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CB-25J Mitchell

Started by George R Blair Jr · 230 ≡ · ↻ 11 months ago · 1/48, B-25J Mitchell, CB-25J, MATS, Monogram

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Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year ago:

Looks amazing decaled, my friend @gblair!
George R Blair Jr said 1 year ago:

Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten) and John (@johnb). I usually let the decals dry for 24 hours, then apply the clear cote to protect them, then apply the weathering. I don't plan to weather this one too much, but the planes in my photos definitely look "used". I am trying to figure out what I want to do to achieve this.
Walt said 1 year ago:

The decals turned out great, always one of the most harrowing times for me is applying decals. After months of work applying something you have only limited control over, and hoping they snuggle down, don't tear, fall off, silver, wrinkle, move or curl up. This build is really coming together nicely and looks like the finish line is within sight.
Eric Berg said 1 year ago:

Looks really good with those decals George. Decaling is one of my favorite parts of a build. Won’t be long now and you’ll be able to unmask the canopy. Interesting photo of that 25 in flight.
George R Blair Jr said 1 year ago:

Thanks, Walt (@luftwaffe-birdman) and Eric (@eb801). Decals always scare me. One twitch applying it to the plane and you have a decal folded over on itself, never to unfold again. Some of the decals on this plane are 30+ years old, so I think they really did well. The B-25 in flight is a radar ferret used in the Korean War. I can't find any other photos of this plane, especially the area of the nose behind the radar dome. The nose still has all of its glass, so the back end of the radar would be visible through the glass. I would feel a lot better about building this model if I could find a photo of the nose area behind the radar.
Louis Gardner said 1 year ago:
George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
For me, adding the decals is like adding icing on a cake. They can be nerve wracking though at times. I couldn't imagine trying to add the decals on a "Tiger Meet" jet fighter...

I didn't know about these Feret planes until you started building yours. I enjoy learning new stuff about aircraft, and military history.

It sounds like you have a good idea for your next B-25 build.

When I finally get around to my next one, which will be a family tribute build to Lt. "Tommy" Smith, I'm torn between building it in a BMF scheme as you have done here with yours or going with the more typical OD over Neutral Gray.

His unit called the "Crusaders" had both types of aircraft finishes in April of 1945.

So far I have not been able to locate a picture of the plane he went down in. I have the aircraft serial number and the MACR report number too.

I have found photos showing their B-25's were operated in both schemes. However, because of the needed weights, I'm leaning more towards the OD over Gray. Some of these planes had the noses painted over using the OD Green, while some did not. Some even had the "gun nose" bolted on, just like the "1 for the Gipper" plane does.
1. This is a very close match
The B-25 shown on the decal sheet is from the exact same unit, (S/N 43-36001) and it is supposed to be as flown only 2 days after Tommy died. In fact the plane that Tommy went down in was serial number 43-36015, so this is about as close as it gets.

This gunship B-25 "One for the Gipper" was also from the same unit he flew in. It was also a very close match to the time when Tommy was there in the Philippines.

I'm not trying to highjack your thread, I'm simply talking about B-25's. I hope you don't mind. If it is a problem, please let me know and I will gladly take this post down.

Keep it going George. You're almost there ! (and boy she sure looks good).
George R Blair Jr said 1 year ago:

Hi, Louis (@lgardner). You are always welcome to share info in my posts, so no highjacking involved. :o)

I think I would go with the olive drab version just so I wouldn't have to do another NMF, however you have a lot more experience and success than I do with NMF, so that might be a player also. I want to build two more 1/48 B-25s soon: the NMF ferret and an olive drab TB-25D. I also have an olive drab A-26 solid-nose gunship on the short-list. Building a solid-nose B-25 would give some great real estate for adding weights, but it will put a lot more stress on the nose gear. I also like doing decals (when they cooperate), and I am really happy with the cobbled-together decals on this build. The individual numbers and letters were a trial. I could have printed some home-made decals for the serials, but they tend to be thicker than store-bought decals and I was worried that the edges would be prominent. I also contemplated cutting some stencils on my wife's Scan and Cut, but I was concerned about having enough room for the stencil in the area under the horizontal stabilizer. I need to fabricate and attach some post-war antennas, and then do the aging/weathering on the plane. Hopefully more tomorrow. Cheers.
George R Blair Jr said 12 months ago:
After ham-fisting the weathering on the left wing, I had to sand the wing down to the primer, and repaint the various metal colors. I got the wing done, then sprayed Tamiya Semi-Gloss Clear to hopefully protect the model from the builder. I also sprayed some exhaust stains behind the engine exhausts. I spent a while creating several antennas that were added after WW2. The good news here is that many of these post-war B-25s replaced the wire radio antennas with more modern antennas that didn't require the wire. So, no wire antennas on mine. I want to do a little minor weathering, then add the antennas, remove the canopy masks, and call it done.
3 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Oops!
1. Exhaust stains.
1. Look, Ma, no wire antennas. Yeah!
Spiros Pendedekas said 12 months ago:

Great recovery from your mishap, my friend @gblair! Looks like nothing had ever happened there. Also, excellent job on the antennas' suite. I am amazed that C-130s still carry twin wire antennas (not sure about the -Js, but the older models do). Once I was traveling with a C-130, when a loud "snap" was heard: one of the two wires had broken loose from its front attachment point and was "carried" (dragged) attached to the fin. Scary...
John vd Biggelaar said 12 months ago:

Great result on the wing repair, George @gblair
Exhaust stains do look very nice also.
Not having to mount those wires can be a blessing, they're not always that easy to apply.
capt. R said 12 months ago:

Decaling looks very good! Also silver finish!
George R Blair Jr said 12 months ago:

Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten), John (@johnb), and Bernard (@lis). I hope to finish this today. When I am building a kit, I tend not to put anything away in my hobby room, so I really need to do a good cleaning after I get done. After that, I am anxious to get on to the next build. I only rode on a C-130 once. I was on a deadhead flight crew returning from an exercise. The plane had the red web seats along the walls of the fuselage with cargo and a vehicle down the center. I sat down where there was a long red stripe running down the inside of the fuselage wall. I asked what the stripe was and was told that the stripe indicated where the props were, so if one came off in flight then they would strike the fuselage where the stripe was. I got up and found another seat. :o)
Stephen W Towle said 12 months ago:

"I got the wing done, then sprayed Tamiya Semi-Gloss Clear to hopefully protect the model from the builder. "

I know that method very well indeed.

I've been burning the candle at both ends and haven't been able to get any bench time. But, seeing your progress
George, is a real pick me up. Your B-25 now has "Character" with the oops. But , what real model doesn't. Lookin good.
George R Blair Jr said 12 months ago:

Thanks, Stephen (@stephen-w-towle). I expect you to join me in the self-inflicted damage group very soon. I took an adult ed class in Gardening in Texas from a guy who was a master gardener. He said you couldn't be a master gardener until you had killed 1000 plants. I wonder if it works the same for modelers?
George R Blair Jr said 12 months ago:

I'm calling it done. I got the model done, then added some light weathering using artist's oils and washes. I finished by fabricating and adding all of the extra antennas that were on this post-war plane. There were several self-induced crises during the build, and it took forever, but it was fun in the end. And, after 3 1/72 scale kits in a row, it was nice to build something that I could see.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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Bomber Command

CB-25J Mitchell