Here's another build that I have been wanting to do for several years. I took it as a sign to get it in gear and do something about it, when my fellow friend Rob Anderson posted up his latest vintage Monogram B-25 G score... Plus I have been in contact with several others about specific information on a family member that we lost during WW2.

Tommy was my Dad's Cousin.

There is no better time than the present.

His name was Staff Sgt. Thomas Bricen, and he was a top turret gunner in B-25 bombers. He flew with the 445th Bomb Squadron, 321st Bomb Group and flew 58 missions from Corsica.

Sadly he and his entire crew perished on October 3rd, 1944 over Italy. Their plane, which was a B-25 J-1, serial number 43-27753, (named "Evora") took a direct hit from an 88 MM Flak gun over the target during the actual bomb run. The plane was hit on the Port side engine, which immediately caught fire. The plane dropped from formation and a few seconds later, the wing fell off. The plane spiraled downwards, now blazing even more furiously. Only one parachute was observed, but it was on fire too, and it failed causing the crewman suspended below it to plunge to his death. This was probably a blessing in disguise, as the crewman's clothes were on fire. It was presumed the parachute was one of the gunners from the crew, most likely the tail gunner.

Here's a photo of Tommy. He is sitting on top of a B-25 next to a top turret.

The 445th crews didn't have a "regularly" assigned plane that they flew in. Instead, they flew missions in what was available. I have been doing some research over the past few years now, and have compiled a list of planes that Tommy flew in.

He flew at least two missions in "Stuff", tail number "07" serial number 43-27680.

He may have flown more missions in this plane, but I have yet to finish reading all of the unit's combat journal. However there are some dates that no entries were made, so it's "incomplete".

So far the dates I have Tommy listed as a crew member in this plane are May 26th, 1944, and June 5th, 1944.

Once I saw that bombshell decals had a set of decals for various B-25's that operated from Corsica, I had to get my hands on a set...

Here's the monogram kit I'll be starting with.

and some of the reference materials I have on hand. These are both very good books.

and this one comes with a great set of decals too, in three scales, 1/32, 1/48, and 1/72...

So in typical "Iron Werks" fashion, there may end up being a few B-25's built...

But first I need to finish up some loose ends with a few other kits that are currently on the work bench.

I wanted to get this one posted today, as a remembrance for Tommy... Freedom isn't free. Here's proof.

Please stay tuned.

and as per usual, "comments are encouraged".

Thanks Craig ! I have been doing a lot of research for this, on and off again for several years. I plan on giving the whole story once the building is done. Tommy flew in many different planes with the 445th.

We also lost another family member in B-25's during the War. He was a pilot, named Thomas Smith and flew with the 42nd Bomb Group, 100th Bomb Squadron from the Philippines. If I can ever find a set of decals for a plane that he flew in, I'll do another tribute build...

A nice project and tribute Louis!
The photos are great despite the cropping, love the production line shots and all that zinc cromate!

Starting with the cockpit. I sprayed on a color to replicate "Dull Dark Green". This color was used on the crew compartment exclusively, along with the anti glare panel on top of the instruments.

If you look close, you will see that I posed the seats offset a little. This was typically done when the plane was parked. The seats would slide fore and aft. This helped the pilot and co pilot to get in and out of the plane.

I then sprayed the nose gear well using Model Master "Aluminum Plate" non buffing Metallizer. You can see how the wheel well is directly under the "Co" pilots feet.

The rear bulkhead was left in Yellow Green ZC,

as was the front section that will become part of the Bombardier / Nose gunner station.

The bombardier nose section will get the floor painted to look like plywood, or I might do something else. I've been thinking about using some very thing balsa wood 1/64" and staining it. I might do the same thing for the floor of the crawl space / tunnel just below the pilots feet. These flat areas were actually made of plywood on the real B-25. Sometimes they were painted to match the surroundings, while other times they were left as natural wood.

This next picture shows the basic colors used before the detail painting begins.

The cockpit side walls were also painted in "Dull Dark Green", and the interior of the Bomb Bay was painted in Aluminum Plate, the same color used for the nose gear well.

