And ye shall seek the grail…….
Well, we all know I have an affection for old Monogram kits, and seek out original issues wherever I can and build them! I have been seeking an affordable B-25H for a few years, not doggedly, but "keeping y eyes open". Well Emil at Skyway, who is my Monogram pusher, acquired this and had it on the shelf, and well I had to have it! The H version of Monograms B-25 series has gotten a bit rare, so when I found this original '77 boxing, with all parts on the sprues AND the Shep Paine sheet, it was a no brainer. It has moved to near if not at the top of the to do pile after I finish y RFM Panther...more on THAT beast later!
Those "old" Monogram kits were (and still are) among the best domestic kits out there in regard to accuracy and fit. Can't go wrong with having as many as ya can for my money.
And if you want a 1/48 B-25H I believe this is the only game in town.
Yes indeed!
This is the one kit Monogram/Revell never repopped. Maybe a 2nd run I got this kit in 1977 from Bert's Hobby shop in Downey on Telegraph Rd. I still remember.
This is the kit I started to really get serious. Hobby knives, Microscale Decals, Micro Set and Micro Sol. Liquid Cement. But no seam filling yet. The Shep Paine flyer in the kit was used as a guide. Your lucky Rob, I have been keeping an eye out for one of these. Good on you for locating one. I hope you still have possession of your limbs. Will look for this WIP when you get started.
You bet! A couple of the Monogram Facebook page guys have been having some luck finding them here and there for good prices. The one on ebay last I looked was about $50, not bad. Some of the FB dudes got 'em cheap! Yeah I am not sure why it has not been re-popped. I mean really, no one has a 1/48 H model that I know of, and it is very popular. When I was paying a couple guys were commenting on what a desirable kit it was. yep I think it is next up, after this Panther G...the beast that IT is!
Got mine at the LHS estate sale (what will happen to your stash when SWMBO gets rid of it) for $19.95. Couldn't resist!
Rob, ahh, I remember this kit very well. For an old raised panel kit this is actually very nice ! I still have the Shep Paine sheet and actually dug it out a short time ago for some weathering tips. I still believe some good modeling skills can make this into a real beauty. Get on it Rob, I'm anxious to see what you can do !
The raised panels on this kit are very accurate for a B-25 (said as someone who spends a bit of time with "Photo Fanny" at Planes of Fame and the PBJ-1J at CAF SoCal).
Rob, just a request/plea that when you get around to her, can you set up a Work in Progress thread. For such a rare beast, it'd be great for us to tag along for the ride!
And Rob, just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration for my project below. It was very much your photos of the discovery of the Lexington a few weeks back that made me want to build this. Strange where we get the thoughts/ideas/inspiration from to start a piece of work, I'm really pleased (for several reasons) that you posted the photos!
http://imodeler.com/groups/nose-art-group-build-1917053956/forum/topic/uss-princeton-and-vf-27-redux/
Glad I posted them
And I will do an in progress, probably with beer selections!
"..demolishing alien supply routes.." Did the H fly in WWII or the War of the Worlds? XD Seriously though I would like to get an H for myself too. That cannon is still impressive! (And you have plenty of room to hide the nose weight!) I agree that the earlier shots of the kits are better. I'm doing a run of F-100s and one of the kits is an early (second 1981) release. Guess which one was easiest with seam cleanup. (In fact I used no filler at all.) The Shep Paine flyers are great too. I loved the one that was in the B-29 where he had it lit up. I also had the B-17 version. Were they included in more kits or just the B-25, B-17 and B-29?
The C-47 and B-26 kits, as well as all the armor kits had them as well. There used to be a website that had all of them in PDF format, I can't seem to find it googling though.
Not pdf's but I found this: http://sheperdpaine.atspace.com/
THANKS GARY!
Found it, so add the P-61, B-24J, TBD Devastator, (should have remembered this one as I have the sheet) DO-335 and F-15. Here is the link:
http://sheperdpaine.atspace.com/
Nice find Rob, look forward to building blog. I am also fond of the Monogram kits from that era. They were better then anything out there regarding details and often fit. If it was not for the raised lines they would still be on top of the market. I have an original release TBD Devastator which cries out to me every-time I see it on my shelve. But I keep on saving it for some special day which I dont know what special day...LOL. Actually it is in original factory wrapping with the $5.00 Kmart Price tag still on it. So it kills me to open it up. Just to nostalgic to ruin so I guess I never will build it. Do u remember those days...$5 bucks plus tax for a great model from an ordinary department store. I remember when these types of models flooded every store in america, not just specialty stores and hobby shops. And not just Monogram but if lucky many other brands like Revell, AMT, MPC, Lindberg, Aurora, Lindberg, etc. I would volunteer to go for a day shopping with my mom and dad b/c no matter where we ended up I could find a nice assortment of models to pick from...only exception was grocery store. $5 bucks could make a great weekend for me sitting at the kitchen table with the model. Kept me busy for hours!
