As someone who's been painting tabletop minis for about 5yrs now and who is now branching out to historical models, this is amazing. I've been looking at getting a B-25 model, this sold me on this one
My father was a member of VMB413, the Marine Corps very first bomber squadron. They outfitted their PBJs with radar, allowing them to fly night bombing missions against the Japanese in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese nicknamed them "The Flying Nightmares". There is a memorial to the squadron in the library at Quantico Marine Base that features a model not unlike what you have built.
Thats really facinating, I had looked at maybe making a modified PBJ, but the airfix kit just didn't come with some of the components that I needed, but the 1/48 Accurate Miniatures B-25 has a lot of the right parts. I did come across a late war PBJ that had been modified to carry the "Tiny Tim" rockets, that one is really tempting to do.
I like your honesty that sometimes your get alittle ahead of yourself and that we shouldnt get frustrated when we do the same its not the end of the project just stop and see how we can rectify the situation like you do
Always enjoy watching your builds this one turned out really really well, love the B-25 in the blue tri-color scheme! I have this kit but haven't built it yet, excellent video, thanks for pointing certain things out like painting the wings separately and adding them toward the end of the build 👍
Another great build. I remember when I first started building. Without reading the entire instructions. I left out nose weight on several builds until it was to late to go back and add the weight to the nose. Ended up hanging to model, as in air flight. Which I've done several, As being in battle against the enemy with multiple planes. I checked stone haven miniatures. Couldn't find military figures. Thinking about joining your site as a member to get more information about products that you normally use. Again, nice looking build.
I'm more than happy to answer any questions here if you'd like. Regarding Stonehaven, they deal primarily in fantasy figures, but I just so happen to know the owner there and he has made me some exclusive sculpts.
@HammerheadModelMaking how does a person become a youtuber. I think it's great when a manufacturer sends items to build or to test or do reviews on their products
@@Jjrdn10 Becoming a youtuber is easy, just create a youtube channel and start uploading videos, now, getting to the point where manufacturers start sending you stuff is another matter. Its taken me a little over 4 years to get to the point that I am at, and its been a lot of work, each build takes weeks if not months at a time, in addition to all of the editing and social media posts, its not an insignificant amount of work.
Agrees showing your mistakes will save anyone who’s doing this build and sees your video first from making the same ones, I don’t know about you but I often get inspired by these videos to do similar builds.
Beautiful kit and a great job as always. Next time you have those large gaps try using some stretched sprue and Tamiya extra thin cement. Nice thing is you are basically welding the two parts together instead of just filling the gap. You can soften the sprue with the glue and push it into the gap and flatten it out, and finishes well with a little sanding.
Mistakes happen it's a learning opportunity. I like how you use the blue tack for masking. I'll have to try that method. One thing I do with my model, for example, is I put the landing gear doors on the aircraft with white glue so I can remove it later, and then I paint the aircraft. I like how I can make sure the paint has the same pattern.
Great build. I was lucky enough to tour a real b-25 and all of the interior was the usaaf cockpit green. It was interesting hearing about the different cockpit color.
Excellent model again despite the troubles you had during the build. I've been building for over 50 years, and i dont think I've got one model perfect yet! Im not 100 percent sure, but I believe dull dark green and bronze green paints were designated for flight crew areas only. Interior green, zinc chromate, or unpainted aluminum for the rest of the aircraft areas.
Yeah, I for sure have never gotten a perfect model (I suspect its a modelers white whale) but I will always strive for it, and yeah, the amount of records and data regarding interior colors for ww2 aircraft is vast and varied, I'm sure basically any combination would have been historical to some degree!
In my opinion it looks great too, and the newly accessed island runway, greatly appreciated how you show how to recover from mistakesTHANK YOU for POSTING the Build and Painting etc.👍
Nice build of the pbj.i work with enamels so I use water colors for weathering most of the time.with a little practice you will find out that you can blend the water colors on flats the way you want them.the key is a damp small paint brush and paper towel to wipe excess off the brush.i think you will like the results.one thing to remember if working in acrylics allow 48 hrs to fully cure......
Another great model. Interesting subject. Sharing your mistakes is very valuable. Always something to learn. And heck, if an experienced, talented modeler such as you hits a bump in the road... Sharing that with us scrubs may help us to avoid a canyon in the road. :) As always, thanks for presenting your work!
Yeah, and I figure, my mistakes are probably helpful to show and I need to be ok with showing my mistakes, but this video went a long way to helping me feel better about it, thanks for watching and for commenting!
