1/48 Accurate Miniatures B-25 B "Doolittle Raid" (Finished)

Finally was able to log back in to say what a beautiful piece of craftsmanship this is, and what a beautiful piece keavdog had on the survivor and his story. I was watching the B-25 piece on "Plane Resurrection" the other day (wonderful show by the way) and was reminded of an aspect of the raid's aftermath we rarely hear about, hundreds (maybe thousands) of Chinese were executed by the Japanese in reprisals for helping the Doolittle raiders. Puts a sharper point on the bravery and sacrifice of the raid.

Another of what I'm sure will be the excellent and informative kind of WIP that I MUST reference for the future build of my Academy "G".

Also late to the party thanks to the log-in problem but taking a seat!

Indeed, Academy rebranded the G and B (Doolittle) versions, Italeri got the C/D, all of them minus the nose weight. Recently, Italeri put out the G with a new set of decals.

I scored the original Accurate gunship C/D-version a while ago online, it's waiting on the shelf for the day I'll be good enough to tackle it ; I'll learn straight from your bench . I was on a B-25 binge and eager to do the New Guinea "bat" versions, Accurate for the glass nose, old Monogram for the hard nose.

Your interior is stunning as usual, Accurate's work is great out of the box, real shame you can't see anything once the turkey is sewed up.

It's quite unusual to see you tackle on big birds like this one! :)

lawdog114

 

Chip

I know you've used Mission Model paints in the past, I'm interested in your thoughts on how they compare the gunze or tamiya...  I wouldn't mind changing over to a water based paint solution but have yet to bite the bullet.

Thanks Chip, glad to have you along.  Mission works a bit differently than the others.   Here's a good tutorial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=644Dalxa8YA 

Lawdog, thanks for the tutorial on the Mission Model paint. Has it worked out just as well for you? I figure it would have to be twice as good as Tamiya; it cost twice as much!

GMorrison

It's out in the shed, but I think I have a Hobby Boss or Academy version.

Doolittle retired where I live. i met him once at a cafe for breakfast, and own a couple of books about the raid, although not Lawson's.

One interesting fact. The aircraft all taxied up to the same take off point.

No way there could be an aircraft with a ton of bombs and several hundred gallons of avgas careening into the island on takeoff.

 

Thanks for stopping in G.  Your lucky!  He's certainly on my list of people I wish I had met.  Thanks for the taxiing info.  Indeed, a B-25 into the tower would have been disasterous.    

It's out in the shed, but I think I have a Hobby Boss or Academy version.

Doolittle retired where I live. i met him once at a cafe for breakfast, and own a couple of books about the raid, although not Lawson's.

One interesting fact. The aircraft all taxied up to the same take off point.

No way there could be an aircraft with a ton of bombs and several hundred gallons of avgas careening into the island on takeoff.

Mopar Madness

I too wanted to comment for days.  I’m on board for this one! I’ve really been considering the recent Italeri repop.

 

Thanks Chad,

You can still find original AM releases on ebay.  I suppose I just prefer the original molds.  

Keyda81

I wanted to comment days ago, and say how beautiful that looks, but I was locked out, lol.  Really though, that looks great! 

 

Thanks Keyda.  Glad to have you aboard.

I too wanted to comment for days.  I’m on board for this one! I’ve really been considering the recent Italeri repop.

I wanted to comment days ago, and say how beautiful that looks, but I was locked out, lol.  Really though, that looks great! 

BrandonK

Didn't Academy or someone pick up the molds for these and start repopping them under their name? Anywho, I love this plane and want to add one to the stash. I am looking forward to seeing the master at work on this.

BK

 

Good to have you Brandon.  I believe Academy and Italieri have "borrowed" some of the molds.  I've seen their Dauntless boxed by Academy too.  It's my understanding AM still owns them, and likely get a cut.  

plasticjunkie

Dog, the Mitchell is looking fantastic. Too bad most of all that beautiful interior will not be seen once the fuselage is closed up..

 

Thanks PJ, thats why I didnt go crazy with painting it.  

keavdog

I built this kit for a friend of mine who is the grandson of the Doolittle raider co-pilot Griffith Paul Williams (RIP) was on crew 40-2267 TNT.  Survived the mission, later shot down in a B-26 over North Africa and spent the rest of the war as a POW.  Passed away in 1998.  I have a copy of his memoirs and reads much like 30 seconds over Tokeo - a book I read in the 6th grade.

