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1/48 Revell B-25J USSR

Started by David Butler · 39 ≡ · ↻ 2 years ago

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David Butler said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Just started Revell's B-25J in 1/48 scale that I received as a Christmas present.

The build will be out of the box with some quickboost barrels to replace the awful kit barrels.

I will be using Montex masks and will most likely be building the Soviet lend-lease version that Montex provides markings/masks for.

I started last night with some test fitting and adding a little detail in the bomb bay. . . I am not going to be "super detailing" anything but since I plan on leaving the bomb bay open I wanted to add a little detail to this section.

I am also thinking about trying to use a pounce wheel for doing some riveting on the fuselage. . . any suggestions as to what size wheel I should use? helpful tips or tutorials you have used?
3 attached images. Click to enlarge.
John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 3 months ago:

That will be a beautiful Mitchell, David @dbutlr
I was not aware that the USSR used them, so really looking forward to this build.
Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 3 months ago:

A great entry, my friend @dbutlr! The finished model will look gorgeous in Soviet markings.
Looking forward to it!
Walt said 2 years, 3 months ago:

David, @dbutlr, in general that is really a great kit, I found the fit issues with those old Monogram B-25's is comparable to the Accurate Miniature series of B-25's. With a little care you can really turn out some nice looking planes. I have built both and posted them here on iModeler.

I am no expert on riveting, but if you want to see some of my work and experience with it you can look at my build Blog for a Monogram B-24. https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/monogram-1-48-b-24d-the-squaw-sleepy-but-which-version/?topic_page=4&num=15 If you don't want to go through it all, go to page 4 to get an idea of what I am doing.

Enjoy your kit, and look forward to seeing how it all goes for you.
David Butler said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Worked in the cockpit over the weekend. After spending some time researching I went with the dark green color for the cockpit and zinc chromate for the rest of the aircraft. I added some very basic shoulder belts from Tamiya tape and an armor plate for the pilot made from the plastic of a sour cream lid. . . the material was soft and easy to work with but does not respond well to glue or paint!

Next up will be the zinc chromate color in the rest of the plane
4 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Great progress and superb looks, my friend @dbutlr!
John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 3 months ago:

To me those seatbelts look nice, David @dbutlr
They add some realism to the seats. IP looks great as well.
David Butler said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Update: interior nearly complete, I will add nose weight and bombs next before I close it all up. The oob detail is pretty nice and really comes to life with a dry brush and wash- too bad most of this will not be able to be seen!

I tried to custom mix with tamiya green and yellow-green a zinc chromate color for the rest of the plane and I think it came out too dark and green. I'll learn from this for next time but I'm not going to stress out over it too much because most of the interior will not be visible on the completed kit.

I also added a little detail to the sidewalls of the bombardiers compartment with styrene strips (again will probably not be visible when I install the 50 cals but oh well)

I also started opening up the exhaust ports for the engines with a #11 blade and small file
6 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Walt said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Very nice progress David, @dbutlr, on your interior. There is a lot of detail that Monogram put in those kits that really isn't visible once assemble, but to me just adds to the fun of the build. Take a look at the pictures posted on this page, there are some incredible interior shots here that I wish I had had when I was building my birds. https://www.lasegundaguerra.com/viewtopic.php?t=9122

Yours is comeing along nicely and I think is going to look great.
John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 3 months ago:

You made very good use of the already nicely detailed interior, David @dbutlr
Your current progress looks very promissing for the next steps.
Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Looking amazing so far, my friend @dbutlr!
Stephen W Towle said 2 years, 3 months ago:

I've never met a Monogram B-25 I didn't like. These kits are time less and with TLC can turn out to be jewels.

With regards to painting the interior of the kits. There are two schools of though , One it's a waist of time, paint the cockpit and upper turret and do the tails turret. End of story. Or paint the interior detail and learn about various stations and systems of the aircraft and document what you've learn. Which has been done here.

I've built the kit and about 35 years ago I had the opportunity to crawl through CAF's "Mrs. Mitchell" minus its out wings but, combing the two experiences brought me closer to what the aircraft is all about. It also, give you a rudimentary understanding of what the crews felt like on the ground.
David Butler said 2 years, 3 months ago:

short update:
1) I painted the 3 500lbs bombs and installed them in the bomb bay- not sure that the yellow lines on them are accurately situated but they look nice enough to me

2) I added nose weight and am hopefully that it will be enough to keep it from tail sitting!

3) both fuselage halves have been carefully sealed up with Tamiya extra thin cement and superglue

4) the fit of the glass in the nose was terrible so after careful test fitting and brainstorming I added spacers of styrene strips to widen the front of the airplane to accommodate the glass which was too wide to begin with. This was carefully cut down with a #11 Xacto blade and sanded smooth. With some additional shimming in the navigators compartment the glass canopy fits about 95% better!
4 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Nice jobs, my friend @dbutlr! Great save on the canopy!
John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 3 months ago:

Great work done, David @dbutlr
Looks really great already.

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