Jump to content

Restoring a ‘Previously Loved’ Airfix 1/72 B-25 Mitchell


Recommended Posts

Where the undercarriage leg broke, it’s a bit thin, although I might get a 0.6 drill and metal pin through it. 
Nice suggestion, as I’m thinking about it. 
I’ll print another and use that as a test piece.

It’ll be nice when my brain (yes the hospital said I had one!) get back to normal functioning.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ghe laugh was for your comments re confirm you had a brain  I don't have that confirmation!!! 

I got the same issue with the 48th scale B25 and didn't pin it and it worries me every time I get it down off the shelf for dusting!!!

Chris

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Brigbeale said:

TET for Tamiya Extra Thin cement

 

Of course it is, for goodness sakes. Got that on the bench myself. Excuse my slowness.

 

Glad you prevailed over the hospital experience. I had a couple of very serious ops some years ago. I didn't like the surgeons and doctors, but the nurses were outstanding. We had a great time. One came up to me as I was wheeled out of intensive care and said; "Thanks, John. We don't usually get many laughs in ICU." I have no idea what she meant %~))

Edited by Maginot
format fiddle and extra info
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Ghe laugh was for your comments re confirm you had a brain  I don't have that confirmation!!! 

I got the same issue with the 48th scale B25 and didn't pin it and it worries me every time I get it down off the shelf for dusting!!!

Chris


You can’t just say you’ve got one, it has to be confirmed apparently🤷🏻‍♂️
 

Can you post a picture of your B-25 say….. for inspiration?

Edited by Brigbeale
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Maginot said:

Of course it is, for goodness sakes. Got that on the bench myself. Excuse my slowness.

 

Glad you prevailed over the hospital experience. I had a couple of very serious ops some years ago. I didn't like the surgeons and doctors, but the nurses were outstanding. We had a great time. One came up to me as I was wheeled out of intensive care and said; "Thanks, John. We don't usually get many laughs in ICU." I have no idea what she meant %~))


It was the same with my recent visit. The nurses were the cheeriest ones there keeping up morale which in turn leads to a better recovery IMO. We had one who called the six of in our bay ‘her lovely boys’. She is a brilliant nurse. She had her shift yesterday afternoon and was disappointed to find three of us going home. The doctors weren’t miserable but they seem to have that distance thing which kind of alienates them. We kept winding up the nurses when they come to give meds and ask the date of birth. We’d then give random dates. One patient said his right date and month but said 1564. The nurses cheery attitude almost had me wanting to stay longer.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I normally don't add images of my models to someone else's thread as don't want to distract viewers from the OP's models and don't want to appear disrespectful,  but as you asked , this is my one, ignore ghr broken aerial wire on the top, just caught it with the brush dusting but easily repaired. 

spacer.png

It's the Italeri boxing of the Accurate Miniatures kit and was a lovely kit.  Nose gun removed for stowage whilst on the ground, it's quite a heavy kit and when I moved it the front wheel leg worries me   but it has stood for a few years now.

Thanks

Chris

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That’s a beauty.

Looking at it shows how much detail is missing from the 1/72 early Airfix kit ie, no exhausts on the engines, the air inakes in the wings are just simple slots, etc.

The polystyrene base looks great as well being tailored to the landing gear - helping to stop the nose gear working forward over time I assume.

I might have to get some 1/48’s 🤔……

It’s a pity I can only give one like - so here’s some more!

:gobsmacked::gobsmacked::gobsmacked:😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

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

30 minutes ago, Brigbeale said:

That’s a beauty.

Looking at it shows how much detail is missing from the 1/72 early Airfix kit ie, no exhausts on the engines, the air inakes in the wings are just simple slots, etc.

The polystyrene base looks great as well being tailored to the landing gear - helping to stop the nose gear working forward over time I assume.

I might have to get some 1/48’s 🤔……

It’s a pity I can only give one like - so here’s some more!

:gobsmacked::gobsmacked::gobsmacked:😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

Thanks fella,  very kind of you. It was a cracking kit.  

With your builds they are better in that you are taking an old and very basic kit of it's time and turning it into something very special.   I just put together what was in the box really. 

One day I will get to scratch build something!

 

Thanks again

Chris

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tonight I made a bit more progress on the engines, first by running the 2mm drill bit through both and inserting the propeller assemblies. They were placed in front of a fan and they both spun - one freely the other with what appeared to be engine trouble. A quick clean up of the 2mm styrene prop shaft had it running freely as well.

 

Then Chris’s image of his 1/48 B25 , which I’ll say again is a beauty, inspired me to give mine some exhaust openings in the nacelles. I started by marking the rough position and then drilling through at an angle with a 1mm drill bit. It looked too small, so I went to a 1.2mm bit. That looked about right for the scale so I stopped there rather than make an oversized hole which would look awful.

