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1/48 Academy B-25B Mitchell


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Joel, your painting and weathering look fantastic.

I'm sure you will win over the decals !

Ivy-5,

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a most positive comment. I've already sanded off the decals, polished, primed, and the color coat is on. Came out just about perfect. I have a few touch ups to take care of, then I'll gloss. Decaling will be with individual numbers from the other various ID decals from the kit. I don't have a #1, so I'm going to attempt making one from cutting a #4.

Joel

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OK, the week of repairs to the vert. Stabs ID numbers are over.

Here's what I started with. the issue was that the ID decal didn't settle and snug down, so you can clearly see it's a decal. There is also some flash and silvering even after a dose of weathering.

untitled-1.jpg

the decals were sanded off as was the paint down to the bare plastic. I polished and feathered each Vert. Stab with 600 grit through 12,000 Micro Mesh polishing pads. I then primed with Mig Ammo Acrylic gray primer. Then polished with 12,000 Micro Mesh pad.

repaint.jpg

The next work session was just air brushing on LifeColor #43 O.D. and a little mottling effect with their weathered O.D.

repaint1.jpg

I really no longer like to cut out each individual letter/number as alignment is almost impossible for me with only eyesight in one eye these days. Such is life, and I've adjusted to it the best I can. But since I'm going with the kit decals again, I cut out and trimmed each number, then I applied them one at a time. But this time I went with Mr Mark Setter and Mr Mark Softer decal solutions that I borrowed from my brother till mine arrives from Hong Kong. These two products are very strong, and I will only use them when all else fails. Too much and they will eat right through the decals and paint.

After the decals had dried for two days, I applied a coat of Alcad 11 gloss, when dry, a flory dark sludge wash, then a couple of coats of Alcad 11 Flat.

untitled-1-2.jpg

The finished results are exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately the 0 & 1st 2 are a little crooked, but when viewed a foot or two away as a display model, you just don't notice it at all.

Now, back to detailing both engines.

Joel

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Great work on the fix Joel. I know its tough to undo work and go at it again.

F20D,

Thanks so much for the thumbs up. I'm glad I did it, but sure wish I could have gotten all the numbers straight.

Joel

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Still straight and level would have been just that much nicer.

Joel, you've done well with these decals.

Maybe you can weather this rudder in a slightly different shade so that it looks like a replaced part ?

(note: I don't know if this actually happened in real life)

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Joel, you've done well with these decals.

Maybe you can weather this rudder in a slightly different shade so that it looks like a replaced part ?

(note: I don't know if this actually happened in real life)

Ivy-5,

I suppose I could, but these aircraft while not brand new, were all well maintained, and I have no evidence that any such major repair work was done on them before the raid.

Joel

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Work continues on the two big radials, but little by little I've been squeezing in the front landing gear as the ignition wiring is not only tedious, but lately a major cause of eye strain.

Both main struts received some light sanding and filing to remove as much of the molding lines as I could get to.

I then added the duel hydraulic lines that run down opposite sides of the struts. 3 aluminum clamps were fashioned out of masking tape.

untitled-1-3.jpg

I then primed with Tamiya Gray lacquer primer thinned 2 to 3 with their Yellow cap Lacquer Thinner. I laid down a tack coat, then two wet coats. Came out as smooth as silk. I painted the Oleos with Model Master Chrome Metalizer.

untitled-1-4.jpg

When dry, I masked the oleos with Tamiya tape and airbrushed on Alcad II White Aluminum #106 I also painted the wheels with Alcad II Aluminum #101. Then the tires with Tamiya FX-69 Nato Black thinned 2:3 with Tamiya X20-A. the Nato Black is in reality a Gray Black, and really looks like rubber.

B-25B%204%2016-2.jpg

B-25B%204%2016-3.jpg

B-25B%204%2016-1.jpg

For those that noticed, the Alcad II only goes up just past the cross brace. From there up it will be hidden inside the wheel wells. And since my Mitchell with be attached to a base, there really isn't much reason to paint or detail what can't be seen.

And now it's back to wiring those engines. Unfortunately, I'm still on the 1st one.

Joel

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Really like the gear. I will have to pick up a bottle of NATO black for tires - they look just right.

John

Nato Black is a much have color. It really looks more like rubber then anything I've used as yet.

Joel

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What kind of heresy is this?! Not paint areas not seen? Unheard of, blasphemy I tell you! ;P

Looks great tho :D/>

Janne,

yeah, it's sort of laziness on my part. I did paint the wing wheel wells, and even a dirty, oily wash. But since the Big Mitchell will be attached to it's base, I just didn't seem all that necessary. On the other hand the gear doors will be getting the full treatment as you can see them.

Joel

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Since my last update, I've been slowly, and I mean slowly working on the 2 big P&W R2600-9 radial engines. My original plan was to use the plastic molded ignition manifold and wiring, but that quickly became a unrealistic option due to the poor molding and horrendous alignment issues.

