Monogram B-25J--Completed

[Second Air Force]

I've been sitting on this project for a while now (1981) and seeing the profiles No.1 has been doing in the Artwork forum inspired me to get a start on the kit.

Monogram B-25J--Completed

I originally wanted to do a gun-nose J but this kit came with the normal glass nose. I started to scratchbuild a solid nose from green putty and kit pieces but it didn't show much promise. That led me to stuff the whole thing back in the box and it's been there since. Recently I found a gun nose in the parts box from a model I broke up and it got me revitalized. Finally I purchased an Aeromaster 345th Bomb Group decal sheet last month so here is a quick first update.

Monogram B-25J--Completed

You can see the red gun nose on the left (I painted it the wrong color on my original model ) and the green putty attempt on the right of the box.

Monogram B-25J--Completed

If any of you have built any of the 1/48 Mitchells you know how much weight it takes to keep the nose gear on the ground. A trick I figured out years ago is to seal the engine nacelles forward of the gear and fill the cavities with lead shot. This works well as it transfers some of the weight to the wings, right in front of the gear. There will still be a need for more weight in the nose, but it won't be so hard on the nose gear by distributing the lead this way. Here's one of the nacelles with the white bulkhead glued in place. Everything in front of the bulkhead all the way to the firewall will be filled with lead.

Monogram B-25J--Completed

This is a low-priority project but I'll update it when I can.
Scott

[No.1]

Low priority or not, this will be nice to see

[Sall]

1/48 One more huge machine from your side! Excellent!

[Second Air Force]

Yes, it is a large one when finished, and I don't really have a place to display it! My cabinet is full now so I'll have to get creative for storing this and the B-17 if I ever finish it......

[Sall]

Maybe you can pay more attention to this two huge birds. B-17 and B-25 becouse they are so interesting. It is only my oppinion!

[draken35]

You have always nice projects

[Second Air Force]

Maybe you can pay more attention to this two huge birds. B-17 and B-25 becouse they are so interesting. It is only my oppinion!

I agree with your opinion, Sall--the Fortress has always been my favorite bomber and I've read stories about the B-25 (Doolittle Raid books in the early years of school) since I was a little guy. My only problem with the Mitchell is to figure out where I'm going to put it when it's complete, and the Y1B-17 remains a long-term project.

Perhaps I can make more time for the B-25 if I don't start any others for a few weeks!

[Sall]

Place for put it is the lightest thing. Just start works on those two projects. Do what ever you want,but it is my advice to you.

[Second Air Force]

I hear and obey! An update perhaps tomorrow......  

[Second Air Force]

Okay, a small update.

First things first was to assemble the weighted nacelles to the wings and apply a bit of filler. This kit has some gaps around the wing/nacelle joints that requires CA glue and then putty to correct. Then I taped the fuselage halves together to make certain that the halves weren't warped from thirty years of being in the box.

Monogram B-25J--Completed

Here's the nose before I started removing the old paint. I don't really remember constructing this one, but I used the standard glass nose with a new tip. I think the tip may be a P-61 radome. It then just took some reshaping and filler to get the shape just right. This will be an interesting sub-project to rebuild--the flaws aren't as evident with the parrot head paint scheme.

Monogram B-25J--Completed

Monogram B-25J--Completed

[No.1]

Nice effort you did before with hand painted parrot

[Sall]

Nice to see progress here!
Good start. From something you must begin!

[Second Air Force]

Nice effort you did before with hand painted parrot

Thank you , but I painted the feathers red and they should have been green . It's a good thing I didn't build that airplane for contests!!!!!! Back then I had only a black-and-white picture to go by and I blew it big-time......Incidentally, that paint is so hard that I have given up on stripping it. I'm going to sand the paint and use filler to smooth the surface.

[Second Air Force]

Fuselage halves, then joining of the major sections. I'd forgotten how quickly this kit can be assembled, especially when the interior had been painted thirty years prior.......

Monogram B-25J--Completed

Monogram B-25J--Completed

[No.1]

Thirty years Long term preparation