Global Scale Modeller

I love this forum and the group builds. My Phantom is progressing nicely so I decided to enter my Mitchell bomber.

Here are the opening photos and a little blurb about the J model from Squadron Signal's book.


b-25j-1 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-7 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-8 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-2 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-3 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-4 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-5 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-6 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25J_pg-34_Page_34 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

I made some very minor progress on the B-25J while I work on the Phantom. I glued in the radio stack(?), some boxes and a seat. The instructions were a little vague on where to attach the radios, but I think I got them close to where they need to be.


b-25j-9 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

I worked a bit more on the B-25 gluing in more interior details, assembling the cockpit and the bomb bay. Next up will be priming and painting with some more details going in.


b-25j-10 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

I sprayed a coat of black Stynylrez primer on the interior parts and front landing gear strut.


b-25j-11 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

I've painted the interior with Model Master Acrylic Interior Green. These photos show the details of the left fuselage half painted in more MM acrylics. The cables, dials, and buttons were colored with an artist white charcoal pencil. After all of the detail painting is finished, it will be sealed with gloss varnish and an enamel wash applied.


b-25j-13 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-14 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-15 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

I've been doing a lot of detail painting that will likely go unseen once the fuselage is closed up. Here is the cockpit. After this photo was taken I sprayed the pieces with artists acrylic gloss varnish. Lately, I've been experimenting with various varnishes available locally. I'm not all that happy with theLiquitex I sprayed. One needs to make sure you keep a wet edge while spraying, other wise you end up with a matt/gloss blotchy surface as the mist dries quickly. If you do keep a wet edge, you need to be careful not to put too much varnish down.


b-25j-16 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

Testors Create FX Acrylic Wash does not work like a weathering wash. It bonds pretty darn tightly. I must now to some touch up sprays on the interior of the B-25.

SkyPainter303 wrote:Testors Create FX Acrylic Wash does not work like a weathering wash. It bonds pretty darn tightly. I must now to some touch up sprays on the interior of the B-25.

Did you have it gloss coated? What did it do?

yeah, it was gloss coated. The was still stuck like glue. I was able to rub some of it off, but it isn't too pretty.

Is that the stuff they sell at Michael's? I saw it and almost got some. I might pick some up and see how it does.

BTW: good to see another South Carolinian on the forum!

Lovely work so far buddy!

chops1sc wrote:Is that the stuff they sell at Michael's? I saw it and almost got some. I might pick some up and see how it does.

BTW: good to see another South Carolinian on the forum!

Yup, bought it at Michaels. Don't let it dry overnight, that's for sure.

I had been using the Create FX enamel stain which works pretty well.

Thank's for the warm welcome. It looks like fall is finally here.

-Michael

Last night I sprayed on some more Model Master Acrylic Interior Green to tone down the acrylic wash that didn't go so well. I think it looks acceptable even though some of the detail painting I did early on is now muted. Once the fuselage is together, it won't matter much. I will probably put down a matt coat first.


b-25j-17 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-19 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-18 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-24 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-23 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-22 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-20 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

I've made some more progress on my B-25. I've assembled the interior and attached the front landing gear. I then sprayed on a matte coat. After the cockpit was glued in, I remembered that I forgot to put in a nose weight.

I also painted the bombs in Vallejo Model Color American Olive Drab


b-25j-25 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-26 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-27 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-28 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-29 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-30 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

I am slowing working this kit. Between a full-time overnight job and an on-call, day job, I don't have a lot of time for my hobby.

I joined the fuselage halves together and had a nasty seam to work over.


b-25j-31 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-33 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr




I predict the canopy will have fitment issues I'll need to deal with. There is a major step there.


b-25j-32 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr



I was able to sand out the upper seam.


b-25j-34 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

I spent my time at the bench tonight working on cleaning up seams. I finished the seam on the bottom of the fuselage shown here before the putty was sanded smooth.


b-25j-35 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr



I then assembled the wing halves and engine nacelle halves. Much time was spent cleaning up the leading and trailing edges of the wings and the nacelle seams. On the nacelles, I scribed the join of the main gear doors. The join at the nacelle/wing area is horrendous. To facilitate filling and smoothing the gap, I am beveling the engine piece before gluing the wing. I also removed the copyright text.


b-25j-37 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-40 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-39 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-36 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

This evening I worked on filling those huge gaps by making putty fillets. First I used Tamiya Basic putty followed with Tamiya white putty sanding between. After the putty, I brushed on some Mr. Finisher. It is much better than before.


b-25j-42 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-41 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr



On the topside, I applied some Tamiya white putty to blend in the upper parts of the nacelles. This, of course, will be sanded smooth.


b-25j-43 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

Over these past few days, I've had a little time at the workbench.

I attached the main wings which revealed a canyon sized gap around the entire wing profile on both sides of the fuselage. I used some lacquer thinner to thin Tamiya white putty which I then brushed into the gap. After that dried I used progressively finer sanding sticks to smooth out the putty. A couple of spots required some touch ups, so I painted on some Mr. Finisher.


b-25j-46 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-44 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr



I attached what I think is the direction finding antenna to the lower front fuselage.


b-25j-45 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr



I also attached the horizontal stabilizer. Once again, there are massive gaps to fill.


b-25j-47 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr


b-25j-48 by Michael Keogh, on Flickr

It doesn't look like I'm going to finish this build in time. There is so much filler on this model and I've had to put it down to work on my Christmas gift HH-60H. I'll tell ya, the quality Hobbyboss kit simply falls together compared to this Revell re-pop. Someday I'll learn to invest in good kits to avoid build-rage and frustration.

Good work ! I love bombers ! Is the kit any good ? I was planning to buy the same