1/72nd Airfix B-25C Mitchell, No. 5/3 PRU (India), RAF, India 1942.

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,......here is another Mitchell, built for the B-25 Mitchell GB! 

                                   This one is another 1/72nd Airfix kit and represents ex Dutch B-25C Mitchell N5-148 coded `A' of T (Twin) Flight No.3 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (India), a unit which had A which had begun as 5 PRU and later split into squadron status. Five Dutch B-25C`s were taken on by the RAF in India during early 1942 and were first used operationally during the withdrawal through Burma to the Indian frontier. For their new role the USAAF colours of Olive Drab/ Neutral Grey was overpainted in Royal (or Bosun) Blue as used by the PR aircraft operating with 2 PRU in the Med and after some problems with the red and blue B Type wing roundels being mistaken for Japanese markings due to the Blue section merging with the camouflage, some had the blue re painted using a lighter colour as per this one, while some are said to have received a yellow ring,... as seen on 3 PRU`s Hurricane`s. With 2,000lb of extra fuel taking up the bomb bay and the turrets removed, a fan of 3 x F.8 or F.24 camera`s were fitted in the plated over lower gun position with a smaller camera also mounted in the tail behind the rear entrance door. Operating at between 26,000 to 30,000 feet, the increased fuel load gave a radius of action of 1,000 miles. Unfortunately the subject of this model, N5-148 was shot down over Rangoon in 1943.

The model had the mid upper turret plated over using the part from the lower turret which was left over from a previous kit, needing quite a lot of internal bracing and filler as it was smaller than the actual hole! Camera ports were drilled into the lower fuselage and the model was Brush painted using Polly Scale US Navy Sea Blue,... as seen in the WIP here;

 

 

Here is the model with a Hurricane from the same unit;

DSCF3164_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

And more,...

DSCF3166_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

DSCF3168_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

DSCF3143_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

DSCF3166_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

DSCF3155_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

DSCF3148_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

DSCF3149_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

DSCF3156_NEW by Tony OToole, on Flickr

 

 

 

All the best,

                 Tony        

Edited April 30, 2018 by tonyot

[Rabbit Leader]

Yet another great Mitchell to display in your overflowing cabinet there Tony!! 

I take it, these new Airfix kits come together quite nicely. I'll admit I've not read every word you've penned within your many WIPs but take it that your a big fan of this kit. I'll be visiting my not quite local LHS today and I know he has both this and the new Phantoms (at quite a discount) in stock. Looking at your builds, I might just walk out with one of these! 

 

Cheers and thanks for the ever present inspiration... Dave . 

[stevej60]

Another fine build of this kit Tony,love the unusual scheme too.

[stevehnz]

Cripes Tony, I'm struggling to keep up. 😮

Lovely tidy job on that & an interesting difference.

Steve.

[Learstang]

Beautiful Mitchell, Tony!

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[occa]

Call me crazy but to me the new Mitchell from Airfix looks proportionally and shape wise so convincing that I am constantly in in awe especially when I see Tony's builds.

Every angle and bit is at the right place, that is highly satisfactory.

 

This together with Tony's  painting skills and subject selection is simply a joy to see.

I am running out of superlatives I am afraid.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Excellent B-25 

[Convair]

A well built model, with PRU blue, which is a very nice colour. I liked a lot.

[Paul J]

Unusual top wing roundels aren't they!  Looks like I will succumb to buying this kit but will wait for the next boxing with the RAF options as I want to add a Polish one to my other themed builds.

 

Ohby the way; Nice build Tony.

[Rabbit Leader]

All Tony’s great B-25 builds ‘forced’ me to part ways with $40 Aussie sheckles earlier today. At a quick glance she looks like a lovely kit the only problem is what scheme do I choose?. I’ve always wanted to replicate a RNEIAF Mitchell from No. 18 Squadron that served alongside our own 2 Squadron B-25D’s but then a 2TAF is also high up on the list!! Might have to buy another and blame Tony for it (again!!). 

 

Cheers.. Dave

[modelling minion]

Great work Tony, a very nice model built in an unusual scheme.

As Dave says above your builds have inspired me to get a couple of them, and I don't think its going to be enough!

[polo1112]

In one word : GORGEOUS !

But how many B-25 are left in your stash ?

You really do a great modelling job  .

[tonyot]

Thanks everybody for your kind words and sorry for causing some of you to become `tempted' into parting with your money! As soon as it was announced I just knew that I would end up buying quite a few of these,...... I have a feeling that we have other variants to come, such as the B-25G and the late variant with waist windows which became standard on the B-25H and J plus a USAAF Pacific strafers boxing,..... lets hope so eh!

 

Cheers

          Tony.   

[JWM]

Very interesting mutation of Mitchell! Ecellent and learnfull.

J-W

 

[DaveyGair]

What everybody else has said, and like a lot of people, may have to get one (at least one anyway) because they look the part!

 

 

Davey.

[Buzby061]

Great work. I never knew there were PRU Mitchells, it as worth getting up to learn that. 

 

Pete

[ArmouredSprue]

Fantastic build mate.

 

It just looks spot on in every way.

 

 

[kapam]

Extremely nice B-25!

Those roundels certainly look unusual.

I recently finished the Hasegawa kit (the J-model) and did not expect to see a better kit of the Mitchell in this scale.

Now there is a strong temptation to go out and pick up the Airfix kit - I have RAAF decals I have not used yet.