Each engine consists of a front and rear bank of cylinders.

untitled-1_1.jpg

A crankcase housing with the wiring manifold and wires all molded as one piece.

untitled-2.jpg

Like I said, I thought that it looked good enough, so I test fitted the engine and the wiring harness wasn't close to fitting into each cylinder. You can see in this side view how off the alignment is.

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I started detailing the engine using Evergreen .025 rod to represent the valve pushrod cases.

untitled-4.jpg

I cut off the molded on ignition wires from the manifold, sanded to shape, then drilled the appropriate holes for all the wires, and the corresponding 2 holes per each cylinder.

I primed all the parts with AK AMMO gray primer thinned 1:1 with Tamiya X20-A thinner. Then airbrushed on a coat of Life Color Flat Black, followed by dry brushing on Model Master Aluminum. The last step was a gloss clear coat each pushrod casing as they were a glossy black when new. The crankcase was painted with Model Master enamel Engine Gray FS36076.

Then the tedious installation of individual wires. I picked the wire both for it's approx. size and color, as I wanted to add some much needed contrast to the engine especially once it's covered with the cowling.

The finished engine:

B-25B%204%2022%2016-1.jpg

And with the cowling so you can see just how little of the engine one will see other then head on.

B-25B%204%2022%2016-2.jpg

And now to build the 2nd engine as it's only primed at this point.

Joel

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Great work on those engines Joel. I'll have to use those tricks on my next project.

F20D,

Thanks for the thumbs up. while my methods work for 1/48 scale, your next effort that I've already signed up for is a 1/32 B-17. The ignition manifold is way more detailed, and should make your job that much easier. But your choice of what wire and color will be the make or break it of that detailing effort. The wires themselves vary all over the place with respect to restorations, so you're going to have to find pictures of an actual B-17 engine and go from there. Fortunately, they're pretty easy to come by.

Joel

Edited by Joel_W
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Looking good. I used the injection molded ignition harness on mine and wish I had taken the time to replace it with solder.

As you may already be aware, the openings on the engine cowls are too small. They should be 3/4" in diameter (the real thing was exactly 3'). A few minutes work with some rolled up 400 grit sandpaper should do the trick. It's more accurate and you'll be able to see more of that nifty engine work.

Cheers,

Tony

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~

Then the tedious installation of individual wires. I picked the wire both for it's approx. size and color, as I wanted to add some much needed contrast to the engine especially once it's covered with the cowling.

The finished engine:

B-25B%204%2022%2016-1.jpg

And with the cowling so you can see just how little of the engine one will see other then head on.

B-25B%204%2022%2016-2.jpg

Wow, what a difference a little wash and some individual wires make! That really looks good, Joel! I can only imagine what detailing a 1/32 model would be like can-of-worms.gifsmile.gif.

Cheers,

Russ

Edited by striker8241
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Wow, what a difference a little wash and some individual wires make! That really looks good, Joel! I can only imagine what detailing a 1/32 model would be like can-of-worms.gifsmile.gif.

Cheers,

Russ

Russ,

The thought has crossed my mind, but lucky, I've just as quickly come to my senses.

Joel

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Looking good. I used the injection molded ignition harness on mine and wish I had taken the time to replace it with solder.

As you may already be aware, the openings on the engine cowls are too small. They should be 3/4" in diameter (the real thing was exactly 3'). A few minutes work with some rolled up 400 grit sandpaper should do the trick. It's more accurate and you'll be able to see more of that nifty engine work.

Cheers,

Tony

Tony,

1st of all, I'm sorry that I missed your post, but I haven't been around to much of late. I've opened up the cowlings some, but not to 3/4 of an inch, so I really do have to re-address that issue. Thanks for keeping me on course.

Joel

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, with very limited modeling time these days due to family health issues, I finally managed to finish both of the big P&W R-2600-P engines.

As it was pointed out to me numerous times, there is an issue with the diameter of the engine opening in the cowls. I originally opened them up some, but not enough. Checking my usual modeling sources, the conscious of opinion from the more knowledgeable WW11 builders/historians, the opening in 1/48 scale should be 3/4 of an inch. So working with various dia. metal and wood dowels wrapped with #320 emery cloth, I eventually increased each opening to that I.D. measurement.

Here's a picture of the before with a slight adjustment on the right, and the correct I.D. on the left.

B-25B%205%202%2016-1.jpg

Next up was to just glue both engines to their respective nacelles.

B-25B-2.jpg

B-25B-1.jpg

Then the cowls were glued on using CCA gel glue as the joint is basically a butt joint with a tab on the bottom.

B-25B-5_1.jpg

B-25B-3.jpg

B-25B-4_1.jpg

As you can see, the front strut is taped to my Tamiya mat as I still need to work on the base. Ok, start the base would be more like it.

Joel

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