North American B-25B Mitchell Airfix 1/72 -- Doolittle Raid 18 April 1942

[DiveBomber]

Great of Airfix to propose an aircraft of this particular legendary raid ! Here you see General James H. Doolittle briefing the crews just before take-off on the deck of USS Hornet. Some machine guns are being removed to reduce weight and extra fuel is pumped in the tanks to cover the longer-than-expected distance to Tokyo and further on to China.

Note the darker spot on the nose, just in front of the angel : General Doolittle had ordered to mask any offensive words, to avoid provoking the Japanese in case the crews got captured.

Someone on this forum mentioned that the planes were repainted before leaving the USA, so no worn out / peeled away paint . The numerous pictures, however, show some lighter spots here and there on some planes at least ; I suppose these could be stains, probably caused by the salty water.

Interior colours : these were apparently not uniform ? So I have a mix of Bronze Green, Zinc Chromate Green and Zinc Chromate Yellow.

 

Bomb load : 3 x 500 lbs bombs + 1 incendiary.

 

The kit includes 2 different bomb sights to choose from :
- the standard Norden device
- a simple contraption invented by Captain Charles Ross Greening (the pilot of this plane !) specifically for this raid, and dubbed the Mark Twain bomb sight. It was lighter than the Norden, and the Americans didn’t want the ultra-secret Norden to fall into Japanese hands.

 

Aircraft carrier deck : LMG product.

Crew and deck personnel : Airfix

 

Remarks regarding the kit :
- I like the way the wings are fixed onto long extension parts on interior compartment doors, thus   
  securing a perfect orientation and a strong hold.
- the top turret is just inserted in a hole and can be placed at the last moment.
- the 2 transparent fuselage side panels should actually be painted, coz there is nothing to look at inside.

 

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Front compartment filled with lead and putty. Home-made bomb sight visible on the far right.

Interior colours : Bronze Green, Zinc Chromate Green and Zinc Chromate Yellow.

 

 

 

Bomb bay : 3 x 500 lbs + incendiary

 

 

 

General Doolittle briefing the crews and about to attach the Japanese medals to this bomb !

 

 

 

These machine guns are too heavy ! We need extra fuel !
 

 

 

Ready to go ? Good luck to all of you !

 

 

The real thing : Hari Kari-er (40-2249).

 

Thank you for watching !

Edited September 6 by DiveBomber
Typing mistake

[DiveBomber]

I see many different tones of US Olive Drab. What colours do you use ?

Edited September 6 by DiveBomber
No more relevant

[Armorrich]

Beautifully finished and displayed. The crew figures are fantastic. I love an early war B25. Very well done.

 

Cheers...Rich

[Fred piket]

Beautiful Mitchell! Love the paintjob..

Well done.

[georgeusa]

Excellent diorama that tells a great story and is very active.  The figures and the aircraft are painted so well.  The flight deck is also excellent.  Just a great overall build and diorama.  Thanks for sharing.

[IanC]

Fantastic figure painting. 

 

I read they used broom handles in the tail position instead of real guns to save weight. Might be apocryphal...

[Graham Boak]

Not apocryphal, that version of the B-25 didn't have any tail guns.

[kapam]

Amazing, beautifully detailed work!

You have a talent for figures - they add so much to the scene.

Also a worthy tribute to some very brave men.