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B-25 Mitchell


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Hey folks 

Been a l-o-n-g time since I posted a WiP thread here, so thought it's time I did just that.

 

I bought the 'new' Airfix B-25 the day it was released simply because it's been one of my favourite aircraft for as long as I can remember. It's sat in the stash, waving and trying to grab may attention since it arrived. On Wednesday, I was lucky enough to have a couple of hours at the bench, and I finally gave-in to the temptation despite the three other aircraft and two car builds I have going-on !

 

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Build will be straight from the box, decals are going to be from the excellent Xtradecal sheet 72-273. When it comes time to paint, I'll be trying the 'marble technique' for the first time so hopefully I don't stuff-it-up, but if I do, at least it will be 'in public' so to speak !! - During the course of the build if you have any thoughts, comments or questions, please feel free to chime-in any time.

 

AFN, stay tuned - Best from NZ.

 

 

 

Ian.

 

 

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I’ll be following this one with interest. I too have this one in my stash so hopefully I’ll pick up some tips. 

 

Cheers Allan

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Another quickly snatched hour at the bench before work this afternoon:

 

QK9MzFH.jpg

 

Managed to spray Tamiya gloss black acrylic on those parts that are going to be 'metal'. It's a small step, but you take-them-when-you-can-get-them, right ?

 

 

 

Ian.

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Would it be possible to post larger pictures? On my PC's monitor it shows as 750x400 pixel size. Something at least 600x800 would be good.

 

 

Chris

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With respect Neil are the pictures you've seen of restored aircraft?  If so the green may well have been applied as an anti-corrosion measure.  The well-respected IPMS Stockholm site gives the colour for B-25 bomb bays as aluminium lacquer.

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Just gone through several B-25 reference books, including the mammoth B-25 the Ultimate Look, and I can't find any pictures showing a light coloured ie aluminium, bomb bay area. Whether it be old pictures or B-25 restorations. I prefer to do my own research rather than rely on others. One thing I would say - the paint colour is much more of a green/grey and therefore lighter, than the usual cockpit green.

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Great discussion, gentlemen, definitely worth having, however I made the decision more on 'artistic' grounds, simply because the interior is all green and quite visible through all those windows, turrets etc - the 'silver' bomb bay will break that up visually. Equally I plan on building it with the flaps 'drooped' option, which may not be 100% accurate but definitely makes it more 'interesting' to the casual observer.

 

Keep the comments flowing, great to read them.

 

 

 

Ian.

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On 5/17/2019 at 1:25 PM, dogsbody said:

Would it be possible to post larger pictures? On my PC's monitor it shows as 750x400 pixel size. Something at least 600x800 would be good.

 

 

Chris

Yep don't see a problem, Chris.

 

 

 

Ian.

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OK time for a B-25 update:

I masked the bomb-bay area then shot an overall coat of acrylic 'light black' as a shadow-coat.

 

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Next I sprayed three coats of Tamiya XF-5 lightened with yellow.

 

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Instead of dry-brushing the highlights, I added more yellow in to the base green and carefully painted those 'high' edges - it looks very false just now, but under washes and filters it will be fine. Once that had dried I applied two (brushed-on) coats of Johnsons Klear in readiness for the washes and the rest of the weathering layers.

 

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The seats were treated to some generic USAAF seatbelts from a True Details set that I bought by accident over twenty years ago !

 

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Have a great weekend all, best from Middle Earth.

 

Ian.

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And another update:

Just before it's all closed-up, here's the last views of the interior, starting with 'The Weighting Game' - see what I did there ? (Copyright Ian A. Jackson 2019)

 

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Had to fabricate a small blanking piece to fit into the tunnel on the left side of the flight deck so I could hide more fishing-sinkers and Blu-Tack !

 

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Some general fuselage and flight deck views too:

 

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As ever thanks for taking the time to look and / or comment. Have a great weekend all, best from Middle Earth.

 

 

 

Ian.

 

 

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OK, tough crowd...

 

So moving forward:

 

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Just a couple of 'quick'n dirty' phone pics to show the fuselage halves are together now, the 'glazing' all installed and masked and ready for a coat of interior green. More next week, enjoy the weekend all.

 

 

 

Ian.

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On 5/16/2019 at 5:21 PM, 72modeler said:

Hot doggies! I'm the first one in the hall! Can't believe I beat Dennis to the choice front row seats!

Yes i can... Life has been pestering me to much lately and i haven't been able to keep up with the WIP builds. 

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Moving-on: Shadow coat (my own 'light black') and marbling done over the weekend:

 

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Topside just marbled with Tamiya gloss white, underside with white and XF-23 blue. I also sprayed the 'Neutral Grey, again my own mix' but masked it before I took any pics, sorry !.

 

This morning, surprisingly work called to say I had a 'free day' ('Yes - fist-pump'), so I masked the upper sides and sprayed three light coats of 'Sand' mixed from half Tamiya Dark Yellow & half Flesh, I then thinned that to 50% with Tamiyas own thinner. As it was drying I added 50% gloss white into my airbrush cup and post shaded most of the panels.

 

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AFN, stay tuned and thanks for all the comments & 'likes', much appreciated.

 

 

Ian.

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Camo done:

Mixed some 'Deep Green' (a couple of drops) in to my Tamiya Olive Drab, cut that with thinner roughly 50/50 and sprayed three light coats. A little post shading but not too much as I'm going to use (yet another) new process to me - dry brushing with oils to fade-out some of the upper wing panels.

 

I put one drop of Hull Red and one drop of Panzer grey in the airbrush cup, topped that up with thinners and gave it a stir - the 'dirty thinner' was was than sprayed onto most - not all - of the panel lines and into the recesses for the rudder, flap and ailerons.

 

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Remembered to take a quick photo of the undersides too.

 

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Best from NZ

 

Ian.

Edited by Ian
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