web hosting short URLs photo sharing

Reviewer: James Garnett (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted:  12 October 2003

Kit Details:

Accurate Miniatures #3430 - 1/48 Boeing B-25B Mitchell

Aircraft History:

The aircraft bears the name of General Billy Mitchell who was widely regarded as the major proponent of strategic air power in America, holding the vision that the future of warfare was through airpower.  It was originally developed as a light bomber for the USAAC and initially used for training until conversions such as self sealing fuel tanks ensured it was ready for combat.

The aircraft was produced in more numbers than any other allied twin-engine bomber with nearly 10,000 aircraft serving in World War II and was widely regarded as perhaps the best light-medium bomber of the war, with excellent all round manoeuvrability, handling and performance.

The B-25B ranks as one of most famous versions of all time by virtue of its participation in one single raid on Tokyo from the decks of an aircraft carrier.   Volunteer crews sought from the group which first flew Mitchells for the USAAF were recruited to participate in this raid led by Lieutenant Colonel J.Doolittle off the USS Hornet on 14 April, 1942.  Known as the Doolittle Raiders, 16 slightly modified B-25B Mitchells flew off the carrier deck and bombed a number of targets in Japan, most notably Tokyo, to inflict a moral victory if nothing else over the Japanese perception that their shores could not be touched by USAAF aircraft.  All 16 aircraft were lost, mainly to the countries where the Mitchells had to land.

There was no strategic advantage to the raid's success but the fact that the USAF had burst the bubble of Japan's seeming untouchability was enough to significantly bolster the morale of all Americans, still reeling from the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour four months earlier that catapulted the country into war.

The Kit:

I remember all the hype when this kit was released back in 2000 (or whenever it was) because it was one of the most eagerly anticipated models for quite some time, with modellers having to wait some two years after the company first announced it was going to produce B-25 Mitchells.  There were hiccups that delayed the release of this kit from financial to engineering reasons, but the wait was worth it in the end.  It's a pity the company doesn't exist in that original entity now, as it almost changed the way modellers perceived the hobby.  In any event I also heard that this kit as been either re-released or will be out on the shelves again later in 2003, so it it's a good time to build and review the kit for a new generation of B-25B purchasers!

Once you open the box you realise that this kit pretty much made all other quarter scale B-25's not worth getting, if you get my drift.  This was also the first B-25 the company produced and you pretty much knew from opening the box that other variants were going to be released.  There are eight sprues of high quality molded medium grey injection molded parts with engraved surface detail and control surfaces.  There are a few ejector pin marks to be found, which made me raise an eyebrow at the time but once you get into constructing the aircraft you realise that they all are pretty much in places where they are not going to be visible.  A very small amount of flash can be found in areas which need nothing more than a running over with a sharp blade to remove. 

The surface detail is excellent and a quick look at the sprues shows that just about everything inside the aircraft skin has been provided as well, right down to the fire extinguishers.  In a separate bag is the sprue containing the clear parts, which has some distortion, probably by virtue of the glazing shape.

The kit also provides some weight broken down into brass pieces to prevent tail sitting.  The beauty about these pieces is that they can be slid into areas that are more or less out the way, without having to cram large weights and fill up the interior.

Instructions:

These come in a huge booklet with dozens of steps to wade through plus all the other bits of information you could ask for in a quality kit.  There is a brief history, symbol explanation, sprue diagrams and of course four-view drawings for decal and painting.  There are also some footnotes provided to alert you to the differences depending on whether you are building the standard B-25B or a Doolittle version.

One thing that AM (Accurate Miniatures) do say is that you should follow their instructions to the letter, no doubt they have molded the kit in such a way that everything follows a certain sequence.  From first hand experience of building a few AM kits, it is highly recommended to do as AM suggests here!