I just commented about the same thing, very noble teacher and scholar and seems to be well rounded person just to actually take the time to even talk about it because nobody else ever does, that I can think of🤷
Overall, an excellent job. This kit must be one of the newer offerings from Airfix, because the detail and the parts breakdown are visibly much better to what I recall from my younger days of their kits. You note in you video that you build the model as a USMC PBJ, using the U.S. Navy designation for the North American B-25C Mitchell USAAF Medium Bomber, and you do so to offer you a different paint scheme than the monotony of the USAAF’s olive drab over neutral grey. I personally like this for the very same reason. At 16:59 and 37:37, you mention the issue of the model being a tail-sitter (despite the aircraft having a tricycle landing gear). I recall the actual B-25 could, as well; and that the ground crews used a stout, low stepladder to set under the fuselage round the point where the ventral surface aft of the wing angles up slightly. I plan to use this kit for a couple of my forced perspective dioramas. One will depict a half-dozen or so B-25 Mitchell Bombers--these could be USMC PBJs--flying low over the South Pacific on a bombing run toward a convoy of IJN transport ships. I would like to include the HK Models 1:32nd-scale plastic model kit of the North American B-25J Mitchell USAAF Medium Bomber; however, this may require rather extensive modification to backdate it to a -B, -C, or -D. Alternately, I would have to update the Airfix kit to represent a later B-25 variant. Historical accuracy is of critical importance here. Did the Navy or the Marines employ such later versions of that aircraft? Another project would dramatise LCol Jimmy Doolittle leading his sixteen B-25Bs launching off the flight deck of the USS Hornet (CV-8) U.S. Navy Yorktown-class Aircraft Carrier--using Trumpeter’s 1:200th-scale kit of the ship (Stock No. 62001) as the backdrop. This would require altering the HK Models 1:32nd-scale kit to the earlier form; would you know what these would require? Accurate Miniatures made an excellent B-25B replica in 1:48th-scale, addressing that issue. This Airfix model you have in your build video would serve in the queue, as well. Would you know if it would require any changes to make it a B-25B?
Yes, this airfix kit is fairly modern, at least within the last 10 years. And yes, it comes with the parts necessary to make the -B model, it has the single exhaust port for the engines and different windows that would match the Doolittle raiders version (I think they even have a boxing of this kit with Doolittle decals) Regarding backdating the HK models 1/32 kit, that would be a tall order, since the HK kit represents a later model B-25. Off the top of my head, you'd have to relocate the upper turret to the aft end of the fuselage, delete the tail gunner position, delete the wait gun windows, add in the B-25B specific windows to the aft fuselage, change the exhaust from the straight exhaust stacks to the single port. There might be other modifications needed, but off hand those are the ones that stand out to me.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful model build. This is a kit which I am very keen to build in a couple of different schemes. One will be "Desert Warrior" from the 81st BS 12th BG 9th AF and the other will be in R.A.F service. I have built a couple of B-25s' in the past in 1/48. The first was the great Monogram B-25J and the second was the troublesome Accurate Miniatures B-25D. I look forward to seeing what you build in the future.
Hallo mr.hammer!boy!thats a decent job and an outstanding piece of art.i love watching you increasing your skills.and i like listen your continueing narration.with sticky greetings. Your modellmate and friend in sprues. Christian
nice build - one "tip" that works sometimes for tailsitters - if only some weight is missing - is to glue a block behind main wheels (looks better if you place one infront fo those) so that it can not swing back so easily - it was enough on my F7F ;-)
Or try some powdered tile grout mixed with some fine sand. Sprinkled over PVA, sets rock hard. Available in heaps of colours and fairly cheap too. A bag will last you a lifetime. @@HammerheadModelMaking
Hasegawas' 1/72 B25's are awesome. I have the H model and it looks very beautiful. Fine surface detail with beautiful rivets. Just need to get some nice resin engines and maybe wheels (the kit wheels are good but there's that seam from the halves). Highly recommend it.
David R Lentz, Columbus, Ohio, USA (Wednesday, 9 October, 2024) I already saw this video, though I liked watching it again. I also find of interest the North American Aviation PBJ Mitchell USN/USMC Anti-Shipping Bomber, especially the early variants, in part for their tri-colour Pacific Theatre camouflage scheme the War Department round the summer 1942 had instituted. At 16:58, you mention that the model has balance issues. Coincidentally, the actual B-25 could be a tail-sitter, for which the ground crews placed under the fuselage immediately aft of the wings’ trailing edge a sturdy hardwood stepladder. Rather than endeavour to cram into the nose metal pieces, risking the nose gear suffering stress-precipitated collapse, I propose this alternative: place the replica upon a solid base (ideally, hardwood) finished to fit the setting (e.g., an island airfield; an airbase tarmac), then insert from below a length of sturdy steel wire or rod to pass into the very bottom of the front tyre.
Absolutely gorgeous build! One tiny issue for future builds: swap parts D32 and D33, so that the trim tab actuators are on top of the horizontal stabilizers instead of the bottom. After I botched my Doolittle Raider, I looked at a whole lot of WWII images, and it became clear that every version from the earliest -Bs to the final -Js had the actuators on the dorsal side. Interestingly enough, the box art for the North American Mitchell Mk.II version is a bottom up painting, and the trim tab actuators are portrayed as precisely where they should be on a production machine; i.e., not on the bottom! LOL But still, a beautiful build!
Thank you for pointing out the error, I probably just clipped the parts off and didn't realize they weren't oriented properly! I'll get it right on the next one! Thanks for watching!
Suggestion: I'm always on the lookout for stuff to help with model building and I had an idea 💡 about nose weight. My little town has a sporting goods store and I stopped in asked what the smallest size bird shot they carried, the salesman went looking and returned with a 25 pound sack of number 8 lead bird shot. The pellets are small enough to fit into almost any hollow depression in a kit. I've even crammed some into engines on models like your B-25. It's likely one of my best modeling purchases ever, and I still have more than 20 pounds of them left...
Thats a pretty good hack! There is a product called Liquid Gravity, that sounds just like what you're describing, only I'm sure you version is much cheaper. I'll have to look around and see what I can find, thanks for sharing!
