This is a good kit of this variant of the Mitchell medium bomber. This is
the Airfix
1/72nd scale one. The only compaint I have of this kit is the bomb bay
doors fit when
they are in the closed position. There is too much gap that required
extensive filling.
Unfortunately there is no detail in the bomb bay like the B-26 kit and it
was tough to
scratchbuild one. I did want to show it open, but had to leave it closed.
I also
scratchbuilt the internal compartments because I thought you would be able
to see
them through the windows. (I was wrong!!) I had taped the movie "Thirty
Seconds Over
Tokyo" about the Doolittle raid and used this for reference shots of the
interior of the
radio operator and navigator station behind the flight deck. This variant
was a gunship
with a total of 14 50 caliber guns shooting forward (8 in the nose, 4 in
pods on the side
of the cockpit, and two in the top turret.) AWESOME FIREPOWER!!! These
things could
destroy a ship in a single pass. They were used against all sorts of
targets with great
effect. Sort of the predecessor of the Vietnam gunships. Searching the
web, I found
this one with the eagle head nose art and had to do it. Aeromaster made
the decals for
this ship, but in 1/48th scale only. So I hand painted the nose art on
this one. I painted
the plane in the overall dark green and grey, masked off the nose and
painted the flat
white as well as the stripe amidships. I carefully sketched the outlines
of the nose art in
pencil and filled it in with the appropriate color with a fine brush. I
like the way it looks.
Menacing!! Kit decals were used and the tail codes were cobbled up from
leftovers.
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