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Airfix 1/72nd B-25 Mitchell


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1 hour ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

Outstanding, Tom P!  It really looks the part.  Did you have any trouble masking over the Xtracolour paints?  I've had them lift on me, which is really annoying.

I’ve never had any problems with Xtracolor - the only issue being they take a while to go off. However, I’ve discovered a good stint in the airing cupboard significantly reduces the drying time and the paint goes rock hard. 

1 hour ago, Vinnie said:

Lovely work, Tom. Any problems with tail sitting? I think one of these will be going on my shopping list.

There’s a fair bit of lead crammed in the nose - thankfully there is a fair bit of room behind the instrument panel, in the tunnel beneath the flight deck and I’ve also crammed some in the front of the nacelles. 
 

Tom

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I like the way you haven’t weathered the nuts off it, just enough emphasis on panel joints and weathering.  I know some 2 Group Mitchells wound up looking like refugees from the station dump but yours is a classic “less is more” on the weathering front.

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3 hours ago, IanC said:

Perfectly finished.

 

So many people on BM seem to be building 'mojo restorers'. Maybe we should just bin the big, complex projects to start with? 😀

Hmmmmmm... you may have a point there!

 

16 hours ago, stever219 said:

I like the way you haven’t weathered the nuts off it, just enough emphasis on panel joints and weathering.  I know some 2 Group Mitchells wound up looking like refugees from the station dump but yours is a classic “less is more” on the weathering front.

Thanks - I must say I always tend to err on the minimal-weathered approach as I see so many models which, in my humble opinion, are totally over-weathered and bare absolutely no resemblance to the real thing what so ever. 

 

However, you are absolutely right in saying these machines did have the living daylights beaten out of them. But what you wouldn't see are dark black panel lines all over them, that's for sure! I have actually got quite an effective patchy and battered look to it in reality - I used some stippled masks to get some nice paint variation. Unfortunately, it hasn't shown up too well in the pictures. 

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20 minutes ago, Tbolt said:

Excellent looking B-25. I agree about over weathering - sometimes heavy weathering is appropriate, but it still needs to be done well to look right.

Absolutely - getting the appropriate scale effect is what I struggle with as it's so easy to over do it and make something resembling a patch-work quilt.

 

19 minutes ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

That's a bit small for you Tom, did you use a magnifier? 😆

Indeed - this was actually a birthday present last year from my brother-in-law. I wouldn't have normally gone for such a kit to be honest but as he bought it for me I felt I should do the right thing and build it. And as outlined above, I loved every single minute. Super fit, lots of detail - nice and easy and perfect for restoring the mojo after some of my other longer projects which I inevitable get bogged down with. I've got the new Airfix B-17 to do as well - something I may have a go at sooner rather than later as I love the new-tool Airix stuff!

 

Tom

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3 hours ago, tomprobert said:

 I've got the new Airfix B-17 to do as well - something I may have a go at sooner rather than later as I love the new-tool Airix stuff!

I also have the B-17; having bought it to convert to a 100 Group Fortress III Airfix then reissued it as such, saving me much of the work.  You'll need to be careful getting the tail turret to match the diameter of the read fuselage and you might want to scribe in some of the panel lines around the nose and front fuselage but it's another enjoyable kit to build.

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That's very nice. Inspiration for me as I have one to make for my neighbour who's Dad won a DFC while leading a flight of these on a daylight raid over Holland. The only thing I'm not sure about was whether the lower turret was fitted to his particular aircraft (I understand they were removed from a lot of the RAF Mitchells).

 

Duncan B

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16 hours ago, ModelMonkey said:

Great job - glad to hear it was a stress free build - I've got one in the stash and going to kick it off after my epic Routemaster build - 10 months in so far...

I know the feeling - my longest is 5 years and counting... and there's still no end in sight! A kit like this works wonders to get re-motivated though and is highly recommended!

 

1 hour ago, Duncan B said:

That's very nice. Inspiration for me as I have one to make for my neighbour who's Dad won a DFC while leading a flight of these on a daylight raid over Holland. The only thing I'm not sure about was whether the lower turret was fitted to his particular aircraft (I understand they were removed from a lot of the RAF Mitchells).

 

Duncan B

I know the lower turret had a fairly limited field of vision and wasn't all that effective because of this. Many did indeed have them removed, although I'm in the dark about the dates/time period. What I do know is the reduction in weight meant more fuel and bombs - bonus!

 

Tom

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Have to agree Tom, what a great kit, I have one I built up whilst away on a course as there was no evening entertainment ( Pub's shut).

 

You have done a great job, inspiring me to get on with mine , which is the do-little boxing.

 

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