From England, better than pretty good sir. There is something about the B25 that has been occupying my mind for some time. I hope to try one representing the Doolittle Raid at some time (but I'm not getting any younger and I have too many others to "have a go" at). Regarding the "foggy" nose glass, I did the same on an ICM Do17z which I made heavy weather of and so in making it a "dirty" plane I allowed myself to think that after a particularly hazardous raid the gunner was having a well earned cigarette! Really nice build again sir.
The B-25 was rare in that the landing gear doors were only open when the landing gear was transiting between raised and lowered, they would close back up so that they produced less drag.
Do you water down your Solvaset? Any time I’ve used it if I were to apply it like that he decals would dissolve and possibly even the paint, even after varnished.
I don't water it down or thin it, just apply it straight from the bottle. It is known that Solvaset is a pretty hot setting solution, and I have had a few instanced where I applied too much and it started to eat through a decal. But for me thats been pretty rare. What brand of decals/varnish are you using?
@@HammerheadModelMaking I’ve had it happen with Tamiya, catograf, Airfix, and academy decals. Generally I use Alclads aqua gloss or Mr Paint gloss/flat, but have also used rustoleum rattle can varnish. Any time I’ve used it I’ve had issues unless I’ve watered it down first.
The cartograph decals were the worst though. As soon as the brush tip touched it(just damp brush, not soaked) they just disintegrated instantly. That model is actually half decal, half hand painted because of it. Thankfully I had insignia white, sea blue and the red was close enough.
@@hattrick8684 Thats really interesting, because I have no issues with all of those same products. I wonder if we got different batches or something that were formulated differently?
@@hattrick8684 Thats really crazy your experience was like that, I think of all of the decals I've used Cartograph are the ones that I have had no issues with.
Thank you, and yes, it looks like the co-pilot seat is installed incorrectly, but in fact these early b-25s only had a half seat installed for the co-pilot. I do not know why it was done that way, but both seats have rather large locating block on the underside so it would be difficult to install them incorrectly.
Thank you, I'm fairly confident I put the seats in the correct way, there is a small locating tab on the bottom of the seat, however, I think Airfix may have molded the seats weird as they don't look 100% right to me.
Beautiful build, thanks for sharing! The Pacific scheme really suits the B-25, one of my favourites and a bit rare to see a Mitchell model painted like that. One thing that bugs me though, what's with the co-pilot's seat? Was it shorter than the pilot's seat in the PBJs? I don't think that's the case in regular B-25s. Or could it be that it is placed upside-down in the cockpit? Sorry if I am wrong or if it is a silly question, I just noticed it when you were finishing the cockpit and then again after the painting when you removed the canopy to clear up the dust.
Thank you for watching, as to the seat, as I understand it, many of the earlier model b-25s (up through the -D models) had basically a half seat on the co-pilots side. I have not been able to find any good reason why that was, but it appears that in later models they had two normal seats in the cockpit.
@@HammerheadModelMaking Even later model B-25s had the small seat for the co-pilot. My father built a Monogram B-25J (glazed nose) with that same configuration in the cockpit. Those later models were also the ones that carried the gun pods on the fuselage sides and extra armour around the cockpit area.
Great result as usual. PBJs are such cool aircraft. How do we obtain more information out future group builds on Discord? I've joined a few servers, but frankly I'm quite lost when it comes to that platform.
I really, really hate to be “that guy”, but I have to point out a fairly large omission which anybody else building a PBJ-1D might want to address. The Corps fabricated their own particular tail gun position for these early model Mitchell’s and they’re pretty much universal all throughout the photo record. It is NOTHING like the later factory unit which came along with the H and J series; the outline is completely different, it is totally open on the aft end and shipped only a single Ma Duce on a typical Marine type jury rigged mount. (They never let us have have any nice stuff you know.). There’s no record NA ever adopted the Corps’ design, and it doesn’t show up on any B-25/PBJ version other than the -1D’s flown by the VMB squadrons. The configuration is a bee-ouch to model too; there’s no a’market to address it and the only method I have found is to vacuform a scratch built part and do a lot of filling and sanding. Again, sorry to be picky; the model is beautiful otherwise, and I always enjoy your super work.😅
Nah, you're all good man, not that guy. You are correct, the USMC PBJs absolutely had some awesome modifications to the early versions of the aircraft, including the jury rigged tail gun position. I would like to defend my model just a little though, as my research indicated that all of those modifications were made whilst in theater in the pacific, but didn't actually arrive to the pacific with those modifications. vmb613.com/boca_chica2.htm This site has some great images of the PBJs during training prior to heading overseas, these images largely informed how I went about building this particular kit, as I wasn't sure I had the scratch building skills to make the necessary modifications to represent an in theater aircraft. So, I guess what I'm saying is that my model represents an aircraft just as it arrived in theater but prior to modifications being made (its a tiny timeframe, but at least thats what makes sense in my mind lol) I think had I used the 1/48 Accurate Miniatures B-25 as my base (which has a lot of the modifications as optional parts in the kit) I would definitely make it more accurate, in fact I still may revisit this in the future as I have a few of the AM kits in my stash and adding a USMC bird to the mix would be nice! Anyways, I appreciate the feedback and additional insight into the aircraft, cheers mate! Brett
@@HammerheadModelMaking Ah; that “explains” it. After watching so many of your builds I was a bit flummoxed by the omission, I should have known there was a method to your madness😉. Great job, I’ll look forward to seeing the AM build if it makes it to the ‘Tube. Bill
Funnily enough, there's a photo of a PBJ-1D on Wikipedia with the _new_ style tail gun position (2x .50cal, with a proper seat and canopy for the gunner) but the _old_ style dorsal turret (on the back of the aircraft instead of right behind the cockpit) plus gun packs _and_ two fixed guns in the glazed nose. The US Marine Corps really operated a hotch-potch of PBJ-1s and it's fascinating to see all the modifications they made to suit it to their needs.
