Revell-Monogram B-25J Mitchell – WIP Part 7

The model was completed this weekend.  I am happy with the result.  Twelve pictures of the finished model are below.

These old kits can be something of a challenge, and much of the work is tedious.  Correcting parts for mold misalignment gets tedious.  Look, I said “tedious” twice.  I guess much of the project was…well…tedious at times.

However, if you want a B-25J in 1/48th scale, you have no other choice.  And the look of the finished model is rather good it terms of its shape and dimensions.  It sure looks like the B-25’s I have seen in a thousand pictures over the years.  So I am quite pleased with it.

The great Duke Ellington said, “If it sounds good, it IS good.”  That is how I feel about any model I see.  If it looks good to me, it IS good.  I feel this hobby is somewhat akin to art.  It is a matter of interpretation and making something that pleases the eye.

The endless “rivet counting” and other carping by Internet Experts just leaves me cold.  Sometimes they are right about this detail and that.  Those are the ones who quote an authority or source.  The ones that don’t cite anything are generally blowing so much smoke.

I am not saying that authenticity should not be a goal.  I research every model I build and strive to make the finished model look as much like the prototype as possible.  But when someone using some weird pseudonym posts some comment about how the intercooler grill has vertical fins and not horizontal fins and therefore the entire model should be smashed with a hammer, I seriously start to doubt the mental status of the writer.

The bottom line is that I am pleased enough with the B-25 that I am starting to wonder about the Monogram B-26 Marauder in 1/48th scale I have in my stash.  That would look nice on he shelf next to the B-25.  And what is a little filing, sanding and filling?

Thank you for looking and enjoy your modeling.

Revell-Monogram B-25J Mitchell – WIP Part 6

Painting has commenced.  I have grown quite find of using Vallejo Model Air paints for my models.  This model is being finished with Olive Drab (71.043) and Base Grey (71.097), the latter matching neutral grey.

Vallejo paints come in dropper bottles, so all you need to do to dispense them is shake the paint up, remove the cap, and put drops into your airbrush paint cup.  (This is much less messy than mixing in standard bottles and trying to pour the paint out, and you waste less of it.)  I usually dilute paint with Vallejo thinner mixed 3:1 or 2:1.  I also have been adding a drop of Vallejo retarder medium (70.597).  This seems to work for me.

I painted the underside of the wings, nacelles and stabilizer with the grey and let it dry.  I then masked the grey off with Tamiya tape and Frog painter’s tape.  The demarcation line between the stabilizer and wings and the fuselage shows a very sharp line.  I think (speculate) that the wings and the tail surfaces were painted prior to installation on the fuselage.  Thus, I wanted the sharp lines as in the original.

I wish I had kept some of that grey foam computer parts used to come packaged in.  That would have made better masking material than the Kleenex I used here.  I stuff little pieces into the opening, and then I wet it with an eye dropper and push it in a little more.  This seems to hold it in place pretty well.

 

The pre-shading is shown here.  All through this process, I have been concerned that the machine gun barrels would snag on something and break off.  So far, I have managed to avoid that.

The cowlings have been painted a bright yellow and masked off.  The wing tips are white.  Once I make sure that the olive drab/neutral grey looks good, I will remove the masking over the grey, white and yellow, and I will proceed ahead with decal application.

Revell-Monogram B-25J Mitchell – WIP Part 5

Looking over installment 4 of this saga, I see that I have griped enough about the fit of the parts.  Basically, these molds are showing their age.  It is not so much flash.  There is little of that.  It is that the molds are slightly misaligned now, so almost all parts require some shaping.  I wonder how many thousands of kits have been produced with these molds?
We have now gotten to the point where the paint shop is in sight.

My plan was to leave the wings off until after painting.  However, the fit where the wing joins the fuselage was an issue.  There is a significant gap for each wing.  It was just easier to cement them both in place and fill the gaps.

