B-25J Mitchell by Tom E - Revell - 1:48 Scale

[popeye the sailor]

I have the same kit.......I wasn't planning to go the PE route.  I'm beginning to have second thoughts.  the engines look really good.

[ASAT]

13 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

I have the same kit.......I wasn't planning to go the PE route.  I'm beginning to have second thoughts.  the engines look really good.

Me too! Would there be any value in dry brushing/detailing the engine more... pushrods etc? It’s amazing how a few little things can add up to make a big difference! Looking good Tom...

[mtaylor]

Lou, to quote a famous saying:  "It can't hurt".

[Tom E]

Evening, 

Cold, rainy night in New Hampshire. That means a good hearty dinner is needed.

Some pasta, red sauce, Italian sausages and garlic bread should do it!!!!

No grog tonight....tall glass of Coke loaded with ice.

 

With a full happy belly, Mitchell needs an update.

 

Popeye, Lou,

I am very new to PE. This project is my introduction to it, never worked with it before. 

With that said, I'm very glad I did. It really looks good.

I also have been using some resin machine gun barrels. I'm very happy I bought those. 

 

The bomb bay is all painted and ready to be glued in. 

After many trial fits, I decided to attach the forward and rear walls first.

Everything fit really well, didn't need much extra work. 

Once the glue sets the top piece and bomb racks will go in. 

I have a backlog of painting to do. 

Started with that distinctive yellow stripe on both engines. 

Used Tamiya flat yellow with Tamiya thinner. 

I made sure the inside lip was yellow. The very inside will be painted an earth green. 

The engines have been painted with Tamiya gun metal. 

Kinda shiny, but since the engines are mostly covered, I'm not too worried about it. 

The rear machine gun has it's new barrels and was also painted gun metal. 

The resin barrels were tricky, a little wonky, but really look good!

The engine cowlings have been taped up.

I'll be using a Mr Color flat Earth Green. 

This will be used for the entire exterior. I tried to match the box art. 

Not too bad.

The bases of the engine have been painted as well. 

We'll let these set up overnight.

 

 

Tom E 

 

 

 

  

[Egilman]

That shade of Flat Earth Green look very close to Olive Drab...., some of them are too greenish.....

 

Looking good Tom...

[popeye the sailor]

I've got an assortment close to that.......depends what arch the sun is at     you can dry brush some bomber tan for fading.  nice progress....looks good  

[Landlubber Mike]

Looking awesome Tom.  You picked a pretty sweet kit to get into airbrushing and PE   I was too chicken and went with tiny WWI 1/72 kits 😐

[Tom E]

Evening, 

Thanks for looking in all the likes! 

 

Mike, 

I went with this model for learning because of it's size.

It's not the biggest or the smallest model I've built, but just the right size to hide "first timer" mistakes!

I figured bigger than 1/72 but no 1/200 battle ships yet. 

 

The tape has come off the engine cowlings. 

Not too shabby.

Some leakage, could have done a better taping job.   

I must say the Tamiya brand masking tape works really well. 

Slowly coming together. 

I started taping the fuselage as well. 

It's next to get it's exterior paint. 

 

Being my first go around with airbrushing. 

Wasn't sure if it was better to paint interior first then exterior later. 

Taping wasn't too bad here, tricky, but not bad. Being that I needed something wider than Tamiya masking tape, I used a simple 3M masking tape. 

I also painted the propellers. Used a Mr. Color flat black. 

These will get there distinctive yellow stripe at the end of each blade and flat aluminum for the central hub and accents. 

I think there are some decals for these, I have to look into that. 

Well, as of today with the ban on some medical procedures being lifted, It was back to work for me. 

Cataract, Retinal, Glaucoma surgeries, eye injections and most other eye procedures, even simple basic everyday eye exams were put on hiatus. 

Some people get monthly injections in the eye for Macular Degeneration. Those people haven't been getting those injections. 

The injections delay vision loss. If folks miss these injections, essentially damage done and vision is lost.

There's going to be a lot of desperate folks.  

 

It's going to be a mess!

Models may not be on the top of my agenda for the next day or two.