I can deal with seam lines, thats not too much of a problem, I think the biggest let down was not getting to stand correctly, in spite of all of the weight I added.
Obviously airbrushing the metallic primer will look better is it worth trying to brush paint the same parts..please dont tell me try it and see because thats right where im at👍
I mean, brush painting is always an option if you don't have an airbrush, but given a choice between airbrushing and brush painting I would almost always choose the airbrush.
Well, it wasn't my intention to glue it to the base, but as I mention in the video, I realized too late that I didn't put enough weight in it, and so my only course of action was to glue it to its base.
PBJ had glazed nose removed and extra 8x50 cal MGs added to that section instead, or 4x50 cal and 75mm gun. Not PBJ ground pound version? Where is the radar then? Edit: Looks nice, but this is not PBJ.
The 8 gun nose versions of the PBJ were the PBJ-1Js, based off the B-25Js, and were only one variant of the PBJ series, my model represents a PBJ-1D based on the B-25D, the solid gun nose version came out much later than the first PBJs, and its well documented that the USMC used PBJ-1Ds in 1943, additionally, as I state in my video, I'm representing a fresh PBJ-1D prior to all of the field modifications (which includes the radars). Here are some references I used for my build: vmb613.com/boca_chica2.htm www.microworks.net/pacific/aviation/pbj_mitchell.htm So, while I appreciate your comment, I did do my homework and my build is correct.
As someone who's been painting tabletop minis for about 5yrs now and who is now branching out to historical models, this is amazing. I've been looking at getting a B-25 model, this sold me on this one
Awesome, welcome to the historical side!
You have the best Airfix B-25 build I have yet to find. I have watched it several times while I am building my own.
Thats very kind of you to say, thank you for watching and good luck with your build!
My father was a member of VMB413, the Marine Corps very first bomber squadron. They outfitted their PBJs with radar, allowing them to fly night bombing missions against the Japanese in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese nicknamed them "The Flying Nightmares". There is a memorial to the squadron in the library at Quantico Marine Base that features a model not unlike what you have built.
Thats really facinating, I had looked at maybe making a modified PBJ, but the airfix kit just didn't come with some of the components that I needed, but the 1/48 Accurate Miniatures B-25 has a lot of the right parts. I did come across a late war PBJ that had been modified to carry the "Tiny Tim" rockets, that one is really tempting to do.
I like your honesty that sometimes your get alittle ahead of yourself and that we shouldnt get frustrated when we do the same its not the end of the project just stop and see how we can rectify the situation like you do
Basically every mistake I make is because I'm getting ahead of myself lol. But most of them are fixable! Thanks for watching!
Always enjoy watching your builds this one turned out really really well, love the B-25 in the blue tri-color scheme! I have this kit but haven't built it yet, excellent video, thanks for pointing certain things out like painting the wings separately and adding them toward the end of the build 👍
Glad you enjoyed it, hopefully it will be helpful when you get to building your kit!
Another great build. I remember when I first started building. Without reading the entire instructions. I left out nose weight on several builds until it was to late to go back and add the weight to the nose. Ended up hanging to model, as in air flight. Which I've done several, As being in battle against the enemy with multiple planes. I checked stone haven miniatures. Couldn't find military figures. Thinking about joining your site as a member to get more information about products that you normally use. Again, nice looking build.
I'm more than happy to answer any questions here if you'd like. Regarding Stonehaven, they deal primarily in fantasy figures, but I just so happen to know the owner there and he has made me some exclusive sculpts.
@HammerheadModelMaking how does a person become a youtuber. I think it's great when a manufacturer sends items to build or to test or do reviews on their products
@@Jjrdn10 Becoming a youtuber is easy, just create a youtube channel and start uploading videos, now, getting to the point where manufacturers start sending you stuff is another matter. Its taken me a little over 4 years to get to the point that I am at, and its been a lot of work, each build takes weeks if not months at a time, in addition to all of the editing and social media posts, its not an insignificant amount of work.
Looks nice. I too like the Navy paint scheme on the B-25.
Thank you!
Fantastic model and diorama. Minimalistic but very effective!
Glad you like it!
Love the build and enjoy your narration. Keep it up sir.
Thank you kindly!
Agrees showing your mistakes will save anyone who’s doing this build and sees your video first from making the same ones, I don’t know about you but I often get inspired by these videos to do similar builds.
Yes, I am the same, I will see someone else's videos and definitely want to do something similar!
Beautiful kit and a great job as always. Next time you have those large gaps try using some stretched sprue and Tamiya extra thin cement. Nice thing is you are basically welding the two parts together instead of just filling the gap. You can soften the sprue with the glue and push it into the gap and flatten it out, and finishes well with a little sanding.
Thanks for the tip!
That is a great technique that I use as well, nice of you to share it with others, happy modeling 👍
Mistakes happen it's a learning opportunity. I like how you use the blue tack for masking. I'll have to try that method. One thing I do with my model, for example, is I put the landing gear doors on the aircraft with white glue so I can remove it later, and then I paint the aircraft. I like how I can make sure the paint has the same pattern.
Thats a smart tip, I do that with canopies sometimes too!