I also decided to mount the Scale Aircraft Conversions landing gear before painting so the model could sit on its landing gear while it was being finished.  I discovered that the SAC landing gear did not fit snugly into the hole provided in the wing.  It was a fairly loose fit.  I decided to use some epoxy to mount the landing gear for strength and to account for the poor fit.  This seems to have worked.

Once the landing gear was set, I put the model on them for the first time.  I was pretty sure the Terry Dean nose weight would do the job, as the model felt very nose heavy.  I was wrong;  it was still a tail-sitter, but not by much.  The kit contains a step ladder that can be placed under the rear crew access hatch as a prop to hold the model up.  I really am not attracted to that.

Some years ago, obtained some lead bird shot and put in into some jars.  I still have a good supply.  It makes excellent weight for models requiring it.  The shot is small enough to fill handy cavities in the model, and it can be held in place with a glue or adhesive of your choice.

I did not think a lot of weight would be needed, so I filled the engine parts.  And they prove to be heavy enough.

Next I cleaned the model with rubbing alcohol to remove latent static, fingerprints and dirt.  Then it was time to apply the many Eduard masks to all the windows.  What a time saver these masks are!  There are several places where they did not fit 100%, BUT all were quite usable.  Masking killed several hours, but without the Eduard masks, it would have been much, much longer.  I am now getting them for all my models where they are available.

I have been reading a lot lately about “black basing”, i.e., using black primer as a base coat and then applying the color coats so the finish is realistically mottled.  (I know I could describe this at greater length, but just for to YouTube and look for “black base”.)
Instead, I decided to use the old tried and true grey primer (Vallejo Surface Primer - I use it on all my models) followed by some black paint over certain features like ailerons or panel lines.  BY applying the final colors very thinly and building them up, some of the black will show through and give a pleasing effect.  It is hard to do with olive drab, but I am going to try.  The black basing crowd is now dissing this older method, but I think they both have merit.

I mixed some interior green into the grey primer and sprayed the canopies with that first.  That should give me a better effect than the light grey would have.  I have a Spitfire where I did not do that, and it is noticeable (but luckily it is in desert camouflage so it is not that noticeable).

One thing I have found is that my spray booth being only about 20” wide is small for trying to maneuver the B-25 in.  There is enough of an air current flowing into it to pull in the overspray, but it is still tight quarters.  The booth is fine for my usual projects of 1/48 and 1/72 fighters, and an occasional 1/35 armor vehicle.

Final paint, markings and finish assembly are next.  Light at the end of the tunnel!

Revell 1/35th scale T-34/76 (Model 1943)

I can’t believe my last post was in February.  Well, time flies when you are having fun.  One of my other interests is Cowboy Action Shooting, and I have started competing again.  And it takes time what with reloading ammunition, taking care of a number of firearms, practicing and competing. 

And, I put the B-25 aside and did build that tank.  Actually, this is the ICM kit boxed by Revell.  Since I got back into the hobby, I have discovered that there are fewer new kits coming out and that many of the “new” kits are re-boxed older kits.  I understand that ICM Holding is a Ukrainian company, and from what I saw in this kit, they produce a very nice model kit.

I was impressed with the surface detail of the model, particularly the weld marks and the surface texture showing the casting.  The parts fit was excellent, and the instructions were reasonably clear.  I used some dry transfer markings.  I am not sure what they say.  Probably Stalin is a Great Guy! or I Love the Party!

I made an attempt to do some weathering.  Tamiya makes a powdery product that you brush on, and I tried some.  It left a nice dusty looking finish.  It is called Tamiya Weathering Master, and it comes in all sorts of colors. 