Construction:

I could write a book on the construction aspect of this kit, not because there are problems or pitfalls, but more so because the amount of stuff this kit caters for - no wonder they are called Accurate Miniatures!  I'll concentrate on the main areas and provide a brief overview of what the kit covers in other parts, otherwise I would be here for ages!

The interior is pretty much where you begin, and this area in itself represents a project that would rival the time to complete any other [non AM] FULL model in this scale!  The detailing is extensive with everything in the cockpit provided, including the usual seats, sticks, bulkheads etc, fire extinguishers, padding, plus dual control yokes, throttle, signature transparent instrument panel as well as decals for the seatbelts.  The upper and belly turrets, radio operator's station and bombardier's station are also all well detailed and provide bits and pieces to install.  The only real drawback is many of this work disappears once you close the fuselage halves.

Depending on what your particular preferences are you may want to pre paint all the interior parts, or affix the ones together that are the same colour and paint afterward.  I opted to combine these two to ease the construction process.  This was to mainly glue a heap of parts together which were going to be painted one colour and then concentrate on the other stuff later, depending on where they came in the sequence of assembly.  You can also skip ahead here and paint the undercarriage, wheel well bays and so forth to save time later.  A decal is provided for the instrument panel (behind the clear part) to represent the dials and seems accurate in replication.  As with the other cockpit components, this was installed after the various sections were fitted to the fuselage half.

It is important to install the interior exactly where it is supposed to go and to do a dry run of everything.  The engineering of the kit is so good that the tiniest bump, flash or any other imperfection will make fit of other pieces difficult as you move on through the project.  The bomb bay is installed prior to the cockpit according to the instructions and both were difficult to fit, needing several slight trimming adjustments to fit properly, but then it fit very snugly indeed.   The nose gear is also installed at this point  with the kit supplying a mask for painting.

The whole interior of the B-25 could now pretty much be painted around the various installations of cockpit, nose gear, bomb bay, etc.  The kit also supplies the crawling tunnel from cockpit to rear of the plane and at this point you tend to want to simply build half the kit - like a cutaway drawing, mount it on a board to affix to a wall, and let everyone see your work inside the model, rather than complete it!  The instructions pretty much tell you what to affix and when, plus provides painting information and it was a simple matter of following the procedures for fitting out the cockpit and wheel bay as directed.  There is a lot of stuff to install, and as mentioned above, there are decals for the instrument panel and seat belts, plus bits of plastic to cover everything from pilot controls to fire extinguishers and toilets.  You also need to assemble and fit the turret as shown in the instructions which itself was a challenge, and any other items as directed prior to closing the fuselage halves.  You must also keep one eye on the version you are building in conjunction with the instructions and other reference information, for instance knowing that if you are building the Doolittle Raider version, the belly turret is left off to save weight.  Installation of the guns is also fiddly and requires some patience and whilst I was successful in not snapping any of my parts, some modellers out there might want to bear in mind some spares may be called upon.  The kit also provides some nose weights which is an excellent idea, and these can be crammed in the nose as shown in the instructions.

The fuselage halves close quite well, but not before checking that all the interior bits and pieces have been installed correctly and running over with the blade in spots to ensure no bumps or otherwise a non-flush fit occurs.  One small piece in the bomb bay prevented a flush close of the halves and needed a small bit carved off.  You feel disappointed at this point at the realisation a whole lot of work inside the aircraft skin will not be seen again, but you push on regardless.  The lower nose section to the fuselage is also added and a small gap requires filling.  Otherwise the fuselage closing means some minor seam filling and join line removing is required.

From here you move onto the wing, tail fins and tailplane assemblies.  These are as expected broken down into halves, and the tailplanes fit nicely and snugly with the fins also affixing without any dramas.  The fins can be left off until after painting to simply painting and masking.