@HammerheadModelMaking lol, so do I all the time.
Great build. I was lucky enough to tour a real b-25 and all of the interior was the usaaf cockpit green. It was interesting hearing about the different cockpit color.
Very cool! Yeah, the colors definitely varied a lot!
Excellent model again despite the troubles you had during the build. I've been building for over 50 years, and i dont think I've got one model perfect yet! Im not 100 percent sure, but I believe dull dark green and bronze green paints were designated for flight crew areas only. Interior green, zinc chromate, or unpainted aluminum for the rest of the aircraft areas.
Yeah, I for sure have never gotten a perfect model (I suspect its a modelers white whale) but I will always strive for it, and yeah, the amount of records and data regarding interior colors for ww2 aircraft is vast and varied, I'm sure basically any combination would have been historical to some degree!
Great build Brett and thanks for the shout out yet again!!❤
You bet Kevin!!
In my opinion it looks great too, and the newly accessed island runway, greatly appreciated how you show how to recover from mistakesTHANK YOU for POSTING the Build and Painting etc.👍
Thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed it!
Nice build of the pbj.i work with enamels so I use water colors for weathering most of the time.with a little practice you will find out that you can blend the water colors on flats the way you want them.the key is a damp small paint brush and paper towel to wipe excess off the brush.i think you will like the results.one thing to remember if working in acrylics allow 48 hrs to fully cure......
Thank you for sharing, do you find it easier to work with watercolors over a matte surface or a gloss surface?
I love peanut butter and jelly
Right!!
@@HammerheadModelMakingand me2
It's jam not jelly
@@rikgell2650 wrong , it’s my homemade tomato jelly… it’s delicious.
Another great model. Interesting subject. Sharing your mistakes is very valuable. Always something to learn. And heck, if an experienced, talented modeler such as you hits a bump in the road... Sharing that with us scrubs may help us to avoid a canyon in the road. :) As always, thanks for presenting your work!
Yeah, and I figure, my mistakes are probably helpful to show and I need to be ok with showing my mistakes, but this video went a long way to helping me feel better about it, thanks for watching and for commenting!
I just commented about the same thing, very noble teacher and scholar and seems to be well rounded person just to actually take the time to even talk about it because nobody else ever does, that I can think of🤷
The PBY aka B-25, turned out absolutely fantastic, you certainly have done a fantastic job, congratulations, best regards from Australia
Thank you! Cheers!
PBJ* the PBY was the flying boat. ;)
Overall, an excellent job. This kit must be one of the newer offerings from Airfix, because the detail and the parts breakdown are visibly much better to what I recall from my younger days of their kits.
You note in you video that you build the model as a USMC PBJ, using the U.S. Navy designation for the North American B-25C Mitchell USAAF Medium Bomber, and you do so to offer you a different paint scheme than the monotony of the USAAF’s olive drab over neutral grey. I personally like this for the very same reason.
At 16:59 and 37:37, you mention the issue of the model being a tail-sitter (despite the aircraft having a tricycle landing gear). I recall the actual B-25 could, as well; and that the ground crews used a stout, low stepladder to set under the fuselage round the point where the ventral surface aft of the wing angles up slightly.
I plan to use this kit for a couple of my forced perspective dioramas. One will depict a half-dozen or so B-25 Mitchell Bombers--these could be USMC PBJs--flying low over the South Pacific on a bombing run toward a convoy of IJN transport ships. I would like to include the HK Models 1:32nd-scale plastic model kit of the North American B-25J Mitchell USAAF Medium Bomber; however, this may require rather extensive modification to backdate it to a -B, -C, or -D. Alternately, I would have to update the Airfix kit to represent a later B-25 variant. Historical accuracy is of critical importance here. Did the Navy or the Marines employ such later versions of that aircraft?
Another project would dramatise LCol Jimmy Doolittle leading his sixteen B-25Bs launching off the flight deck of the USS Hornet (CV-8) U.S. Navy Yorktown-class Aircraft Carrier--using Trumpeter’s 1:200th-scale kit of the ship (Stock No. 62001) as the backdrop. This would require altering the HK Models 1:32nd-scale kit to the earlier form; would you know what these would require? Accurate Miniatures made an excellent B-25B replica in 1:48th-scale, addressing that issue. This Airfix model you have in your build video would serve in the queue, as well. Would you know if it would require any changes to make it a B-25B?
Yes, this airfix kit is fairly modern, at least within the last 10 years. And yes, it comes with the parts necessary to make the -B model, it has the single exhaust port for the engines and different windows that would match the Doolittle raiders version (I think they even have a boxing of this kit with Doolittle decals) Regarding backdating the HK models 1/32 kit, that would be a tall order, since the HK kit represents a later model B-25. Off the top of my head, you'd have to relocate the upper turret to the aft end of the fuselage, delete the tail gunner position, delete the wait gun windows, add in the B-25B specific windows to the aft fuselage, change the exhaust from the straight exhaust stacks to the single port. There might be other modifications needed, but off hand those are the ones that stand out to me.
You can also add weight behind the engines and in the forward wheel wells.
I was able to add a little weight behind the engines.
I really liked your style of narration. Well explained and enjoyable to watch
Glad you enjoy them, thank you for watching!
Thank you for sharing this beautiful model build. This is a kit which I am very keen to build in a couple of different schemes. One will be "Desert Warrior" from the 81st BS 12th BG 9th AF and the other will be in R.A.F service. I have built a couple of B-25s' in the past in 1/48. The first was the great Monogram B-25J and the second was the troublesome Accurate Miniatures B-25D. I look forward to seeing what you build in the future.
