Accurate Minatures 1/48th B-25C 'Dirty Dora'

[pmarshall]

The lovely Accurate Minatures kit, and i am building it as the cover version 'Dirty Dora', a very weather beaten and worn Mitchell



I have a couple of extras for it - Quickboost engines



And Truedetails wheels



Work starts with the Cockpit ( just for a change ), Sprayed dark green , with the back of the bulkhead interior green, and the bomb aimer's access tunnel aluminium



Then painted and weathered down the instrument panel. Painted the instruments from the back, then the front black, leaving the instruments, then some of MIG's Clear in the dials. Used the provided decals for the belts, mainly as once it's closed up it will be almost impossible to see. Picked out some of the switches and throttle levers with artist's gouache paints.





Next the bomb bay and navigator's position - assembled and glued in position, using the fuselage side to help align everything.



Painted with Interior Green and then picked out the details, and an oil wash



Finally for today, sprayed the inside of the bomb bay Alclad aluminium



Peter

[llking]

great start Peter

[Rob]

Really nice start. Looks like a great kit

[Russ72]

Looking good. Nice start.

[UKguyInUSA]

Nice start mate...looks great so far.

[pmarshall]

Today's work on 'Dora' - started the upper turret, first glued all the bit's together, and filled the back of the cartridge collection bags with some Tamiya Light Curing putty.



Then painted Interior green, with Gunmetal MG's, aluminium collection and feed chutes and a leather seat.



Then masked the turret with tamiya tape, sprayed the frame Interior green, and attached to the main turret with GS Hypo cement



Right fuselage side, attached the 'furnature' to this side including the changes specific to 'Dora', hence the plastic strut across the rear window



Painting next - Dark Green for the cockpit section, interior green for the rest of the fuselage apart from the bomb bay which is aluminium





Finally slotted the cockpit sections into place, just to check fit and see what it looks like so far



Peter

[pmarshall]

Today's work on Dora

First adding the 'furnature' on the port side





Then painting the details, once again rear section Interior green, Dark green for the cockpit, and aluminium for the bomb bay





Made up the nose - using GS Hypo glue for the clear parts, and to fill the slight gaps



Next the Huge advantage of having the original Accurate Minatures boxing - you get the brass sheet weights that fit straight in the nose



Finally got the fuselage closed up with the aid of 5 Berna clamps, and used some filler along the joints to smooth it all out. Will need some re-riveting / re-scribing later but nothing major. Also cut out the blast deflector plates for the side 50cals - still need to add blast deflector plates for the top turret.



Peter

[Willem]

That's going to look great. Fab work on the interior and it's really helpful of you to point out the three colours you used.

[Paul]

Off to a great start

[pmarshall]

Today's work on Dora - first for the day, added the blast shields for the top turret out of 10thou plasticard, and rescribed the couple of bits on the top that needed panel lines restoring



Then added the cockpit canopy, using the vinyl masks included in the kit to mask it - don't need to bother with the nose as this is overpainted for Dora



Some nice straight forward construction now - the tail. Dora didn't have any tail guns fitted - instead they had them in the side windows in the rear, which is why there is no glass in the rear windows, and a mounting bar has been added.



Then fitted the entry hatches and the bomb bay doors - not great fit these.



Finally for the day, assembled the wings, and tacked the cowlings in place with blu-tak. Lots of little gaps on these so lots of Mr Surfacer 500 everywhere, but they should clean up nicely. No point in fitting the engines until after all the spraying is done, especially with the masking for the blue flashes for Dora



It's fighting me, but that's half the fun

Peter

[UKguyInUSA]

Great job on the interior, and despite the issues you're bringing her together nicely!

[pmarshall]

Day off today so got some more done - first a coat of Alclad Grey Primer, then a light rubdown, then clean with a tac cloth





Then sprayed Alclad aluminium on the leading edges followed by some AK Worn Effects liquid



Preshaded with a mix of black and dark grey



Then broke up the surface randomly with a buff / grey mix that was very thin, and gradually lightened as I went on



Then onwards with the base coats - first Neutral Grey ( Gunze , with levelling thinners )



Followed by the Olive Drab ( once again Gunze with Levelling thinners ), and the theatre ID patches on the fins ( white )



Let all of that cure overnight before the masking marathon (or snickers now ) tomorrow for the blue bat

Peter

[pmarshall]

This mornings work on Dora - Masking

Using the vinyl masks provided with the kit - they work well, but not a huge fan of this type of vinyl - has a tendency to be a bit too sticky. First placed the vinyl masks in place, then masked around the edges with tape.





Then sprayed with slightly lightened Tamiya Flat Blue ( 10:1 Flat blue to White )





Now weathering starts - first rub the leading edges with a wet brush, which dissolves the "Worn Effects" fluid, and weathers randomly back to the Alclad Aluminium. Once that was done
glued the wings in place.



Painted and fitted the Quickboost engines - Mithril Boltgun, Neutral grey and silver details with an Oil wash over the top



Cowlings and Engines in place



Finally for the morning a coat of Klear over the top - waiting for this to dry ( and the thunderstorm to pass over so I won't get soaked going down to the shed ), then decals next.



Peter

[llking]

looking good

[UKguyInUSA]

Close to that final hurdle.....looking great so far!

[pmarshall]

Well as it stopped raining I got some more done - the Decals are on







Defineately batty now - need to wait for all of them to dry completely now.

Peter

[Nige201980]

Looks bloody amazing mate great work.

[UKguyInUSA]

Looks like those decals are pretty good how they have formed around the features of the plane.....large decals too!
Looking great

[pmarshall]

A bit more done today - first the External gun packs ( sprayed a slightly different shade of OD as they were fitted later ), added the Landing gear with the Resin wheels. And it doesn't Tail sit



MIG Neutral Wash over the underside



MIG Dark Wash on the top surface



Then after a while rub the wash off





Peter

[Russ72]

Looks damn fine Peter. "And it doesn't Tail sit" , always a pleasant surprise for me. Looks like the kit was well supplied.

[pmarshall]

This mornings work - starting the weathering proper. First spraying some 'True Earth' weathering resins over the top to lighten and darken panels slightly and sprayed the exhaust stains ( gradual build up of Tamiya Light Grey, Dark Grey then Black ). Then Flatt coated everything - this needs to dry then I can start with the oils







Peter

[shortCummins]

Hi Peter, any more progress? its looking really good!

[pmarshall]

Hi Peter, any more progress? its looking really good!

It's been in the gallery since june

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