At least until our team finds it's rhythm and starts humming again like a well oiled machine. 

 

Tom E

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Some very fine nice work there,   thank you for what you do.

 

OC.

[Landlubber Mike]

You're a lot smarter than I am Tom.  I went with the 1/72 planes (bi planes of all things which have their added complication) and a 1/700 WWII destroyer to reintroduce me to plastic modeling.  It's been an adventure to say the least.  Looking forward to moving up to bigger scales I can tell you that.

[ASAT]

Looking great Tom, nice detail work... I wonder for future reference (when I do mine) I wonder if you had painted the green first on the cowls if it would be easier to mask? Seems like a larger radius and you could shoot away from the mold line.... 

[mtaylor]

Looking great, Tom.   Just be careful out there at work and I hope the rhythm comes back quickly to you and your team.

[Canute]

Lou and everybody. Prime with a light color (white/gray?pale yellow). Yellows and reds are translucent colors, so the primer is needed. Then, paint the yellow areas. Finally, paint the darker color(s). Always paint light to dark.  I tried to paint a black item with red once upon a time; gave it up as a lost cause. Stripped the shell, primed and it looked much better.

[Javlin]

Tom most modelers glue the fuse shut clean up the seams then spray.This were mask for the canopy and other glass comes in handy everything gets hit at once.You can paint the tips of the props yellow I do it this way about 50% of the time just several light coats will be needed. Kevin

[Tom E]

Evening, 

Just had one very quiet weekend...on purpose! 

Chores were done early, and modeling was on tap! 

 

Worked on both Niagara and the Mitchell. 

Mitchell seemed to get the fair share of attention.

 

The fuselage has been painted with Mr Color Earth Green.

Painfully obvious that I'm still learning the thinner/paint ratio.

We'll call it camo shading! 

This will get another coat after the underside gets a coating of Tamiya Sky Grey. 

The two fuselage halves are not glued together yet.

Just wanted to see how big this bird will be.

The two halves do kind of fall into place with each other. I just don't remember that with kits as a kid in the 80's. 

I think the interior Olive Drab works well with the Earth Green exterior. 

Nice contrast, nothing too garish. 

The pics do make the Earth Green look brighter than it actually is. 

Rear stabilizers and rudders. 

Port and Starboard wings. 

The engine compartments aren't glued in yet. 

I doubt I'll go crazy with panel line accent on the wings and such, I have zero experience with it. 

Probably try it on the landing gear. 

No where close to being glued in yet, just wanted to see how the engines look so far. 

In the end, I'm happy with the PE for this kit.

I think it adds a great extra dimension to, what was, a kind of drab engine straight from the kit. 

I'm hooked!!!!!  

Keep washing those hands people!!!!

 

Tom E 

 

 

[mtaylor]

I like that paint work.  It has a "used" look to it.  The aircraft I've seen never fade evenly so you do get light and darks.

[Javlin]

I agree with Mark if you do respray go a light coat from a distance just to kinda blend it. Kevin

[CDW]

Very nice work, Tom. You're getting the hang of this quickly and it looks great!

[Egilman]

That is a great representation of old faded OD green..... it shows as yellow cause if you ever saw color shots of the earth over say rambling hills trees and valleys the actual earth looks yellowish brown with green splotches... Especially in semi-arid places...

[popeye the sailor]

yep.........kind of what I did with the Wulfe hound.   I later streaked it with Bomber tan to give it more fading.    .....it came out just as you wanted it too..........didn't it?!?!?!   

[Tom E]

Evening, 

Thanks for all the kind words fellas! Much appreciated! 

 

Denis, you saw thru me...….had that color in my head the entire time !!!.…..I wish!!!!!

I've been thinking about my painting and the thinner/paint ratio. 

It dawned on me, isn't that sort of how "oil canning" is done for ships? A lot of that technique is in the paint/thinner ratio....right?

Or am I way off?

 

The build continues. 

With the exterior mostly done, it's time to start to button up the interior so I can eventually bring the two halves together. 

The bombs have been glued in. 

 

I test fit these things once and they slid in perfectly. 