A great find ! There was back wall in Woolworths basement that was one of my haunts for kits in the before time.
Ah, yes, the back wall in Woolworths; Julie Miller, Summer of '76.
Thanks, Robert.
The 25 is my favorite prop-driven aircraft of all time - glad to see you snagged this, and I eagerly anticipate the WIP thread! I'm queuing up a PBJ in 1/72 (an Italeri kit) now that the Privateer is about finished (just wanted to take another shot at that 2-blue scheme with a bit more faded Pacific Theater look).
I didn't mean to attach this to David's post - oh well! But I DID want to comment on David's reminisce... @dirtylittlefokker - I had to laugh out loud at your "back wall" comment! I don't normally associate my childhood modeling memories with my girlfriend list - but I did have quite the list tucked into a safe space under my mattress that got edited from time to time! Gotta love grade school!
I had thought about making it a PBJ, not a lot out there on this model in Marine or Navy colors. A bit, and I know there is a build here on iModeler. Probably go with a USAAF SW Pacific or China scheme.
Go to Sprue Brothers and look up the 1/48 Kits World Decals for the B-25H. Several interesting schemes. The Marine (there were no Navy) PBJ-1H is easy, since none of them had nose art.
Good to see the H. I used to have one built on my shelf. South east asia with the olive over grey with the white fuselage bands. Wish I still had it. I built two other gun nose mitchells and hand painted the nose art. Sadly that was when my hands were steady but no more. Be good to see it built.
It must be B-25 season... Rob this is outstanding ! I will definitely be watching for updates on this one for sure.
I built my 1/48 Monogram "J" model up with the original kit supplied markings. Then many years later I gave it a face lift and it is now wearing tri color Navy camouflage and it looks like a PBJ.
Ironically, over this last week or so I have been doing some serious research on two of my distant family members who flew in B-25's during WW2. Both were killed while flying.
The first man was named Thomas Bricen, who was a Staff Sgt. and a top turret gunner on a B-25 flying out of Corsica. He and his entire crew were killed when their plane took a direct hit from an 88 MM Flak gun on the Port engine while on the bomb run over the target in Italy. The plane caught fire, and spun in after the wing collapsed and fell off. Tommy and his crew are buried in Florence Italy in the US Military Cemetery there. The plane was a B-25J-1, named "Evora", serial number 43-27753 and was lost on October 3rd, 1944. The pilot was 1st Lt. Robert R Frank, and I have the rest of the crew members names.
Here's a photo of Tommy, the turret gunner... sitting next to a turret on a B-25.
I will be starting this build on a current release of the Monogram B-25J, in the markings of a bomber that he flew several missions in (out of his 58 total) They flew from Corsica with the 445th Bomb squadron, 321st Bomb Group. The plane is called "Stuff" and Tom Bebout built one that's posted here.
I will start this during the Memorial Day Weekend as a tribute to Tommy and his crew, and it will be in the "Nose Art" GB.
The other family member was a B-25 pilot in the SW Pacific, and he was killed when his plane hit the water during practice for "Skip Bombing" missions. His name was 1st. LT Thomas Smith, (another Tommy) and he flew with the 42nd Bomb Group, 100th Bomb Squadron out of Palawan the Philippines.
He and 5 other pilots (including the Unit Commander) were killed when the plane failed to recover after a dive and hit the water. The crew of 6 Officers all perished and there were no survivors. No bodies were ever recovered. The plane crashed into the Sulu Sea on Sunday morning, April 8th, 1945 between 0840 and 0845 hours. It was not know who was flying the plane during this event, but his Unit Commander was listed as "Pilot in Charge".
This plane was a B-25 J-10 (or 11 if it had the gun nose) serial number 43-36015. I have been searching for photos of both planes, but so far no luck...
Eventually I will build a B-25 for Tommy Smith too...
I have some pretty good photos I took of a "real" B-25H model if you need any for reference. Here are just a few...
Good stuff buddy... Count me in.
Nice pictures! Good luck on your builds!
Go to Sprue Brothers and checkj 1/48 decals for Kits World - there are several good B-25H schemes, including "Barbie III" R.T.smith's B-25 in the Air Commandos in Burma. (I don't know how the guy who did the restoration didn't get that it was OD/NG camo)
DO NOT paint frames on the turret! The "frames" are pieces of plexiglass glued over the turret, which makes them "flat" because of the glue, so the "hex-spurtz" can tell you those are painted frames. I'm telling you this from the PBJ-J of CAF SoCal.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Another shot of the turret
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Nice catch Rob, completed one of those with the same box art several years ago. Don't remember any real issues, except the nose art decals were shot. Used a lot of spares to complete the build.So have some fun with it, I surely did.