 

I then placed each engine on its nacelle and drilled a 2mm hole in the ‘firewall’ of the nacelles. These will be drilled out larger to accommodate the protruding prop shafts coming out the back of the engines to allow the props to still spin freely.

 

The next job was to put some .5mm styrene strips in the gaps between the under wing panels and the nacelles to alter the overly droopy dihedral??. With the model sitting on the stand as centrally as I could get it, I measured the wingtip bench top on each wing, the starboard is 0.2mm lower at the wing tip than the port which, for a 1964 era model which has been roughly built, probably played with, had bits broken off it, been sold on eBay at least twice (my usual seller buys the models as jobs lots then sells them off individually as I found my Sunderland in exactly the same condition as I bought it in an earlier completed sale), posted and then taken apart and rebuilt by me. Given that lot, 0.2mm can be forgiven as some new kits sometimes have more than that.

 

Test fit of the engines and propellers

qrrMlDr.jpg

 

The drilling if the exhaust outlets.

XqDhzBO.jpg
69zM7iW.jpg

KYh2Wxx.jpg

 

Oh, and I nearly forgot, I glued the top and bottom of the nose section together.

IPGrxnh.jpg

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very good work Brigbeale, I will be watching! I also restored an Airfix B-25J a few years ago, it was like this:

B25_built.jpg

(the barrel in the nose was bent, the MG the previous builder had used was metal...)

 

 

 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great work on the B25, the addition of tge exhausts will help bring this to another level.  I am impressed with the 0.2 .mm difference, that is very good and the Airfix kits were generally good outline /shape,  just basic on terms of details, I like that and they lend themselves to scratch work well. 

Loving this build.

Chris

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just found this thread and have had an enjoyable time catching up! I binned a huge boxful of my childhood kits last time I was home (2019) - if I'd known, you could have had the lot for nowt!

 

Glad the op went ok!

 

Ian

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tonight, I decided the removal of the tail gunner’s bulge was called for.

I was intending to manually saw it off, but a trial of the blade the placement of the bulge meant attacking it from 3-4 different angles, so I opted for the electric rotary tool on its slowest setting. I used the inverted cone stone bit (shown in the photos) as the discs need a screw to hold them in position and I didn’t want that chewing up the wing.

Anyway I took small swipes at it rather than cut it off on one. The plastic melted a bit in places which actually helped hold the part as the bit cut through. It was then a simple case of snipping the rest free.

A file was used to knock back the rest of the bulge to as flat as I could get it. 
GLKdvQk.jpg
QwHN35I.jpg

 

The next step was to fill in the hole where the old gunner’s canopy used to be. 0.5mm styrene card was trimmed and filed to shape before TET’ing it into position.

r3bfD0D.jpg
 

Once that had dried and didn’t move I used my Revell filler to fill the forward one of the two holes and go around the patch on the rear one.

xr9c7tr.jpg?1

 

While I had the rotary tool out, I opened up the prop shaft holes in the front of the nacelles as mentioned earlier. I also stuck the nose section on but left the very front part off for now as I need to sort the guns on it as both are broken off. The cockpit canopy is just placed on as I’m slowly masking it off.

308ccb5.jpg

 

 

 

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The first thing I did this evening was sand back the filler around the now closed in rear gunner’s position. I left the masking tape over the wings to keep as much rivet detail as possible. It’s had two fills and sanding sessions and looks like it still needs another light fill and sand to get it smooth.

 

I then returned to the business of masking the cockpit canopy. I used the toothpick to mark the framing and then a bright light behind the canopy while I cut the shapes with a knife. I’m glad to say the cockpit canopy masking is complete.

 

Remember when I said earlier that fixing the bomb bay/cockpit canopy would mean I’d probably regret it later?

Well I kind of do with the nose section. As the nose section is now fitted to the fuselage, I cannot get a light behind it, so, I cut strips of masking tape and placed them either side of the framing lines longways and crossways. I’m going to let the strips sit for a while to set a bit before I cut the areas where they cross out to clear the lines. I just added some Mr Neo Masking Solution to the centres of the windows to complete masking them off.

 

A couple of other filled areas were tidied up and then I had to address what could have been a small calamity. 
Where I added the styrene strips to amend the wings dihedral, I think it in turn had squeezed the nacelles. This is where the problem occurred. 
As the main gear was still moveable, I went to tuck them away when I went to work on it a few days ago. The port one tucked in ok, but the starboard one moved a little and then broke off - fortunately right where the oleo joins the pivot. 
I fixed this this evening by drilling the leg and the pivot with a 0.6mm drill bit and supergluing a metal pin through both parts. Excess glue spread around the joint to hopefully reinforce it. 
I just need to remember to be careful when I go to get the gear out again.

