HK B-25J -double the fun

[BlrwestSiR]

I finally hit a major milestone and got the fuselages closed up. 

The joints were fairly decent. I had a bit of a gap on the lower seam of French Kiss but it eventually closed up on a second pass with cement. Time to let the seams set up a bit so I'll start on the wings.

Carl

 

[Wingco57]

As you say a mile stone reached. Wonderful detailing and having two of these beasts on the bench you really don't make it easy for yourself.

How do you keep motivated on these builds?

Cees

[Martinnfb]

Holy smokes, that is small step for Carl but .... wait.... humanity is pleased :), very neat my friend. Most exciting.

Cheers

M.

[BlrwestSiR]

On 10/1/2018 at 2:32 AM, Wingco57 said:

As you say a mile stone reached. Wonderful detailing and having two of these beasts on the bench you really don't make it easy for yourself.

How do you keep motivated on these builds?

Cees

Thanks Cees! 

It is a challenge to keep motivated on these big builds that for sure. The encouragement from other members helps a bunch. The last time I tried something similar was on a HK/Tamiya Mossie double build  I ended up finishing the HK one but then it suffered a Category A incident and I lost interest in finishing the Tamiya one. It spent a year in purgatory before I got around to completing it. 

On 10/1/2018 at 11:28 AM, Martinnfb said:

Holy smokes, that is small step for Carl but .... wait.... humanity is pleased :), very neat my friend. Most exciting.

Cheers

M.

Thanks Martin! No sledgehammer needed. 

[BlrwestSiR]

With the fuselages drying away, I turned my attention to the wings. On the nacelles, one thing I noticed is that the gear doors are engraved at the same depth as the panel lines. I decided to deepen them a bit to make them look like they open.

Before:

After:

I then glued the wing halves together and attached the MLG leg, followed by the nacelles. 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

Thanks Maxim! 

It's a thin line of putty in the nacelle/wing seam. I needed it on one of them for some reason, probably  operator error.

Also, thanks for the heads up on the landing light. I'll look out for that when I get there. 

Carl

[BlrwestSiR]

I finally started work on smoothing out the fuselage seams. It wasn't as bad or difficult as I expected thankfully.

I did lose a couple panel lines so I've re-engraved those onto the fuselage.

Next up were the rivets. To better see the existing ones, I gave the fuselage a quick panel wash.

Carl

[harv]

.......Harv 

[TJTX]

Loving it! I'm watching and learning. 

[BlrwestSiR]

Ok, small update. I finished re-scribing both fuselages and same goes for the rivets. 

With that done, I painted the IP coaming. 

Next up, I polished both canopies using a couple grades of Tamiya polishing compound. I then gave them a wipe with Tamiya Gloss Coat.  Here's the end result. 

Now that Halloween is done, I'll have a bit more time at the bench.

Carl

[harv]

Looking good buddy !.......Harv  

[Martinnfb]

[GazzaS]

Two amazing builds!

[Clunkmeister]

Heebeejeebees man! I get the chills looking at these builds. It’s awesome! Truly!  Matter of fact, I’ve shamessly downloaded any pics that might also apply to my H, especially around the waist gun areas. My radio room and flight deck is completely different, as is some of the waist gun areas.  

[Clunkmeister]

Carl, here I go with the age old question on interior colors. 

I always thought an interior green, but others use a chromate. We’re there options or am I wrong?  I see RESTORATIONS done in an interior green, but who knows if that’s right or not.

[BlrwestSiR]

1 hour ago, Clunkmeister said:

Carl, here I go with the age old question on interior colors. 

I always thought an interior green, but others use a chromate. We’re there options or am I wrong?  I see RESTORATIONS done in an interior green, but who knows if that’s right or not.

Ernie, here's the chart I've been using from the Schiffer book with regards to the interior colours. 

In comparing it to period photos, it's been a decent match for me 

Carl

 

[Clunkmeister]

Good to know, Carl, thanks.  I will adjust accordingly.

[BlrwestSiR]

I also figured that there might be some variations in batches which is why they're not the same shade of yellow green. I used Tamiya XF-4 for French Kiss and added some black to it for Betty's Dream.

 

[Clunkmeister]

Carl, have you given any thought to opening the cockpit hatches? I have and am certainly going to try. I know Brian lived to regret it, but at least in my case, one of the commonalities of the PBJ-1Hs seen on the islands is the open top hatch and pushed back side window

[BlrwestSiR]

Ernie, I did briefly consider it but decided against it. I was going to cut it out undersized and then file the opening to the correct size and then use a sheet of clear plastic for the replacement hatch. The side window you could probably do the same way. I just ended up chickening out. 

[BlrwestSiR]

Speaking of canopies, here they are. They're both masked off and glued in place.

For the masks, I used two different sets. One was from Eduard and the other from Maketar. Both work fine so it wasn't a conscious decision on my part. The Eduard set was designed for the armoured pilot's windscreen that some B-25s were equipped with. French Kiss had this version so it was serendipity.

I did have to carefully engrave the framework onto the canopy though which thankfully came out ok. 

[Martinnfb]

Very fine work Carl, as always. I like how you're utilizing the weight of Canadian currency

Cheers

M.

[Wolf Buddee]

Lookin' good Carl!

I have to admit though, havin' the nose gear hangin' in the wind this early in the build, it would definitely be cause for concern. That's just me though.........

Cheers, Wolf 

[harv]

They have to be installed before closing the fuse up. Same with mains. Nee to install before installing nacelles . Besides, there brass legs.....Harv

[BlrwestSiR]

Ok, with a couple of my distraction builds out of the way I'm back to the main event. I've assembled the two tail control surfaces.

With those done, I started the installation. Here's French Kiss:

I also installed the gunner's canopy as this will seal it off in readiness for paint. Paint masks were applied as well. Now onto Betty's Dream.