Preparing to do this kit, I read a number of articles about weathering.  And, I looked at hundreds of photos of finished models.  Now, there is no question that some armored equipment looked pretty beat up and covered with dirt and mud.  However, if one looks at photos of real armor in operation during the Second World War, many of the vehicles are not all that weathered, and that is because they have not been in service that long.  The armies in the East consumed armor at a ferocious rate.  Some of the tanks simply did not last long enough to get very weathered.  I know the U. S. Army during the war retrieved damaged armor form the battlefields and put it back in fighting condition.  How much of this the Russians got to do and what their practices were, I am not sure.  The conditions they fought under had to be seen to be believed.  For instance, tanks produced in Leningrad rolled right from the factory into the front lines unpainted.  They did not have the paint, and they did not last that long anyway.

The markings for this model tank are from a T-34 that fought in the Battle of Kursk, the largest armor battle in all history.  I prefer to think it is depicted on it way to Kursk and therefore just covered with road dust.

I also built another Spitfire kit from the stash, a Tamiya 1/48th scale Spitfire Vb.  I will post some photos of that soon.  I got into that one as I could not believe that Silly Putty made good masking medium for hard lines, but is sure does!  I will never try another method.

The temps are soaring here in The Valley of the Sun, so our “building season” is commencing.  The B-25 is back on the workbench, and I am getting to the final details I need to do before painting commences.  More on that very soon.

Thanks for your interest.

 

Revell-Monogram B-25J Mitchell – WIP Part 4

Before I wax eloquent ever again about the pleasures of building one of these old kits, I shall remember how much sanding, filing and filling is necessary to complete them.  I am now wondering about that Monogram B-24D in my stash.  To be frank, the problem for me is that the time I might have spent on more detailing, weathering, etc. is being used up just making it all fit together.  Maybe I am a modeler in too much of a rush.  That may be the case. 

All that  being said, I am grateful this kit is still available.  There is nothing like it in 1/48th scale if you want a J model.  I would love to tackle the HK Models B-25J, except, I would need to buy a bigger house.  There are limits. 

I find that if I stop a project by removing it from the bench so I can build something else, the chances it will ever return to the bench to be finished are slim to none.  The bench may sit there with the model on it while “life” takes me elsewhere for other things.  That is fine.  As MacArthur said, “I shall return.”
 
Also, I find that if I do something everyday, no matter how small a thing that is, the project will keep going.  Although I am longingly looking at a Revell 1/35th scale T-34/76 (Model 1943) that I picked up on a whim and am aching to start on, the B-25 must “take off” first.  (I did some armor models twenty years ago, but sold all in my armor stash when I moved to the Southwest. I have always had an interest in armor.  When I was in the Army, I was stationed for a time with the 1st Armored Division “Old Ironsides” at Ft. Hood, and I was always fascinated watching the armored vehicles.)

Here are some update photos:















I am cleaning up small parts and priming them now.  I use Vallejo Acrylic-Polyurethane Surface Primer on almost everything.  It provides an even base coat, and if I use masking tape on it, it never lifts.  I have done maybe ten models with it that were masked with Tamiya and regular masking tape, and not one smidgen of paint has lifted.  This primer really sticks to plastic, and any paint you cover it with (acrylic or enamel) sticks to it.  So, it is happy masking.

The fuselage seam has been filled and sanded, and I sprayed surface primer lightly on the seam to see if there are some spots requiring more attention.  I use Squadron White and Green Putties. 

The fit of the nacelles to the wings was approximate.  Quite a bit of work was needed there.  However, since failing to do that would have left some prominent seams, the work was called for and I think will be rewarded in the finished product.

The fit of the fuselage halves just behind the cockpit was not the best, but some putty has taken care of that.  I think the canopy will allow the interior of the cockpit to be seen clearly.  And with the forward bottom hatch open, there may even be some light coming up from below.  With all of the windows and hatches in this model, more of the interior will be viewable than I originally thought.

*****

In the next installment, I think the flying surfaces will be in  place, and we will be thinking about the paint shop for this one.

