The B-25 Mitchell has always been about my favorite WWII
aircraft ever since I read the Landmark edition of Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson way back when I was in
maybe 5th grade. I have made
several models of B-25’s, but none are still with me. I always wanted to make the Monogram B-25J in
1/48th scale, so I have decided to get going on the one I have in my
stash.
How long this project will take, I do not know. It is now just a week before Thanksgiving, so
with the Holidays and year-end matters to attend to, this may take some
time. Which is a good thing, since I do not
have a shelf wide enough right now to display the finished model. Something will be arranged by the time it is completed.
The first step is to clean off my workbench, and then open
the box, take the sprues out, and wash them off to assure that mold release
agents are cleaned off. At the same
time, I have examined the sprues to make sure all parts are present and
properly molded. Have you ever gotten
part way through a model only to discover that part of the tail empennage or
something else was only partially molded?
That is a bummer.
I have also gotten together the material about the B-25 I
have in my personal library. That Camouflage and Markings is sure an
oldie. I have quite a collection of
similar books I acquired over the years.
This is sad, in a way.
Made in China? I bet it used to
say Morton Grove, Illinois, which was the home of Monogram Models the original
maker of this kit. Alas, Monogram was
bought out by Revell, their main rival.
And then the combined companies were purchased by someone else, and now
are owned by Hobbico. Raised panel lines
abound, but so what? They are not that
prominent on the finished model.
The preceding three photos show the very nice detail
Monogram achieved in 1977. The instrument
panel has excellent raised detail in the dials, the control columns and center
console are well-detailed, as are the ammo boxes. Too bad some of this nice detail will not be
seen once the fuselage is assembled.
One thing I do when starting a kit is to make a copy of the color
list on the instruction sheet, and then I tape it up over the workbench. It helps save time constantly turning back in
the instructions to find out what color is being suggested.
Next, I will be painting the interior spaces zinc chromate
green and starting to paint and mount the interior detail pieces.
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