The main wing assemblies also provided no hiccups (other than removing the AM stamp on the wing underside) although the sub assembly of the engine nacelles to the wings was a different story.  Basically test fit, slight trim, test fit, glue and then fill is the order of the day.  A cut-out in the leading edge of the wing acts as the landing light bay, and the included lens can be painted silver before installing the clear landing light cover.  The main wheel wells are painted according to the instructions and are nicely detailed with hydraulics etc shown.  The fit of the cowl flaps and engine intakes was okay, but heeding the above advice of testing and trimming first pays dividends.

I've heard a few gripes about the AM Mitchell cowlings in terms of accuracy (small diameter) but am not sure if they relate to this kit or later ones of the B-25, assuming there were some cowling modifications, but these do look okay to me.   The test fit and attention needed with the installation of engine sub assemblies to wing is high as mentioned, it is one of the more problematic fit areas of the kit.  The wings can then be installed and fit very nicely onto the fuselage.

The fuselage transparencies can also be installed and these fit very well.  Whilst the transparencies are quite clear, the sheer nature of injection molding introduces a bit of distortion, and some modellers may find it better to have clearer vacform transparencies to enable better viewing of the interior.  

With the main assemblies now completed the initial painting can commence.  The kit generously includes vinyl masks which can be used for all the transparencies bar the turrets effectively.  I picked up this kit soon after it was released so along with a number of other modellers found a number of the masks were oversized. Eduard released their own masks to counteract this problem and Accurate Miniatures also corrected this in second and subsequent re-releases of this kit, so the 2003 release will probably have correctly sized masks.  Obviously the way around this was to trim the masks to size or use masking tape and liquid mask. 

Painting couldn't really be much simpler in an upper olive green over neutral grey undersides scheme.  There has been a lot of conjecture and debate about the appropriate shades of both these colours applied to aircraft in different theatres and different weathering conditions.  This is not the place to continue this debate so your own research is recommended, but quite simply I chose Testors Camouflage Grey and Olive Drab.  The interior of gear doors etc also need attention with the appropriate shade of interior green.  The underside neutral grey was sprayed on first before the demarcation line was added and the upper olive drab scheme applied.  

The final assembly stages cover the landing gear installation and external probes etc to complete construction.  Pastels were then used for weathering such as exhaust stains before everything was sealed in with a coat of gloss varnish ready for decaling.

Colour Schemes:

Olive drab over the neutral grey underside is the only scheme covered in the kit, although the different versions are numerous since all of the 16 aircraft used in Doolittle's Tokyo raid are catered for on the decal sheet.

Decals:

The decals are well printed and exhume a matt finish and look very thin.  This means that the modeller is presented with a challenging process of getting the decals onto the model and into the right place but once there they bed down beautifully without the need for any setting solution.  The result makes them look painted on.  Spend time and patience here and the rewards are worth it, with only some minor printing register on the insignia a gripe but even then that is nit picking.

Accuracy:

The Accuracy of this kit is absolutely excellent, covering the amount of interior stuff it does as well as all the hatches, hinges and panels in almost perfect rendition.  Dimensions of the kit are spot on.  There are a couple of areas of contention that are pointed out in the construction process, such as the cowling diameter, but overall it doesn't really get better than this.

Overall Recommendation:

This is not an easy kit by any stretch of the imagination and should only be attempted by the more experienced modellers.  It is a superbly engineered kit, but so well engineered that if you don't fit something exactly it can ruin the rest of the construction process.  There are also a few fit problems to overcome to keep you on your toes throughout assembly.  The mere fact that the interior is so well catered for catapults this kit up the skill level rating required to put it together, although most of this disappears once the fuselage halves are put together - perhaps you could buy two kits, and simply mount "cutaway" like projects on the wall!

But for the modeller who has the experience and skill this represents one of the supreme projects in putting this particular aircraft together.  It is by all facets a fantastic kit and comes with the most highest recommendation I can give.

SMAKR Home  |  What's New  |  Submissions  | Information Requests |  News  |  Links  |  Reference Corner  |  Site Info 
1/72 Reviews  |  1/48 Reviews  |  INBOX Reviews