1:72 B-25J Mitchells

Machines from late production series

Late Mitchells left the production line at a moment when the type had its whole wartime career behind it and its form had settled. Both subjects of this sheet belong to precisely that group. The first carries serial number 44-30748 and the name Heavenly Body, the second the number 44-30801 and the name Vestal Virgin. Both survived the postwar withdrawals, were given a private American registration and their names appear today in the programs of air displays.

The custom of naming an aircraft and completing the name with a painted figure or scene arose among the crews spontaneously and survived later attempts to suppress it. For a modeler that means it is this one element that turns an ordinary machine into a particular aircraft with a history of its own, and for that reason it pays to spend more time on it than on the rest of the build.

The J version came about in the largest numbers of all the forms of the Mitchell and served in every theater where the Allies committed medium bombers. Besides the classic glazing for a bombardier there was also a variant with a solid nose, so two models of the same designation can look very different. For the choice of markings that means one thing only: look at a photograph of the particular machine before reaching for a kit.

Measure before you soak

On this type the forward part of the fuselage is full of windows, doors and projections and every kit places them slightly differently. Before soaking the artwork, lay it dry in place and check that neither glazing nor relief is in its way. If they overlap, it is better to move the artwork by a millimeter than to let it run across an edge where sooner or later it will lift. Trim the surplus film around the outline and apply a glossy base under the artwork only over an area slightly larger than it occupies.