lady Here's my take in 1/48 - - And to give a sense of the size...

Time to duplicate Closing up the first nacelle certainly added some challenge when it came time to replicate the added wheel well detail for the other wing. One advantage was knowing what had "worked" on the first attempt so not a lot of extra poring over the reference -- just make them match! - - That looks close enough for me. Flaps added to cover the huge gaps between the top/bottom wing pieces. You can see where balsa wood was added to represent the portion of the flap that becomes exposed when the flaps are lowered. Putting out the fires! The inner fuselage has details that are essentially flattened for easier molding, including two fire extinguishers that were so hard to see I had to indicate them in this pic. Sure, if I just painted them they would be acceptable (especially since they will out of sight when the fuselage gets buttoned up) but I want more. In the shot above, you can see the sprue I have stretched to recreate the extinguisher canisters. I let the sprue cool before stretching it (very slowly) to get a nice thick section. A second piece was cut from another stretched sprue at the point where the thin section is drawn from the full unstretched part. This leaves a little flare to represent the hose and nozzle (photo below). I have yet to trim the thin hose to match the top of the cylinder for the extinguisher in the waist gun area.. Here's what forward one looks like after painting. The shiny spots are more visible due to the camera flash. The whole interior will get some thinned greasy wash to bring out the details and also hide most of the unevenness. At this point I am able to temporarily tape things together to enjoy my progress so far. Mmmmmm... nice. Shameless plug alert: And for a bonus, here is one of my shots of B-25D 43-3634 “Yankee Warrior” for comparison

Oh mama mia, mama mia...

Bring on Wing #2 Today was all about trying to duplicate the look of the first wing without screwing anything up Out came the dremel and again four simple parts were hacked into 12. Clean up went much faster this time, having learned a bit from the previous wing. Work on the nacelle also was much more efficient this go round. Some soft solder was pressed into the nacelle... ...which provided a nice template for the forward bulkhead. Not the exact shape, but a good starting point. - Rivet detail created by a ponce wheel, and an oil reservoir made from baked Sculpey clay (part of the batch made when I was working on the first wing.) A couple tabs added to the backside of the firewall This gives a good surface area for CA glue to bond to the nacelle walls. Still need to add a couple pieces of stretch sprue for piping on the wall to get it to match the other wheel well. That's it for tonight.

I look forward to seeing your build having seen one in action at several local events. They are gangly but just lift off the ground almost instantly. I swear a good gust of wind would allow these to be vertical takeoff aircraft. Interesting to see a full radial engine among the kit parts. The Storch that flies just up the road from me looks to have more of an in-line engine, but might be a difference in the German- vs. Italian-built versions. Here are a few om ny shots of the Fi 156 C-2 4362 at the Flying Heritage Collection - and the one at the IWM Duxford appears to be the same - I don't think the two Italian examples I have photographed shed any light MS.500 724 at the Pima Air Museum and MS.502 381 at the Planes of Fame, Chino Not sure my limited interior shots will be of help, but just in case. - - Very graceful in the air

The scratchwork on those seats is really nice. I am enjoying this because we have a Junkers Ju 87 R-4 Stuka being built at the Flying Heritage Collection in Everett (just a few miles up the road from me) As a bonus, the work in progress is being displayed in the museum hangar so visitors can appreciate it (and take pics!) I'll hold off on sharing photos of the seats because you have already done such a good job that any differences would be unnecessarily distracting at this point. However, here are a few shots of the engine firewall in case they can help you go to town on that area. - - Hope these will help, or at least serve as some inspiration.

Time to get the tail in gear... The last few days have seen slight amounts of progress in several areas, but mostly unworthy of an update. However, yesterday I took a big leap and hacked the control surfaces off of the tail area. My goal was to add some drop to the elevators as seen in my pic of B-25J 44-31032 “Problem Child” on display at March AFB. I also wanted to have the rudders turned slightly. Even when they are not turned there is a substantial gap visible on the real planes, so the kit rudders needed to be removed and repositioned. B-25D 43-3318 “Grumpy” at Paine Field B-25J 44-28866 “Champaign Gal” at Champaign Air Museum / Grimes Field On to the model! The kit would have simply glue together six parts (upper/lower horizontal surface + inside/outside for two tails). When I was through with the dremel there were 14 pieces to keep track of -- most of which needed serious modification to work. Here is the basic parts assembled I had to hack out large gaps in the rudders and elevators, and also small chunks of Evergreen strip added to the main parts. The elevators were attached in a slightly dropped position. I probably would do this differently next time, but hey, it got the job done. I glued wire into the thin gaps that are the hinge points for the rudders. These should be flat plates, but after being snipped to almost no length at all they are hardly visible once the rudder is attached to the upright. First attempt at getting the tail s attached.... Didn't look bad at this point, but the large projections at the end of the elevators kept the rudders from being able to turn and the tails came off while I was trying to use the dremel to thin the projections. Eventually all the pieces were attached securely at matching angles (close enough for me) and I added some paint to see what work still needs to be done. The paint is crude for now, and the fabric control surfaces will get a more faded color eventually. - - The airframe I am building is NMF on the lower surfaces. I originally chose to do this plane because I thought it was OD over gray and I would be avoiding the silver -- should have read the decal description better before I ordered it. Lots of other small work is being done, but I'll hold off on those updates until there is something worth posting. Bonus shot for the night: We live near McChord AFB, so when the clouds permit Mt Rainier makes a beautiful backdrop for the air shows on base This is the FHC's B-25J Mitchell 44-30254 visiting McChord for the 2016 show.

Wait... I may have answered my own question. You must be talking about in the very front... I guess I took "the small angled one on the starboard cockpit side" to mean the angled panel that is close to the back side of the nose section (near the windscreen) Since it is really on the underside of the plane, could you do what some museums do and just paint the "window" either blue or black to imply the glazing? Maybe even the interior color (with some hint of detail as if you're seeing inside?) and then really put a good gloss coat on when everything else is done. Good luck.

Which glazed panel are you missing? Your front end on that side matches pretty close to the Blenheim nose section I shot at the IWM Duxford way back when (2008)... and the Blenheim (Bolingbroke) at Pima just a couple years ago I also shot the Blenheim at the RAF Museum outside London but didn't get a pic of the right side (several of the left but that won't help). I don't see what you're missing -- your project looks nice!

Super simple update for today... First off was filing and sanding the top/bottom pieces that will make up the aileron and two-part flaps. The aileron pieces go together fully, but the flaps make a dramatic "V" from the trailing edge with a wide gap at the forward edge (because the wing is much thicker there). Also, the top of the flap is much less exposed in the normal position than will be needed in the lowered/extended position. Looking from the side, instead of a "V" it looks more like a checkmark. Hope that makes sense. I filled in the area with some balsa wood and then carved it to be flush with the flap surface and rounded. Then covered the wood (and my fingertips) with Tamiya putty to make it sandable and hopefully take paint better. I also brushed on a layer of silver over the dark maroon Dr Pepper printing on the soda can cowl flaps. This is very rough at the moment but will be a good surface for later paint. A little work inside the nacelle, but as I said, just a simple update -- nothing terribly exciting Here's a pic of B-25D 43-3374 I shot a couple years ago at the NMoUSAF. That's the look I am trying to get from the lowered flaps.

Is your Ju88 fleet underway? Sounds like a STGB all on its own.