Thank you for watching!
I was at the warriors over Wasatch and they had a b-25 just like this there an amazing vehicle
Awesome! I wish I could have been there!
nice build. I use modellers world oil washes directly over acrylic paint and never have any issues I had with enamel washes.
Nice, I'll have to give that brand a try!
37:20 bether to saf it as to los it :) grait model build alweys enjo it. !
Much Appreciated!
Hallo mr.hammer!boy!thats a decent job and an outstanding piece of art.i love watching you increasing your skills.and i like listen your continueing narration.with sticky greetings. Your modellmate and friend in sprues. Christian
Many thanks for the kind words Christian! Cheers!
I like it. It’s nice little build & I would be proud to have it in my fleet. Nice job!
I'm glad you like it! Thanks for watching!
nice build - one "tip" that works sometimes for tailsitters - if only some weight is missing - is to glue a block behind main wheels (looks better if you place one infront fo those) so that it can not swing back so easily - it was enough on my F7F ;-)
Interesting idea, I'll have to give that a try sometime, thank you for sharing!
Just watching it now. Glad you sorted the logo out in Corner perfect 😊
Yeah, thank you!
Looks good. Pilot looks like he's AAC pilot in Europe. No one's wearing leather jacket with fleece in the Pacific. Either way, it all looks good.
Yeah, the pilot figure wasn't designed for the pacific theater, but is what I had on hand.
I also use sifted dirt for ground cover. I would suggest you stick it in the oven first to kill off any mold, etc., that might rear its head later.
Thats smart, I should do that, thanks!
Or try some powdered tile grout mixed with some fine sand. Sprinkled over PVA, sets rock hard. Available in heaps of colours and fairly cheap too. A bag will last you a lifetime. @@HammerheadModelMaking
@@ashpitcher3 Good to know, thanks for sharing!
really good job with the paint!
Thank you!
I had no trouble putting the fusalage halves together.
This kit was a joy to build.
I'm glad it worked out for you!
Great model & what a cool looking aircraft 👍
Thank you for watching!!
The company that does the White Metal parts for Nose Weights for this kit as well as other kits is called Scale Aircraft Conversions or SAC.
Awesome, thanks for sharing that!
Belle réalisation ...Congrest !!
Thank you!
Hasegawas' 1/72 B25's are awesome. I have the H model and it looks very beautiful. Fine surface detail with beautiful rivets. Just need to get some nice resin engines and maybe wheels (the kit wheels are good but there's that seam from the halves). Highly recommend it.
Thanks for the recommendation!
The Hasegawa kits are beautiful! I have one about halfway built and it's been a smooth ride so far 👍
David R Lentz, Columbus, Ohio, USA (Wednesday, 9 October, 2024)
I already saw this video, though I liked watching it again. I also find of interest the North American Aviation PBJ Mitchell USN/USMC Anti-Shipping Bomber, especially the early variants, in part for their tri-colour Pacific Theatre camouflage scheme the War Department round the summer 1942 had instituted.
At 16:58, you mention that the model has balance issues. Coincidentally, the actual B-25 could be a tail-sitter, for which the ground crews placed under the fuselage immediately aft of the wings’ trailing edge a sturdy hardwood stepladder.
Rather than endeavour to cram into the nose metal pieces, risking the nose gear suffering stress-precipitated collapse, I propose this alternative: place the replica upon a solid base (ideally, hardwood) finished to fit the setting (e.g., an island airfield; an airbase tarmac), then insert from below a length of sturdy steel wire or rod to pass into the very bottom of the front tyre.
Thats not a bad idea, though at this scale there isn't much plastic in the nose wheel, so not impossible, but tricky! Thanks for watching again!
@@HammerheadModelMaking sustain it with cyanoacrylate or similar.
And thanks for your recognition. :)
Great job mate! I like so much the weathering on the top of wings 🤩
Thanks Alessandro!
Absolutely gorgeous build! One tiny issue for future builds: swap parts D32 and D33, so that the trim tab actuators are on top of the horizontal stabilizers instead of the bottom. After I botched my Doolittle Raider, I looked at a whole lot of WWII images, and it became clear that every version from the earliest -Bs to the final -Js had the actuators on the dorsal side. Interestingly enough, the box art for the North American Mitchell Mk.II version is a bottom up painting, and the trim tab actuators are portrayed as precisely where they should be on a production machine; i.e., not on the bottom! LOL But still, a beautiful build!
Thank you for pointing out the error, I probably just clipped the parts off and didn't realize they weren't oriented properly! I'll get it right on the next one! Thanks for watching!
Looks very good, USMC colours are very nice. Result is great. All the best for You! ;)
Thank you very much!
Suggestion: I'm always on the lookout for stuff to help with model building and I had an idea 💡 about nose weight. My little town has a sporting goods store and I stopped in asked what the smallest size bird shot they carried, the salesman went looking and returned with a 25 pound sack of number 8 lead bird shot. The pellets are small enough to fit into almost any hollow depression in a kit. I've even crammed some into engines on models like your B-25. It's likely one of my best modeling purchases ever, and I still have more than 20 pounds of them left...
Thats a pretty good hack! There is a product called Liquid Gravity, that sounds just like what you're describing, only I'm sure you version is much cheaper. I'll have to look around and see what I can find, thanks for sharing!
