Jump to content

Fixing the nose glazing of the Acc Min/Academy/Italeri B-25C/D


Scimitar F1

Recommended Posts

This is something that I have meant to do since the kit hit the shelves in the early 2000s. The nose glazing drops away too quickly as you go forward on the kit. Has anyone tried to use the glazing from the excellent Monogram B-25J to fix it?

 

Will

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, you prompted me to do something I've been meaning to for a while.  No photos, but I compared the Monogram and Accurate Miniatures noses.  There IS a slight difference in profile, and comparison to one photo (of a warbird) suggests that the Monogram is a better match- a very good one, in fact. 

 

However, I think that the greater problem with the Accurate Miniatures glass nose (the "top", not the actual front) is that the first frame line above the horizontal "glass-top to metal-chin line" slopes down far too much.  The line of this frame, as well as the resulting proportions of the perspex panels, is therefore quite obvious.  It would be a delicate job indeed to fix the kit part, but the Falcon/Squadron set for the Accurate Miniatures kit (I don't have one for the Monogram) corrects that frame line, at least to some degree.  (This begs the question of availability, now that Squadron has tanked.)

 

The cross-section where nose front (a separate piece on both kits) meets the above-discussed section is noticeably different [* see below for elaboration], so I think you'd have to keep respective kit parts (or shapes) together.  There's some difference in cross section where nose unit meets main fuselage, too, but I think less so, and I think it would be possible to make it work, especially since you've got a "solid" lower portion to work with.  Unfortunately the "chin" piece on my Acc Min turned out to be horribly disfigured, so I couldn't compare the two chins directly.  (I've got another kit or two, but didn't want to dig out more parts).  The two noses appear to be essentially the same length, incidentally.

 

* Where I said that the front parts are different in cross-section, comparing one directly with the other makes the difference easy to see, but assembled as a unit I don't know that it would be all that obvious.  The Monogram is a bit flatter across the top, with a slightly sharper "shoulder" curve, but a bit rounder and possibly slightly deeper on the bottom.  Comparing to a direct head-on shot of an actual Mitchell, I had a hard time judging which one was more accurate!

 

There's been some talk about differences between cockpit enclosure shapes, or the top of fuselage just forward of the windscreen, too.  Eyeballing the respective clear parts, nothing shockingly obvious strikes me, and I didn't take it any farther than that.  (Note: the Falcon/Squadron vac clear also has you cut away this area, and replaces it.  The instructions say that the canopy has been altered to be more accurate.)

 

Hope this helps, rather than confuses,

 

bob

Edited by gingerbob
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Will,

 I did it once without too much hassle, I`ll probably do it again when I get `round to the next one I do. had to trim it a bit, probably easier to go for a Pacific/Dutch/Australian Strafer with painted over glazing like I did.

Hope this helps

Russ

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Nachtwulf said:

The Monogram/Revell nose will fit the Accurate Miniatures kit with very little trouble if any at all. I recommend it.

 

The entire nose, or just the glazing parts?    

 

 some issues of the Monogram/revell kit had 8 gun strafer nose option, and I presume the full set of glazing,  so maybe worth asking for spares ....though a review shows the nose glazing to be gone.....

https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/rm/kit_rm_5528.shtml

 

It would seem a cheaper option to just get the corrected Squadron vac nose unless you can get a really cheap Revell B-25,  a replacement canopy sprue would be ideal,  but how easy that would be to get, as Revell spare are in Germany  ...

 

Seems that Revell have a B-25D, I assume this is a AM rebox?  (just if going down the spare route to just get another set of incorrect glazing....) 

scalemates says it's a rebox of the AM kit

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-04977-b-25d-mitchell--1276022

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

6 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

 

The entire nose, or just the glazing parts?    

 

 some issues of the Monogram/revell kit had 8 gun strafer nose option, and I presume the full set of glazing,  so maybe worth asking for spares ....

Here is mine loosely taped. It is a big imprivement to my eye.spacer.pngspacer.png

  • Thanks 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 19/02/2021 at 12:03, Nachtwulf said:

 

Here is mine loosely taped. It is a big imprivement to my eye.

 

Any chance of a comparison with the AM glazing.  

 

Also, I presume that is the entire nose from the Monogram kit,  as the lower section is a different colour?

 

Thank you.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/18/2021 at 11:35 PM, Troy Smith said:

scalemates says it's a rebox of the AM kit

Troy, it depends upon which 1/48 Revell B-25 kit you're talking about. The original 1/48 B-25 kit was a new-tool B-25B and was released in  1968. See the link below. I built it when I was in college, and it was a nice kit. The other 1/48 Revell B-25;s were the C/D, which was a 1976  AM rebox, and, of course, the Monogram B-25J. The one  I built back in '68 was  when I was building 1/48 kits before I saw the light and switched to God's Own Scale! :giggle:

Mike

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-h-285-north-american-b-25b--238274

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

Troy, it depends upon which 1/48 Revell B-25 kit you're talking about. The original 1/48 B-25 kit was a new-tool B-25B and was released in  1968. See the link below. I built it when I was in college, and it was a nice kit. The other 1/48 Revell B-25;s were the C/D, which was a 1976  AM rebox, and, of course, the Monogram B-25J. The one  I built back in '68 was  when I was building 1/48 kits before I saw the light and switched to God's Own Scale! :giggle:

Mike

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-h-285-north-american-b-25b--238274

I wasn't being clear Mike, I was meaning in their current catalogue, I sincerely hope the current kit is an AM rebox,  and was saying this in the context of asking for current Revell spare parts.

 

I have the remains of the old tool Revell B25 B/C/D kit.  AFAIK that has not been in available for a long time.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

AFAIK that has not been in available for a long time.  

I wasn't sure, either, but I wanted to make Scimitar F1  aware there  might be another source for the nose glazing he needed. I'm not well-versed on kits in 1/48 scale that were released after 1970, as that's when I converted! :giggle: I would think the AM/Monogram nose transparencies would be more accurate than the old Revell kit, but back then I wasn't really concerned or even aware of inaccurate kits unless the error was pretty obvious. (The day I bought a scale rule was the day I stopped building out of  the box and my build rate decreased like you wouldn't believe!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, 72modeler said:

I wasn't sure, either, but I wanted to make Scimitar F1  aware there  might be another source for the nose glazing he needed.

Thanks - I was aware but have never seen one.

 

On 2/19/2021 at 12:03 PM, Nachtwulf said:

Here is mine loosely taped. It is a big imprivement to my eye.

And I agree - thank you for that. Is it the whole nose including the forward fuselage a the transparencies? I take that is from the Monogram J kit?

 

Will

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Troy Smith said:

 

I have the remains of the old tool Revell B25 B/C/D kit.  AFAIK that has not been in available for a long time.  

https://www.revell.de/en/products/modelmaking/planes/world-war-ii/b-25c-d-mitchell.html

 

Revell.com seems to be the RevellOGram side. Much reduced offerings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

 

Any chance of a comparison with the AM glazing.  

 

Also, I presume that is the entire nose from the Monogram kit,  as the lower section is a different colour?

 

Thank you.

Yes, that is the entire nose from the Monogram kit. Here are a couple featuring the Acc.Min. nose.

spacer.png

A.M

spacer.png

Monogram

spacer.png

A.M.

spacer.png

Monogram

 

Sorry for the poor photography. I build models.:nerdy:

  • Thanks 2
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...