Today was spent with a little time working on "Stuff"

I installed the bomb bay doors, crew entry doors, and ADF "Football" antennae under the fuselage.

The Hamilton Standard logos and specification stencils were applied to the individual propeller blades.

The remaining decals were applied. Then I slipped the wings and props back on to take a few pictures with the latest additions.








Then I decided to give it a try and replicate the exhaust stains that were present on the in flight picture I have of "Stuff"...

So I used the Tamiya weathering decks. Here's what I did so far. One engine exhaust streaking has been done. I'll go back and fine tune this with a Q tip.

Tomorrow if things go well, I'll do the other side, and add some engine oil leaks as well... The tires will get dirtied up a bit too.

As usual,
Comments are encouraged.

Thanks

Good looking "stuff" Louis, all of it !

As I mentioned above, I'm happy to announce that I have finally finished all of this work on "Stuff"...

I made the deadline, and will be posting the article on October 3rd.

There were some little things left to do, and they always seem to take the longest. I painted the navigational and signaling lights. I used various Tamiya clears and applied them with a tooth pick. Having a foil background really makes the lights pop in my opinion. I also painted the landing light bulbs on the leading edge of the wing using a chrome pen. The clear plastic lenses were added after the remaining portion of the wing's interior was painted in a Yellow Green Zinc Chromate color.

I added the landing gear side strut bracing and gear doors. Then I touched up the exhaust stains some and added little oil leaks under the cowlings...
I have left the wings off, and will probably not glue them on permanently. This is easier to work on this way... and I'm certain the landing gear will fail with all of the extra nose weight that has been added. So the wings will simply be slipped into position and not glued.

I lightly used some pencil graphite to give the appearance of worn paint on the back side of the props. It's kind of transparent, and will look different from various angles.

This is how "Stuff" looks with the wings slipped on. I really like how the foil turned out.

These next photos show the weathering and exhaust effects I added to "Stuff"






I also added some paint chipping to the crew entry doors on the inside. This is how they usually looked after being in service for a little while. Both doors received the same treatment. I dry brushed some aluminum paint in various places where the crews boots would have made contact with the boarding ladders.


This has ben a very enjoyable build. These old Monogram kits are great, and if you're willing to spend a little time with them, they can turn some heads at a show.

Please check out the headline article when I post it on October 3rd. This will be a tribute to my Dad's cousin who was killed over Italy in a B-25 like this one, 75 years ago "On this Day".

Tom Bricen actually flew several missions in this very plane named "Stuff", as the top turret gunner.

I will probably go back and adjust the exhaust streaks a little after viewing these pictures. The tail streaks look to be out of alignment a little and slightly too heavy for my liking.

Here's to Tommy. A man I never met for obvious reasons. My Dad always spoke highly of him when he talked about him.

He is still buried in the US Military cemetery in Florence, Italy.

Freedom is not free...

I just posted "Stuff" in the headline section. Here's a link should you be interested.

On this Day, Oct. 3rd, 1944. A tribute to Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Bricen Jr. 445th Bomb Squadron, 321st Bomb Group Revell B-25J 1/48 scale

Erik, @airbum I sincerely appreciate your thoughts for my Dad's cousin. Freedom is not free.