@@HammerheadModelMaking I just mix it into a sort of paste with 5 minute epoxy and shove wherever it fits...
Beautiful build
Thank you!
Love the work! 👍 beautiful
Thank you! Cheers!
From England, better than pretty good sir. There is something about the B25 that has been occupying my mind for some time. I hope to try one representing the Doolittle Raid at some time (but I'm not getting any younger and I have too many others to "have a go" at). Regarding the "foggy" nose glass, I did the same on an ICM Do17z which I made heavy weather of and so in making it a "dirty" plane I allowed myself to think that after a particularly hazardous raid the gunner was having a well earned cigarette! Really nice build again sir.
Thats certainly a creative way to pass off a foggy canopy! Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching!
wow, amazing aircraft model
Thank you!
@@HammerheadModelMaking you're welcome
Francamente, me gusta tu trabajo, te sigo
Thank you!
Great work as always 👏
Thank you so much 😀
Man that looks great 😊😊
Thank you!
Very nice......she really does look the part 👍🏻👌🏻👏🏻
I suppose, if they were all 'shake & bake', we'd all soon get bored......
Thats very true! Need a little challenge every now and then, keep the skills sharp!
Question, why would the panels on the landing gear be in the closed position with the gear down?
The B-25 was rare in that the landing gear doors were only open when the landing gear was transiting between raised and lowered, they would close back up so that they produced less drag.
@@HammerheadModelMaking 👍🏻
Perfect build 👍👍👍
Thanks 👍
Wonderful build, Love the B25s
Question though: Why is the co-pilot seat upside dw?
Woops, my mistake. I see what it is. Sorry mate.
No worries! Thanks for watching!!
What a rookie mistake, that happens when you talk too much......lol
Testors square bottle Zinc Chromate Yellow is a great color for life vests.
Good to know!
A work of art...congratulations!
Please what is the specific name of this blue color at the top of the kit and the manufacturer of this paint?
Thanks.
Thank you very much, the blue color is Ocean Blue by Ammo MiG.
Do you water down your Solvaset? Any time I’ve used it if I were to apply it like that he decals would dissolve and possibly even the paint, even after varnished.
I don't water it down or thin it, just apply it straight from the bottle. It is known that Solvaset is a pretty hot setting solution, and I have had a few instanced where I applied too much and it started to eat through a decal. But for me thats been pretty rare. What brand of decals/varnish are you using?
@@HammerheadModelMaking I’ve had it happen with Tamiya, catograf, Airfix, and academy decals. Generally I use Alclads aqua gloss or Mr Paint gloss/flat, but have also used rustoleum rattle can varnish. Any time I’ve used it I’ve had issues unless I’ve watered it down first.
The cartograph decals were the worst though. As soon as the brush tip touched it(just damp brush, not soaked) they just disintegrated instantly. That model is actually half decal, half hand painted because of it. Thankfully I had insignia white, sea blue and the red was close enough.
@@hattrick8684 Thats really interesting, because I have no issues with all of those same products. I wonder if we got different batches or something that were formulated differently?
@@hattrick8684 Thats really crazy your experience was like that, I think of all of the decals I've used Cartograph are the ones that I have had no issues with.
Great build as usual, strangely you have the copilots seat upside down tho??
Thank you, and yes, it looks like the co-pilot seat is installed incorrectly, but in fact these early b-25s only had a half seat installed for the co-pilot. I do not know why it was done that way, but both seats have rather large locating block on the underside so it would be difficult to install them incorrectly.
Another great build, think you put one of the cockpit seats in wrong though.
Thank you, I'm fairly confident I put the seats in the correct way, there is a small locating tab on the bottom of the seat, however, I think Airfix may have molded the seats weird as they don't look 100% right to me.
i would heff addet tire marks in the zand to make it look like it reazenly landet. srry if i type realy bad.
I'll remember that for next time!
Beautiful build, thanks for sharing! The Pacific scheme really suits the B-25, one of my favourites and a bit rare to see a Mitchell model painted like that. One thing that bugs me though, what's with the co-pilot's seat? Was it shorter than the pilot's seat in the PBJs? I don't think that's the case in regular B-25s. Or could it be that it is placed upside-down in the cockpit? Sorry if I am wrong or if it is a silly question, I just noticed it when you were finishing the cockpit and then again after the painting when you removed the canopy to clear up the dust.
Thank you for watching, as to the seat, as I understand it, many of the earlier model b-25s (up through the -D models) had basically a half seat on the co-pilots side. I have not been able to find any good reason why that was, but it appears that in later models they had two normal seats in the cockpit.
@@HammerheadModelMaking thanks, very interesting detail, and it gives even more authenticity to your build 🙂
@@HammerheadModelMaking Even later model B-25s had the small seat for the co-pilot. My father built a Monogram B-25J (glazed nose) with that same configuration in the cockpit. Those later models were also the ones that carried the gun pods on the fuselage sides and extra armour around the cockpit area.
Great job!
Thank you! Cheers!
what is the length of the B-25 1/75 in cm?
Great result as usual. PBJs are such cool aircraft. How do we obtain more information out future group builds on Discord? I've joined a few servers, but frankly I'm quite lost when it comes to that platform.
Here is the link to the Server, once in I can direct you around to the proper channels, we have another GB starting March 1st, them is Shark Mouths.