 

Finally, as a ‘lets see what it looks like’ moment, I dry fitted the engines again with the prop assemblies pushed back into their proper positions. It looks more like a B-25 now so it is getting there. I just need to mask the front section of the nose glazing and the top turret and then, after a couple of tweaks here and there, I can get round to applying some paint.

 

K1ttFJc.jpg

3aqYYuD.jpg

 

With the cockpit canopy and engines dry fitted

ZRQPGmM.jpg

 

Edited by Brigbeale
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Chris, I will see what I can do regarding the rivets.

 

I fitted the cockpit canopy to seal that part of the fuselage up.

A fresh blade was taken to the masking on the navigator/bombardier’ s canopy to clear the raised frame detail ready for painting.

The forward nose section was also masked up. 
I want to have this B-25 with the two machine guns in the nose section, so I drilled a 1mm hole through the upper front hole. I still have the body of a waist position gun. so I clipped the clear part from around it and tidied it up with a file. a 1mm hole was then drilled in the end and a piece of 1mm styrene rod was fitted into it. A small amount of sprue goo was placed at the joint and it was place into the mounting hole. Once the glue had sufficiently set, the forward section was glued to the nose section. The barrel is deliberately long so I can shorten it later.

 

As one of the aelerons is missing, I needed a replacement. I designed and 3D printed a replacement using the original for the shape and size. A little clean up and a tweak with a file had it firing nicely, so much so, I printed one for the other side. They were fitted with sprue goo.

 

I went round the B-25 filling all of the holes with sponge to keep the spray out when I get round to painting it.

koB4LAW.jpg

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A further update….

Tonight saw the vertical stabilisers being fitted, which makes the B-25 more or less complete shape wise.

 

I noticed in photos that the gear doors are closed when the wheels are down with just the small doors open next to the main gear. That is a little issue to deal with as I’ve only got 3 main gear doors. That looks like some learning on the design app to get the compound curve….

 

The nose gear doors were placed in, although the odd shaped door had to be open as the gear is in the way.

 

Superglue dots were added to the closed in tail gunners position to emulate rivets. Some are too big so I’ll see what they look like once painted.

 

The original wing landing lights, although present, were just a glued up mess. Replacements were made from clear sprue and TET’d in position. Once dry, they were filed to shape, and then sanded (using a cheap nail sanding block) using the various grades of ‘grit’ to get them to a nice shine. while doing that I knocked off one vertical stabilisers, so I had to sprue-goo it back on again.

 

I then hand painted the propeller hubs Aluminium, the propeller blades Flat Black, the spinner Chrome Silver and the tips Yellow (although I should have put white on first as the yellow is a bit dull. I’ll try a second coat to liven it up a bit. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just lightly sand the tips and repaint them using the white first).

 

I also 3D printed two simple pots to insert into the engine cowlings to protect the engine from paint. a dab of white tac is holding them in position and the y can easily be removed.

 

I had an idea for the Perspex dome on the tail. In my Falcon Vac Formed canopy sets, is a clear nose ‘cone’ from a Mosquito. According to some images I’ve seen, if I turn it upside down, it will be almost the correct shape. The problem is, I’ve only got the one so that should be fun…….

 

CQWhHXG.jpg
IZjj8xD.jpg

dq2zsFb.jpg
VPSGxwU.jpg

 

Edited by Brigbeale
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This one’s an update on the past two evenings.

Last night was spent working out how to make the compound curve on the wheel bay doors. I fitted two door halves together, measured them and sketched the item down. I just about managed to get the design worked out. I 3D printed a pair and offered them up to the nacelles. They were a tad small widthways and too long. I adjusted the size in the slicer program and re-printed one this time. Much better. Another is being printed as I type this.

pdRxsbo.jpg

N1wazxj.jpg
 

Also last night, I gave the model a coat of Halfords grey plastic primer. I’d completely forgotten about owning it. The painting went on ok but just highlighted the seams, which looked ok unpainted, but looked terrible with the paint on. Oh well, better to sort it with the primer coat on rather than the top coat.

gLwOZNK.jpg

 

Tonight, I filled the problem areas highlighted once the model was painted in primer. Due the the heat today, the filler set very quickly. I sanded it back trying to keep as much rivet detail as possible. The reincarnated rivets were sanded off as I couldn’t get the superglue to produce fine enough rivets, just big blobs which looked a mess, so I decided it was better being smooth.

NI4YQZ2.jpg

5bhXrlc.jpg

After sanding the filler back and re-painting the model in primer.

5HMfbnn.jpg


Oh, and as you can see, I’ve now got a proper A3 cutting mat to use as my modelling mat.

 

Edited by Brigbeale
  • Like 4
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...