Glad to have you along John.  What a cool story.  Do you have any pics of TNT? I'd love to see it.  

bvallot

I have planned to do a B-25B myself one day when I can get around to it. I recently had the opportunity to meet *** Cole who was Jimmy Doolittle’s copilot. He was at a CAF event that’s been coming to New Orleans the past few years. He’s the last surviving member from the flight at 103 years old.

Glad to have to Britt.  Indeed he's the last of a very exclusive club.  The next time I do this subject it will be his ride.   

Chip

I know you've used Mission Model paints in the past, I'm interested in your thoughts on how they compare the gunze or tamiya...  I wouldn't mind changing over to a water based paint solution but have yet to bite the bullet.

Thanks Chip, glad to have you along.  Mission works a bit differently than the others.   Here's a good turorial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=644Dalxa8YA

or here....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=644Dalxa8YA

FSM gift ideas has a review of Italleri's AM B-25G I have 4 AM kits on my shelf plus 5 Revell B-25Js. Looking at the review reminded me what I do not like about those excellent AM kits. That is the recessed panel lines. B-25.s had over lapping panels; with no space between them!

Both Italeri and Academy have repopped the AM B-25's in the last few years (Scalemates).

BrandonK

Didn't Academy or someone pick up the molds for these and start repopping them under their name? 

BK 

Italleri has some of them; I am not sure who else.

Didn't Academy or someone pick up the molds for these and start repopping them under their name? Anywho, I love this plane and want to add one to the stash. I am looking forward to seeing the master at work on this.

BK

Dog, the Mitchell is looking fantastic. Too bad most of all that beautiful interior will not be seen once the fuselage is closed up..

Chip

 

Also, I know you've used Mission Model paints in the past, I'm interested in your thoughts on how they compare the gunze or tamiya...  I wouldn't mind changing over to a water based paint solution but have yet to bite the bullet.

 

I too compared MMP to Tamiya and they seem to spray equally well, just like enamels. I was VERY impressed how well MMP did in my fine spray line testing. Haven't tried Gunze but have heard great things about it too.

Looking good!  I built this kit for a friend of mine who is the grandson of the Doolittle raider co-pilot Griffith Paul Williams (RIP) was on crew 40-2267 TNT.  Survived the mission, later shot down in a B-26 over North Africa and spent the rest of the war as a POW.  Passed away in 1998.  I have a copy of his memoirs and reads much like 30 seconds over Tokeo - a book I read in the 6th grade.

http://veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1933

Looking forward to the rest of this build.

Lawdog - The B-25 Mitchell is a subject that I've always admired but one that I'm too intimidated to build. I can't wait to see you work your magic on this kit. 

Also, I know you've used Mission Model paints in the past, I'm interested in your thoughts on how they compare the gunze or tamiya...  I wouldn't mind changing over to a water based paint solution but have yet to bite the bullet.

Glad to have you guys along. Interesting on paint information.  Speaking of reference pictures, all the pics I’ve seen of these on the Hornet show them to be quite weathered. So much for fresh paint...lol. I‘ll do mine accordingly. 

I plan to do the Duck with the decals that come in the kit. I presume they are for the real plane not the movie one. 

lawdog114

Thanks Damian.  I'll probably use the recently acquired Mission Models Olive Drab as a base and fade it from there.  It's my understanding these were freshly painted so I won't go crazy with it.  I'll used Tamiya Neutral Grey for the underside.  Thanks for tagging along.  

 

LD, are you going to do a movie version, or the actual paint and weathering?  Most of these aircraft were well used in the Louisiana Maneuvers, and had peeling paint and poor removal of the exercise markings.

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/airfix-b-25-c-d-to-a-doolittle-raider-b-t498089.html

It is a very nice kit; I built one a few years ago.

Don't forget nose weights!  They included them on earlier production, but when I contacted the company looking for mine, I found out that they had eliminated them.  Trying to save some cost, I guess.  Accurate Miniatures made some nice models; too bad they are gone.

The interior even has a "head", and the earlier versions had a very tiny "Life" magazine to go into a wall pocket in that area!

Great start, should be an interesting build. Will you be making a section of Hornet deck to display it on.

Hey Lawdog, yes these birds were suppose to be freshly painted and there are plenty of photos of what that looks like as they sat on Hornet's deck. Google Doolittle B-25!