I just don't remember kits of my childhood doing that.  Was always a struggle. One would fit, one would look like it goes to entirely different model.

Nice to see the plastic kits have improved nicely. 

Once glued in, I test fit the two halves and the bombs folded in amongst each other perfectly.

All of the landing gear are done. 

Nothing glued together yet. 

The cockpit has been glued in.

It just slid right in.

Some shaping done for a final fit, but not much. 

She's really starting to come together.

There's a lot of interior detail. More could be done than I did. 

But this is a "learning" model......lessoned learned!

The rear machine gun is glued in.

The rear gunner seat, and other detail, are actually attached to the other half of the model.

When I test fit this area with the two halves, fit perfectly.

Although, I think I did break off a tiny piece of PE, which went right back where it was, and no problems since. 

Stay safe

 

Tom E 

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work Tom, really busy in that  plane.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

she's looking good Tom     one thing to consider........this is a tail dragger.........you will need to add weight to the nose of the fuselage for it to sit on it's wheels.  having the same kit,  I see that there is a space under the cockpit where the weight can be added,  and not be seen.   is that space viewable from the nose glass?   I recently found a 2 1/4 oz wheel weight in the road ,  which will be perfect for the job.   although this really wasn't a problem,  since I had bought two boxes of different size wheel weights a while ago from the part store {Advanced Auto}..............{made me laugh....I had to tell them what each type was for}......then again,   the folks at Auto Pro didn't even know about vulcanizing cement used for tire repair.

   if you have a garage that you frequent,  ask to see if they have any used wheel weights........or check out your local part store to see if they have any stick on weights {for alloy rims}.   I hope I caught you in time.

[Egilman]

I hope you were in time Denis, at least 2 and a half, I would shade closer to three...

[popeye the sailor]

there is another remedy........like I did for my F 15 Eagle.  I made an asphalt base  {wood base painted flat black},  and I super glued the tires to it.   I also made a stand for another of my builds,  but it's hard with a bomber,  because the center of balance is at the bomb bay doors.   how I calculate how much weight is as follows:

 

taking two chairs back to back, spaced far enough away to rest the wing tips on them.  for this you will need to tape the fuselage together and the wings firmly in place.   take weight and place it on the nose until the plane looks level.   you may need to set up something to catch the plane in an emergency.......not that it might happen,  but it's good to be prepared    I do the same for my balsa plane too.

[Old Collingwood]

I used to uses any old screws/nuts etc knocking around  (pinching them out of my dads  work box)🤫then I would set them in a  ball of blue tak/putty  to stop them moving about.

 

OC.

[Egilman]

9 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

there is another remedy........like I did for my F 15 Eagle.  I made an asphalt base  {wood base painted flat black},  and I super glued the tires to it.   I also made a stand for another of my builds,  but it's hard with a bomber,  because the center of balance is at the bomb bay doors.   how I calculate how much weight is as follows:

 

taking two chairs back to back, spaced far enough away to rest the wing tips on them.  for this you will need to tape the fuselage together and the wings firmly in place.   take weight and place it on the nose until the plane looks level.   you may need to set up something to catch the plane in an emergency.......not that it might happen,  but it's good to be prepared    I do the same for my balsa plane too.

I do something similar for big planes on trikes... but in consideration I use non hardening modeling clay for the weight. It can be packed into whatever space you got with no need for hot glueing weights... and there is also the old standby of a screw through the base into the nosewheel...

[popeye the sailor]

I use Ca to glue the weights in........either that or two sided tape { test first}.

[mtaylor]

2 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

she's looking good Tom     one thing to consider........this is a tail dragger.........

I think you meant "not" a tail dragger, Denis, since it has a nose wheel.   

[Canute]

9 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

I use Ca to glue the weights in........either that or two sided tape { test first}.

I'll second that, Denis. Although I might do it in reverse order. The two sided tape or foam-backed tire weights are most likely to stay put. CA is good, unless it gets brittle and the model is handled. Bathtub calk works, too.

 

Do not use solvent type glues (Goo,Ambroid or whatever) to hold weights. They out-gas for a long time and will warp most plastics. I've seen old freight car models fold in half because the glue melted the styrene.