Jump to content

Sgt.Squarehead's Not Entirely Accurate Gunship


Recommended Posts

"So, where are we?"  :shrug:

 

SoWhereAreWe

Black primer does this picture no favours really!  :rolleyes:

 

This is pretty much the full extent of my work on the Mitchell Gunship to date, I've modified some figures, added some greeblies to the barren, superbly fitting (& utterly fictional) cockpit, oh and I've glued the wing halves together.....It's a pretty simple kit but I'd still hope this will be deemed less than 25%? 

 

PS - Just discovered I have also assembled the engines (four whole parts) and painted them a vaguely enginey colour too.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm building this for fun and also to free up some space in my increasingly overstuffed modelling room, the kit will be wheels up and on an acrylic rod stand, I intend to spend more time on the aircrew than the aircraft (basically I hope to use comic crew figures to conceal the absence of anything resembling a Mitchell interior).....As usual I've got better kits in the stash (Hasegawa J, Revell H) and I've also got two more Italeri dogs (B/C & G), but this is the one I started (in the Obsolete Kits GB IIRC), so this is the one I'll finish, or not (my mallet is never too far away).  ;)

 

PS - What's the score on smoking in Mitchells?  :hmmm:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Good start Sarge,when do the wheel's and track's go on?

Hey!  I managed to find one with a 75mm gun.....Cut me some slack!  :P

19 hours ago, Rob G said:

Prob'ly gunna need a bigger turret too.

Funny you should mention turrets, that's what I'm currently messing with.....The kit parts aren't entirely the whole deal and I want a dude in mine too, so it's going to be more than a little cramped in there.  I suspect I'll chop a figure just below the shoulders and blend him into the various turret gubbins, not sure how much of him you'll see once it's all together.  Need to modify the turret so I can add it at the end too, no way it will survive the brutalities I'm going to need to do the the fuselage.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone have a picture of a B-25 dorsal turret with someone in it.....I'm a bit at sea trying to figure out how to represent this.  The Italeri turret appears to be (much like the rest of it TBH) little more than a vague gesture at the real thing, the guns seem to be mounted too low and there are no trunnions (Is that even the right word in a wingy-thing turret?  :shrug: ).  I don't want to make an accurate turret, just a representation of what you can see from the outside with someone in it, I have to blank the bottom off anyway at about gunner waist height (at a guess).  :rolleyes:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking good, I have allowed Tonyot to put a part built kit in so feel free to continue Sgt.Squarehead

 

Will look forward to more

 

 

Simon

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/8/2018 at 7:28 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Will take a look at my reference library tonight sarge. I will post anything i find. 

Hello @Sgt.Squarehead ... Shoot sarge I completly blanked on this, My apologies. Heres a first round of photos just from google.Un9oBAv.jpg

tF0gEVD.jpg

YGTtoh1.jpg

efG2ctv.jpg

There will probably be a couple more after i get to my books. Just havent had the chance yet. 

 

Dennis 

 

🔺- These are just taken from google so ownership is retained with whomever posted them. I use them strictly for Informational use only. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmmm.....That looks kinda different to the Airfix parts (Possibly due to Airfix being an earlier variant?  :shrug:), but it matches the few images I found.  If I were looking at a tank gun-mount I'd be a lot surer of what I'm seeing, but I think I can see the way forward. 

 

Cheers for the help guys.  :coolio:

 

PS - A clearer picture of the framework supporting the sight would be great if anyone has one, I suspect I can wing(y)-it with what I have, but there will be some guesswork.....I'm honestly not sure how much of this will be visible through the chunky Italeri turret, but it's sufficiently clear that the current barren arrangement just won't do.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers guys, looks like there's some disagreement even there.....The colour plate of the Bendix turret doesn't appear to have the same arrangement seen in the photo & the drawing.  :blink:

 

I'm going to go with the latter, it won't be even close to accurate because the Italeri guns are mounted wrongly and I can't easily reposition them, but with some fiddling I think I can make a representation that looks like an occupied turret if not examined too closely.  ;)

 

Gonna take the beasts for a walk while I mull it over and pick up a take-away.....Will post some pictures of the spectacular Italeri parts when I get back, all three of 'em.  :D

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

My p00ter is fixed, but I'm massively behind because when it went so did ALL my B-25 references.....If I was building a Kingtiger or a Panther etc. not a problem, but a wingy-thing!  :doh:

 

So in the absence of references for the fiddly stuff I started assembling some of the bigger bits, the fit was, well it was Italeri TBH.....Much filler and many plastic shims later, it's had a few less holes and also a lot less raised surface detail.  :rolleyes:

 

So I sanded it all off!  :fight:

 

My now oh so shiny & smooth Mitchell is about to become my first serious experiment in rescribing.....Help and advice on this front would be greatly appreciated, previous rather limited attempts have not ended well at all.  :unsure:

 

Here's where I'm at with the turret:

 

Turret-1

 

Turret-2

 

The new trunnions are in more or less the correct place, so the guns now sit a bit closer to how they should and I've fitted the internal-mantlet thingies (they're a bit wonky in the picture but it's all just resting in place).....More importantly I've managed to get the gunner in there with them!  :yahoo:

 

He's not half (or even a third of) the man he used to be, but he fills up some space and makes a convenient mounting point for the gunsight.....With some jiggling & some luck I should be able to connect everything up when I build the framework that supports the gunsight.  I still need to devise some ammo feeds and some electrical/hydraulic looking gubbins to fill up the front, but I reckon it already looks a bit better than Italeri's original offering.  I've got some rather lovely metal .50cal barrels which I may or may not use, depending on how convincing I can make the rest of it look.

 

TBH I'm not counting on making deadline, but I'm quite enjoying messing around with it now I'm back underway.  ;)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thats cool, may not be accurate but it looks the part

 

I haven't even tried anything creative on my build.

Edited by Skids
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What have I gotten myself into:

 

Rescribe

 

First serious attempt at a full rescribe.....Quite a few mistakes, but nothing a smear of PPP won't sort out.  I'm fairly pleased TBH:)

 

I've started painting the pilot, co-pilot and dorsal gunner, work on the tail & waist gunners has just commenced (rootling around trying to find suitable figures/parts thereof).

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My respect for those of you who do this rescribing business as a matter of course just rose to another level, in the cold light of day, my own efforts doesn't look so good at all.....I've got a lot of remedial work to do.  :(

 

Still, nothing ventured.....As they say.  ;)

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Dymo tape arived, so I got back to it.....It's definitely easier with Dymo!  ;)

 

First wing done (utterly smooth one next to it for comparison):

 

Rescribe2

 

I think I'm getting better at this, a lot fewer mistakes here.....Had to be a bit creative as some of Italeri's lines don't make sense.  :rolleyes:

 

Rescribe3

 

Still have to correct the fuselage and do the tails, but I'm a lot more confident about it now, indeed I found the process quite satisfying.....Am I a bit weird?  :hmmm:

 

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've just made a very unfortunate discovery.....Shady Lady was a B-25G, my kit is a B-25H!  :doh:

 

I could get a B-25G fuselage out and start over (I've got the Italeri B-25G in the stash), AFAIK I can reuse the wings and it would be a more accurate model overall (the fuselage would be correctly shaped).....Or I could continue building this one as a different subject.  :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...