Simon

Just heard from Airfix: "Sorry no clear parts available." Ho hum, add fixing those to the to-do list. I like a challenge, and have a (hopefully) cunning plan. Simon

Another quick update, and another problem... Just checking over the glazing before I mask it up, and the upper front nose glazing, part F1, seems to be a bit short-shot too. I'm guessing the parts I've circled should be sharp corners, not curves? Oddly, it's the same on both kits. They should fit the angle of the fuselage and front nose glazing, and not leave a hole? The rest of the transparencies appear very crisply moulded, so I'm guessing it's a mould issue rather than a moulding issue as it's the same on both kits? I await Airfix's response... Simon

Right, I've made start on the second Mitchell, using the B-25B as FL-210. First up, what I've got for FL-210: Sprue E from the B-25C/D kit courtesy of @vppelt68 Sadly, more moulding issues in the B-25B box: Again, and easy fix, but quality control problems again. Here's my attempt at repairing the port wing upper: Might work okay, but if not I'll ask for a replacement. Anyway, I've made a start on FL-210, and first up those three lower lights in the fuselage. I've realised that the one of those I did previously was in the wrong place (thanks @don f) and this time managed to avoid the front wheel door : Here's my previous attempt, with the front light right through the trailing edge of the nosewheel door...: I've also got the cockpit bits all painted, and etched bits added: Meanwhile, back at FW199, it was time to find out of all the weight I've added worked... A tail sitter without the wings, but fortunately, with the wings on, it sits correctly: I've also started with adding some of the decs. I started to use the kit decal for the roundels and fin flashes, but they had a very bad reaction to the decal setting solution I used (from Daco) and wrinkled up like a very wrinkly thing. Fortunately I've got some Xtradecal ones for the Mitchell (and which seem a bit less bright too), and they went down perfectly. The kit's stencils seem to work better, I guess I was maybe a bit heavy handed with the setting solution...? So, while I play catch-up with the B-25B as FL-210, that's as far as FW199 is at the moment. Hopefully FL-210 will progress a bit smoother, having learnt some of the foibles of the B-25C/D kit... More soon... Simon

Another short-shot part in the B-25B box. Annoyingly, right next to the short-shot props, which Airfix have just replaced... Part A2, the port wing upper: Should be asy to fix if Airfix don't have the part, but annoying all the same. Simon

Don They are very useful indeed, much appreciated. I've been trying to figure out how the belt feed curved up from the ammo boxes over and around into the guns, so that mechanism is much clearer. Now I just need to replicate that in 1/72...twice. The image of the gun sight frame is very helpful too. Simon

Gondor Yes, I've got that book, and it's been very useful over the years. Worth its weight in gold, almost! The photo of the Bendix turret is great for the lower gubbins, which I think I've now got sorted. It's just the upper bits between the two guns that I can't seem to get right in my own head. I need a view from above without the glazing on, really. Simon

Okay, new props for the B-25B are on their way, so back to FW199... A few odds and ends are now done and dusted. Firstly, the engine cowlings and props. Not sure if they need the propeller stencils or not? The kit decals just seems to have small white bars for the props, not maker's logos. Maybe a bit too much weathering on the props... Next up are the wheels. These are the CMK ones, and look really nice painted and weathered: The FN64 turret has been painted up, and Quickboost barrels added: One more bit of un-detailing - the two air intakes on the port side of the nose seem to have been deleted on all the photos of FW1** series Mitchells, so off they came: And repainted: And lastly, a couple of bits for the nose. Here's an R.A.F. Mk.XIV (Sperry) bombsight, scratchbuilt (why doesn't someone do resin ones in 1/72 and 1/48...? These, the Norden and the Mk.IX would be a good set ). Here's the .50 cal for the nose of FW199. It's one of Eduard's resin/PE ones, with a frame, cartridge collector chute, cartridge bag and ball socket mount scratch-built: So that's quite a few of the fiddly bits out of the way. Next up I can start some of the decalling then do the glazing - masking that should be fun! I'm still struggling to find good refs for the Bendix upper turret interior, so that's the only major assembly still waiting... More soon, Simon

So, just had a closer look at my B-25B kit... Another Amazon packaging-free special: And the curse of the Airfix Short-Shotter strikes again: Both props, and both the same blade. Most odd. Another e-mail to Airfix on its way tomorrow... Simon

Thanks Mark, much appreciated. Simon

Hi Mark You had me worried for a moment here! Yes, I did finish it, but clearly forgot to link to the other thread Simon