This picture shows how the cockpit fits into the fuselage. This is only a temporary thing and these parts have not been permanently installed.

You can also see the anti glare panel is now "Dull Dark Green"


The bomb bay parts were assembled and the basic painting of Aluminum Plate was done to this area.


Here's how they were also test fit into the fuselage:



Various smaller details still need to be painted. You can see a lot of the details located just under the upper turret.

The bomb bay doors were sprayed "Aluminum Plate" on the inside.

as were the inside of the cowlings.


and the underside of the wings where the engine nacelles will be located. The landing gear bays were left in "Natural Metal" on the real planes.

So I gave the inside of the Nacelles a quick spray too. Not much will be visible in here once it's all assembled.

The propeller hubs were sprayed using the same color...

as were the wheel hubs.

and the cylinders of the engines.

The landing gear struts were sprayed too...

as were the main gear door insides.

The Instrument panels and various consoles nearby will get painted black. Then all of the little details will have to be painted. Once this is done, I can start assembling the fuselage together.

These older Monogram kits have a lot of details built into them. They were cutting edge back when they were first released. Ahhhhhhh the memories of childhood, and building many Monogram kits way back then...

As always,
Comments are encouraged.

Thanks for looking.

“Comments are encouraged”... how about brilliant, interesting, instructive, beautifully shot, skilful, with a lovely personal touch.

Bravo, Louis, bravo.

Hello Gentlemen ! @dirtylittlefokker @yellow10

I sincerely appreciate the kind words.

I need to clarify one thing about the wooden floors... On some of the restored B-25's that I have been inside, they floor tunnel was left "as is" with a metal surface. Some of these were painted in a shade of green, and others were simply an aluminum color / unpainted metal.

Here’s a picture that I took from inside a B-25 that shows the tunnel. You will notice that it is in a natural unpainted state of bare aluminum.

Yet I have also seen some with plywood covering this area. The plywood was also painted green to match the interior.

So it's anyone's best guess as to what it was when these planes were delivered from the factory. I chose to build this one using wood for several reasons...

I happen to like how it looks being the first and most obvious reason. Secondly, it adds some detail as it's not all a shade of green.

The interior of this older Monogram B-25 is not very accurate in some ways, yet in other ways it looks pretty decent. This is especially true when you consider this kit originated in the early 1980's, with the first version Monogram released was a B-25H with a cannon nose. It appeared around 1977 or so.

I looked at some of my Accurate Miniatures B-25 kits in the stash and they have some great looking details.

But for the cost involved, and since most of this interior detail will be hard to see once the fuselage is glued together, this "golden oldie" from Monogram is still a hard one to beat.

I wanted to perfect the "wooden floor" look for an upcoming B-17G ""A Bit -O- Lace" and B-24J "A Dragon and it's Tail". Both of these planned future builds are also the older Monogram 1/48 kits, and will be finished in Bare Metal Foil.

So please stay tuned for these two...

Thanks for the update, Louis - fantastic detailing. Impressive throughout in terms of interior - especially the IPs! I guess knowing this plane so well must help! The use of weights is ingenious, too. The family link to this build makes it exceptionally poignant. It will be a real labour of love I am sure. That said I am also quite excited to hear that one of these will be getting your bare metal foil treatment at a later point - that will be quite something to see, too!

Tonight I got some more work done on the B-25 "Stuff"...

The small details were painted on the bomb bay center section.

Then the small details inside the fuselage were given the same treatment.


Once I was happy with the results, I glued the bomb bay into position. The interior is starting to look a little "busy" now...



This next photo will give you an idea as to how this is shaping up.

In order to keep the bomb bay tight against the "Starboard" half of the fuselage, I placed the other fuselage half against it and clamped things together.

This clamp will come off tomorrow morning after everything has had sufficient time to dry.

Then I will separate the fuselage haves, since they are not glued together. The I have a little more detail work to do inside the bomb bay, add the radios, and complete the tail gunner's position.

Then I can permanently glue the fuselage together...

I did a quick mock up to check on the nose weights. More will have to be added inside the engine nacelles ahead of the main gear... If not, this one will drag it's back side.

As usual,
Comments are encouraged.

Thanks for looking and have a good night.