[Rabbit Leader]

@kapam, just be a little careful about building this new Airfix kit as an RAAF operated B-25. The Aussies used (what I would call) a late model B-25D-30 which has rear side gun blisters ‘similar’ to the later J models. There is also a small rear tail gun glass fairing again ‘similar’ to a J but quite different. 

 

The RAAF also used the later J model but this new Airfix kit won’t build a late D unless heavily modified. 

 

Cheers.. Dave

[72modeler]

13 hours ago, tonyot said:

Thanks everybody for your kind words and sorry for causing some of you to become `tempted' into parting with your money! As soon as it was announced I just knew that I would end up buying quite a few of these,...... I have a feeling that we have other variants to come, such as the B-25G and the late variant with waist windows which became standard on the B-25H and J plus a USAAF Pacific strafers boxing,..... lets hope so eh!

 

Cheers

          Tony.   

Well, ToT, you've done it again! Another beautiful multi in a very unusual scheme! I am sooo jealous of what you have done with the new Airfix kit, but glad to see it makes up into a very nice model. One small detail to maybe add- I think the Mitchell flaps, when lowered, extended aft and then down; this left the leading edge of the flap that is normally covered by the upper wing skin when retracted in either bare metal or chromate primer. You can see this in photos or videos of B-25's with the flaps extended. I have attached a link to a well-known photo of Doolittle's B-25B taking off from the Hornet in which you can clearly see the lighter colored leading edge of the flaps. This is also visible in still photos. My problem is I haven't been able to determine if this part was in primer or bare metal! In no way is this a criticism of your build, which is to your usual ridiculously high standard, but a suggestion as to how you could gild this already magnificent lily. I'm not worthy, as Wayne would say!

Mike

 

http://www.eastoregonian.com/eo/local-news/20170309/pendleton-celebrates-the-doolittle-raiders-75-years-later

 

 

[Meatbox8]

Yet another terrific model Tony with some great brush-painting technique on display.  I'm really interested in these PR Mitchells employed in Burma so thanks for the back-story.  They must have felt pretty vulnerable flying a medium bomber with no armament in hostile skies.  BTW where did you source the Bosun Blue?  I build a 3PRU Hurricane a while back but couldn't find any technical references to that colour and certainly no colour photos and also came up with a blank on this forum so made a choice (I can't actually remember which Humbrol paint it was I used in the end) using B/W photos of said Hurricane on the basis that if nobody actually knows what the colour looked like no one can tell me I'm wrong!  Needless to say now I've seen your models, your choice of colour looks more authentic.

[F-32]

Lovely work, not seen that scheme before, looks great

[DJJunis]

Excellent job Tony!

I believe the Mitchel will be a hit for Airfix. 

Your builds are the best marketing they could ever have! 

I have two myself and have some Doolittle Raider decals that are just barking at me.

 

ALl the Best!

Don

[tonyot]

13 hours ago, 72modeler said:

Well, ToT, you've done it again! Another beautiful multi in a very unusual scheme! I am sooo jealous of what you have done with the new Airfix kit, but glad to see it makes up into a very nice model. One small detail to maybe add- I think the Mitchell flaps, when lowered, extended aft and then down; this left the leading edge of the flap that is normally covered by the upper wing skin when retracted in either bare metal or chromate primer. You can see this in photos or videos of B-25's with the flaps extended. I have attached a link to a well-known photo of Doolittle's B-25B taking off from the Hornet in which you can clearly see the lighter colored leading edge of the flaps. This is also visible in still photos. My problem is I haven't been able to determine if this part was in primer or bare metal! In no way is this a criticism of your build, which is to your usual ridiculously high standard, but a suggestion as to how you could gild this already magnificent lily. I'm not worthy, as Wayne would say!

Mike

 

http://www.eastoregonian.com/eo/local-news/20170309/pendleton-celebrates-the-doolittle-raiders-75-years-later

 

 

Cheers Mike and point taken re the metal/ primer strip across the flaps,..... I`ll look into it further. To be honest every photo that I have seen of RAF Mitchell`s shows the flaps retracted on the ground,.... but I just like them dropped! 

 

9 hours ago, Meatbox8 said:

Yet another terrific model Tony with some great brush-painting technique on display.  I'm really interested in these PR Mitchells employed in Burma so thanks for the back-story.  They must have felt pretty vulnerable flying a medium bomber with no armament in hostile skies.  BTW where did you source the Bosun Blue?  I build a 3PRU Hurricane a while back but couldn't find any technical references to that colour and certainly no colour photos and also came up with a blank on this forum so made a choice (I can't actually remember which Humbrol paint it was I used in the end) using B/W photos of said Hurricane on the basis that if nobody actually knows what the colour looked like no one can tell me I'm wrong!  Needless to say now I've seen your models, your choice of colour looks more authentic.

Cheers,.... the blue was Polly Scale US Navy Sea Blue,... applied over a black undercoat. I did have the exact mix for the Bosun Blue applied to the PR Hurricane`s on Malta, I will see if I can dig it out,.... but it might not help for modelling purposes as it just involves adding weights of powder into the mixture. Considering the conditions that these aircraft were operating under,..... any dark blue would be feasible I would say,... due to strong sunlight, fading etc!

 

7 hours ago, DJJunis said:

Excellent job Tony!

I believe the Mitchel will be a hit for Airfix. 

Your builds are the best marketing they could ever have! 

I have two myself and have some Doolittle Raider decals that are just barking at me.

 

ALl the Best!

Don

Cheers Don,..... you know that those Doolittle Raid decals will still keep singing to you until you use them mate! 

 

All the best,

               Tony   

[djos]

Unusual, interesting and beautiful executed model