No worries Don. I'm glad you caught it in time. B-25B bought, Sprue/tree E on its way (hopefully, Post Office permitting), so FL-210 about start as well... Simon

So, back on track, and my somewhat discombobulated build progresses... Now it's FW199 not FL-210, some remedial work to do, undoing some of my previous amendments. First up, the three fuselage lights needed to be filled: An easy fix, relatively. Next up, re-installing the three lights under the SB wing: Some 2mm clear rod will do the trick, I think. The two sets of lights above and below the wingtips needed to be removed too, and repositioned on the wingtips. So they were scraped off: and the wingtips repainted: I've also had a go at the upper wing stripes, which were removed in the July 1944 period to make the aircraft less conspicuous from above on night time Ops. I've seen a couple of photos of the stripes, and they seem to have been scrubbed off, not always 100% successfully. Here's my interpretation, together with the overpainted USAF star and bar which the FW1**/FW2** Mitchells seem to have had done: I've used watercolour pencils to give an impression of the stripes. Maybe too much left, but easily knocked back. On to the fuselage, and here are the D-Day stripes for the rear: As with the wings, they were removed from the upper fuselage in July 1944, so here's the fuselage with the OD/NG added: Finally starting to look Mitchell-y...the stripes need some blending in at the top, but not too bad. I've also started on the installation of the FN64 turret, which replaced the Bendix under turret on FW199. I've very little references to go on, but did have a spare FN64 from the Airfix Lancaster II, which was fortunate. I'm guessing some sort of adapter ring was fitted, as the FN64 seems much smaller in diameter than the Bendix. So, I managed to find a section of drop tank from the spares box, with almost the correct external and internal diameters and after a bit of sanding and persuasion managed to get it to fit: With the turret: I'll give the ring and turret a coat of Medium Sea Grey - I'm guessing that would be the closest colour to Neutral Grey available at whatever MU did the conversion work. So, I'm slowly getting there (on FW199, anyway). More soon... Simon

Chris I e-mailed Airfix about getting a spare sprue E from either kit (and offered to pay), and apparently they have spares for neither kit, it seems. Looks like I may need to get yet another Airfix Mitchell...mind you I've only myself to blame. Simon

So, I had a brilliant idea (or so I thought). I'd carry on with this build as FW199, with a few amendments/re-amendments, and get an Airfix B-25B and do that as FL-210 alongside. After all, I've done bits for both of them, effectively, so why not? They'd look good together, being slightly different in the details. However, on getting my B-25B, I see it doesn't have the Sprue E for the 'knobbly' exhaust cowlings... Lesson learnt - make sure you know what you're doing next time before you splash the cash... 💰 Airfix don't have any sprue E from either the Mitchell II or the B-25C/D kits (apparently), so I've asked in the 'Wanted' section. Meanwhile, I'll crack on with FW199 until/if I can get a sprue E for FL-210...best laid plans and all that! Simon BTW Amazon excelled themselves again, sending the box out without any packaging, so I had a bit of a moan at them and got 20% off, which is fair enough.

Excellent stuff @72modeler Many thanks indeed for the link. Simon

Back with another update, and some head-scratching to do now with the info posted by #don f a post above. The wings have now been completed, with nacelles added, and all painted up. Before doing the nacelles, I added some detailing to the undercarriage bays, and a couple of bits of strengthening for the mainwheel legs. The nacelles were glued together, and had a couple of interior bulkheads added, and some extra weight added as I'm not convinced there was enough in the forward fuselage: And after a coat of primer, they looked okay: Please note that the panel line running aft of the wheel apertiure is meant to be like that, as the mainwheel doors on the real thing are like that too - don't fill it! So, wings and nacelles together, and ready for painting. Lower surfaces, with D-Day stripes: Upper surfaces in OD, and as I'm doing an early August 1944 aircraft, they will have the remains of the D-Day stripes added later (for which I have a cunning plan, which may or may not work 😞 I've also got the fuselage all buttoned up, and primed. This is where I have run into a problem. As mentioned by @don f in the post above, FL-210 should have the B-25B style rear glazing, and I've got the later style: So, what are the options? 1. leave it and live with it - not sure about that 2. try to remove the glazed sections and try to get the correct ones - that could go very horribly wrong very quickly 3. fill the round window and try to mock up another oval one - a pain in the whatsits and more potential for disaster 4. do it as FW199 EV-P, a B-25D-30 I believe, fitted with the FN under turret, which was one of my original options. However I think I'd need to remove the two fairings on the SB wing vents (which I'm not sure will come off) and the three underfuselage lights would now be wrong and would need moving back to under the SB wing... Option 4 would seem to be the easy way out, but at the moment I'm a bit...