I really, really hate to be “that guy”, but I have to point out a fairly large omission which anybody else building a PBJ-1D might want to address. The Corps fabricated their own particular tail gun position for these early model Mitchell’s and they’re pretty much universal all throughout the photo record. It is NOTHING like the later factory unit which came along with the H and J series; the outline is completely different, it is totally open on the aft end and shipped only a single Ma Duce on a typical Marine type jury rigged mount. (They never let us have have any nice stuff you know.). There’s no record NA ever adopted the Corps’ design, and it doesn’t show up on any B-25/PBJ version other than the -1D’s flown by the VMB squadrons. The configuration is a bee-ouch to model too; there’s no a’market to address it and the only method I have found is to vacuform a scratch built part and do a lot of filling and sanding. Again, sorry to be picky; the model is beautiful otherwise, and I always enjoy your super work.😅
Nah, you're all good man, not that guy. You are correct, the USMC PBJs absolutely had some awesome modifications to the early versions of the aircraft, including the jury rigged tail gun position. I would like to defend my model just a little though, as my research indicated that all of those modifications were made whilst in theater in the pacific, but didn't actually arrive to the pacific with those modifications.
vmb613.com/boca_chica2.htm
This site has some great images of the PBJs during training prior to heading overseas, these images largely informed how I went about building this particular kit, as I wasn't sure I had the scratch building skills to make the necessary modifications to represent an in theater aircraft. So, I guess what I'm saying is that my model represents an aircraft just as it arrived in theater but prior to modifications being made (its a tiny timeframe, but at least thats what makes sense in my mind lol)
I think had I used the 1/48 Accurate Miniatures B-25 as my base (which has a lot of the modifications as optional parts in the kit) I would definitely make it more accurate, in fact I still may revisit this in the future as I have a few of the AM kits in my stash and adding a USMC bird to the mix would be nice! Anyways, I appreciate the feedback and additional insight into the aircraft, cheers mate!
Brett
@@HammerheadModelMaking Ah; that “explains” it. After watching so many of your builds I was a bit flummoxed by the omission, I should have known there was a method to your madness😉. Great job, I’ll look forward to seeing the AM build if it makes it to the ‘Tube.
Bill
@@williamhollis6578 My madness is correct! lol.
Funnily enough, there's a photo of a PBJ-1D on Wikipedia with the _new_ style tail gun position (2x .50cal, with a proper seat and canopy for the gunner) but the _old_ style dorsal turret (on the back of the aircraft instead of right behind the cockpit) plus gun packs _and_ two fixed guns in the glazed nose. The US Marine Corps really operated a hotch-potch of PBJ-1s and it's fascinating to see all the modifications they made to suit it to their needs.
@@MrLBPug They really were a mishmash of in theater modifications!
素晴らしいです。ありがとう
ありがとう
Espetacular 🌟
Thanks!
What’s the link to your discord?
Here you go: discord.gg/P2zRVBmw
The co-pilot seat is in the wrong position.
I know it looks like that, but according to the instructions its correct.
My bad, still a cool build. Love all your builds. Thanks for the tips.
A really nice build, always enjoys your videos, however I don't see any Peanut Butter & Jelly isn't that a PBJ?😁
You're not wrong, just wrong context lol!
That paint job looks ace, too bad about the kit though, really makes you want to take a break from the hobby having suffered through a bad kit.
I can deal with seam lines, thats not too much of a problem, I think the biggest let down was not getting to stand correctly, in spite of all of the weight I added.
Peanut butter jelly time. Peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat!
lol, I understood that reference.
very nice
Thanks!
bạn ơi cho tôi hỏi bộ này bao nhiêu tiền vậy
I think you can usually find the Airfix kit for around $50 online.
Obviously airbrushing the metallic primer will look better is it worth trying to brush paint the same parts..please dont tell me try it and see because thats right where im at👍
I mean, brush painting is always an option if you don't have an airbrush, but given a choice between airbrushing and brush painting I would almost always choose the airbrush.
Very good job¡¡¡
Thanks!
Yeah but why do you bother putting weights in it if you are going to glue it onto a base?
Well, it wasn't my intention to glue it to the base, but as I mention in the video, I realized too late that I didn't put enough weight in it, and so my only course of action was to glue it to its base.
@@HammerheadModelMaking Understood. That happens sometimes, and it looks good on the base. You did a great job with the kit by the way!
@@traylor2502 Much appreciated!!
PBJ had glazed nose removed and extra 8x50 cal MGs added to that section instead, or 4x50 cal and 75mm gun. Not PBJ ground pound version? Where is the radar then?
Edit: Looks nice, but this is not PBJ.
The 8 gun nose versions of the PBJ were the PBJ-1Js, based off the B-25Js, and were only one variant of the PBJ series, my model represents a PBJ-1D based on the B-25D, the solid gun nose version came out much later than the first PBJs, and its well documented that the USMC used PBJ-1Ds in 1943, additionally, as I state in my video, I'm representing a fresh PBJ-1D prior to all of the field modifications (which includes the radars).
Here are some references I used for my build:
vmb613.com/boca_chica2.htm
www.microworks.net/pacific/aviation/pbj_mitchell.htm
So, while I appreciate your comment, I did do my homework and my build is correct.
That's good
Thank you!
You put the copilot seat in wrong
It’s not wrong, the copilots seat wasn’t a full seat, didn’t have a full back like the pilots seat. I put it in correctly.
@@HammerheadModelMaking oh my fault it just looked that way
@@Thetindallman all good, I totally understand it doesn’t quite look right!