Revell-Monogram B-25J Mitchell – WIP Part 3

Here we are in January.  After a Holiday Break with a trip across the country, spending some serious time trying to learn how to use an iMac after my Dell laptop crashed (I have been waiting for a chance to get out of PC World), and a few professional obligations, I am back at the bench.

Over the years, I have found that leaving a project sitting for a month is an invitation for it to be abandoned.   Since I have recently had a re-awakened interest in armor kits, this one was in danger of being pushed aside in favor of a T-34/76 (Model 1943).  But I will hang onto the tank, and forge ahead here.

I could have skipped doing much of the detail, as it will be hard to see.  Since I am planning on leaving two hatches on the bottom of the fuselage (not to mention the open bomb bay, I thought I would go ahead with the details as they may be seen.

This area will be seen through the canopy.  There is nothing extra in the detail department here.  I merely painted the parts.  No weathering either, and I wanted the colors to stand out through the canopy so the details would be seen.  You can see the Terry Dean weight filling the wheel well.  It fits perfectly, and I am hoping it will be heavy enough.  I think it will be.  You can also see the SAC white metal landing gear.  The landing gear is somewhat flexible, and I think the will mean that a slight bump or other mishap will not result in it breaking in two.  The detail is really excellent, and the metal landing gear will be more durable than the plastic, particularly the nose gear..  You can also see one of the many, many ejection pin markings present on these molds. In this case on the forward bulkhead behind the instrument panel.  I left all of them alone that were not completely exposed.  (One really appreciates modern molding techniques that have largely obviated exposed ejection pin spots all over the parts.)

This is the left side near the tail.  This may be some kind of heater?  I am not sure.  Since it might be partially visible, I finished it.  There are ammunition boxes all over to use in the defensive guns.
 

The bomb bay detail will be visible, so I finished the bombs, which were quite nicely molded.
 

I do not like to have fragile parts like the tail guns sticking out as I finish the model, waiting to be broken off.  However, there was no way to install these parts in the last step.  So, I will just have to be careful.



The next step will be to assemble the fuselage.  I will paint and assemble the top turret, but it will be added toward the end.  Also, there is a fair amount of detail painting on the nose section which house a number of guns.  All in all, I am still enjoying working on this kit.  It is amazing how well the molds and the kit design itself has stood up for 39 years!

Revell-Monogram B-25J Mitchell – WIP Part 2

I have collected a few aftermarket items to enhance this project.  With all the glass, I had to have some Eduard die-cut masks (EX119).  These masks are so useful and time saving.  Because of the size of the model, I have opted for a metal landing gear set from Scale Aircraft Conversions (48055), which I thought was a prudent investment.  And, in my decal collection, I have some really nice markings from AeroMaster (I really miss these folks).  My set is Mitchell Collection, Part 2, 48-134.  Not that the kit decals do not look pretty good and much better than the decals Monogram used to include in kits.  To keep the model from tail-sitting, I obtained a nose weight from Terry Dean.  If this weight proves to be insufficient, I will add lead shot in front of the engines.  I don’t think that will be needed, however.

 

 

This is a 1977 kit.  I forgot how many mold release pin marks appear on these older kits.  There are many bumps and indentations to deal with.  The unfinished wheel well photo shows two rather large ones, and the photo of the inside of the left fuselage shows two on the right front. 

My option has been to leave any alone that are not right on the surface where they can be seen.  By the late 1990’s, it appears manufacturers learned how to not create so many of these annoying marks, and it is rare to see them in a prominent position on a modern kit.

 

 

The interior parts have been painted green zinc chromate primer and olive drab.  I am using Model Master Acryl for this part of the project.  I prefer Vallejo Model Air paints, but there is not reason to let the existing stock of MM paints go to waste.  Much of the detail would not be seen once the fuselage is assembled.  I have already dry-fit the fuselage together and determined which areas will not be seen.  They will not be detailed.

 



When I have some more done, I will post again.  Meanwhile, I still need to post something on the Eduard Yak-3 I finished in October.