Don Many thanks indeed for the info and the images. I've got the one of the .30 Cal in the nose, but I wish I'd had the rest of them a few weeks ago. I think I'm too far down the line for some of the amendments/corrections (for example the B-25B style glazing configuration on the rear fuselage - the Mitchell II glazing is aleady in and painted), but I'll see what can be done about some of the other bits. Simon

Don Many thanks for your very detailed reply. Fascinating stuff! I'm doing it as Mitchell II FL-210 EV-T, and I'm 95% certain this is a photo of this aircraft: https://1000aircraftphotos.com/MilitaryProp/1530.htm I've got a higher res image, and it seems to be FL-21* (with hyphen) and FL-210 was EV-T in June 1944. According to Joe Baugher's website this was B-25C 41-12718. The turret seems to be the A-9A in the photo? Interestingly looking at photos FL- series Mitchells in 'Mitchell Masterpices Vol 2' they do seem to have a mix of the earlier Model L with the telescopic sight and the later A-9A with the N-6. FL-192 [41-12725] and FL-218 'Nulli Secundis' [41-12806 and featured in the Airfix kit decals] have the Model L fitted, and FL-684 [41-12771] and FL-707 [41-12571 - IWM photo link] appear to have the A-9A. Definitely some food for thought... Simon

Thanks Mike, that's very useful info Much appreciated. Simon

Another quick update... I posted a query on here about the three ID lights fitted to early Mitchells and @BS_w very kindly posted some drawings in his reply. The three lights on early B-25Cs were under the front fuselage, rather than under the starboard wing as Airfix have done them. So, out with the Dymo tape, a drill and some 1.6mm Plastruct clear rod: I'll add them once the fuselage has been buttoned up and painted, and they should do the job. There is a red 'passing' light in with the port wing landing light on the B-25C. So I cut a short length of clear sprue, coloured it and added that the the aperture: There are also two lights inside the rear fuselage tail blister - one red and one white. The kit has nothing in the space, so I've made a small bulkhead to sit in there, and I'll drill out two holes for the light to sit in. And finally for today it seems the wings have slightly different chord lengths at the wing roots - maybe due to my over enthusiastic sanding of the leading edges to try and get them smooth... Although having said that, the front two horizontal panel lines match... Anyway, onwards and upwards. I'm busy with the engine nacelles and cowlings (the nacelles need some serious sanding and filling, but that's down to my schoolboy error ) and they should be done quite soon. Simon

I think it's meant to be an early gunsight? I did come across this photo: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/soldier-manning-the-gun-turret-of-a-b-25-mitchell-bomber-news-photo/482717807 As far as I can tell from the photos I've found of them, Mitchell IIs had a reflector gunsight mounted in a frame just in front of the gunner's head, like this one (minus sight): https://www.maam.org/airshow/b25_turret.htm This video seems to have the sight in place (but in a slightly different model turret?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlD1tplvxNM Simon

Hello I'm busy with the Airfix Mitchell, and have a couple of questions about the upper turret, if anyone can help. I understand it would have been fitted with the Bendix 250 CE3 (also known as the A-9A). Is that correct for a Mitchell II (B-25C)? Next up, the kit comes with a tubular part to fit above the guns (part C27): What exactly is this bit? It doesn't seem to be on any of the photos of Bendix turrets I've come across online. Is it the gunsight? Many thanks Simon

Thanks once again - much appreciated! Simon

That's perfect, many thanks indeed. And thank you for the diagram of the tail lights. I did wonder what if anything there was in the tail blister - it looks very bare at the moment. The ARC Forum thread mentions two lights in the observer's dome in the rear fuselage (port one white, starboard one red) - is that these light? I can't see what the labels on the diagram say. There's also a red 'passing light' next to the port wing landing light in the same aperture. Simon

Hello everyone I'm building the Airfix 1/72 Mitchell as early B-25C Mitchell II FL-210 (with hyphen, ex-41-12718) and from a thread on the ARC Forum it seems this would have had the three recognition lights (red, green, amber) under the fuselage rather than under the starboard wingtip as per the kit. I'm having a dickens of a time trying to find exactly where these would have been situated...all I have is that they were adjacent to the front entrance hatch. If anyone can help I'd be most grateful. Thanks Simon