crazypoet Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 So here's my starting point... yes, I *just* opened the box... I'm still thinking about which ship to build - lots of options, with some interesting stories to tell. Before I start, though, I have to clear *this* from the bench... I should have this out of the way by the end of March - famous last words! This will be fun
Brundledonk Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 Good to see another b-25 in the mix and looks like you have a ton of etch ahead too judging from the big ed set. That's a big boat too mate Good luck with your build buddy Pete
crazypoet Posted January 5, 2016 Author Posted January 5, 2016 I found a decal set for this, based on aircraft from the 345th BG. I'll use those as a base, for squadron markings and such, but will find a different ship to model. I ordered a copy of the 345th BG history from Amazon, and I'm digging into their historical association's website for further inspiration. I read about some of the missions they flew a long time ago - there were some impressive young men who did some amazing things in a campaign that doesn't get nearly the attention that it deserves.
Thomas_Lund Posted January 5, 2016 Posted January 5, 2016 A lot of Mitchell's around - looking forward to seeing your's progress
youngtiger1 Posted January 6, 2016 Posted January 6, 2016 With the amount of Mitchells here you guys can make your own Catch 22 modeling movie 1
crazypoet Posted January 12, 2016 Author Posted January 12, 2016 Ya just never know - that could be a truly fun Group Build... I just received a copy of "Warpath Across the Pacific" by Lawrence Hickey. It's an illustrated history of the 345th BG and their actions in the SW Pacific. There's a wealth of material here, and I'll use this to refine my search for the specific ship I want to build. i have decals for several ships in the Group, but I'll likely mix and match them a bit to build a less well-known story. It will still be a couple months before I can start the build, as I have to finish the picket boat first, but I'm investing research time now. 1
crazypoet Posted January 20, 2016 Author Posted January 20, 2016 I found my ship, finally. I've been looking for a documented B-25J-22 with both the gun nose and side-pack guns installed. Most of the J-22s had the side-pack guns removed by April of 1945, and the photos I've found to-date reflect this. Fortunately, someone caught a pic of one before the modification happened... "Fatso" 44-29588 - had the side-pack guns removed between April and May of 1945, but I found a photo of the ship from March of 1945 with the guns still installed (and with blast marks and mission markers on the fuselage proving that they'd been well-used). There's a nice decal set from EagleCals for this ship as she existed later (with the "Fatso" nose art). I'm going to use those decals with a few mods to match the March '45 photo. Sadly, she won't have the nose art - but I'll still have a good "point in time" snapshot for this aircraft. In doing my research for this, I found another B-25 that I'd like to tackle in the future - B-25D-1 Strafer "Tondelayo". This ship and crew fought a running 75-minute battle against 50-odd Japanese fighters after a raid on Rabaul on 10/18/43. While flying a few feet above the water with one dead engine, her crew was credited with downing 5 Japanese fighters directly with 4 *more* credited for fighters seen to crash into the water after misjudging attack runs on the damaged ship. I don't have the wherewithal to buy and carve up another B-25 kit at the moment, but this is a truly worthy future subject. 1
kkarlsen Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 Good choice! Yeah, I'm also not having the "guts" to "destroy" the J-model. The D-model, in terms of historical interesting "ships", would offer so many more facinating options! The B-25D's fought so many heroic battles long before the J-model turned up!
crazypoet Posted January 20, 2016 Author Posted January 20, 2016 One of the aftermarket vendors could do well with a conversion kit! Though I may tackle the project on my own at some point down the road 1
crazypoet Posted August 15, 2016 Author Posted August 15, 2016 So to update - I've been so buried this year that I've not even started this. With any luck, I'll at least be able to apply paint and glue to one sub-assembly before the contest ends!
crazypoet Posted January 5, 2017 Author Posted January 5, 2017 Well, I still haven't done more than open the box on this, as I've been focused entirely on the picket boat build. Even so, I commit to having at least a sprue cut and something with paint on it before this GB closes! 2016 was just a mess timewise, so I'm writing the year off as a lesson in patience and looking forward to a more productive and fun 2017... Meanwhile, I found a source for the parafrag cluster bombs I need over at Resin2Detail.com. I ordered enough for a full load, so one of these might be the thing that gets painted...!
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