1/48th Mitchell II - Allied Advance and Defense of the Reich WWII.

Thanks my friend.

I seem to be working on the night shift again, but I've managed to get some of the menial, time-consuming but essential tasks out of the way, and progressing well so far.

PIC 1. The joint between tail plane and fuselage has been filled with 'Milliput', wet-moulded into the rather large gap. When set, a thin coat of primer will be applied, to check for any irregularities, which will be corrected as required, and then fine sanded.
PIC 2. The tail plane root fillet has been blended into the fuselage on top and bottom, to match the curves on the real aircraft, again using 'Milliput', which has also been extended across the width of the rear aperture. Once set, this will be fine-sanded to obtain the final shape, before making and fitting the rear frame for the aperture. Very small gaps around the underside of the tail plane to fuselage joint were also filled, using 'Milliput' in a wet, 'slurry-like' form, to flow into the gaps.
PICS 3 and 4. As the kit represents an early 'B' model, the original style of tail skid is supplied. This was used to form a base onto which the later style tail 'bumper' would be moulded, once again using the faithful 'Milliput'. However, once fitted, the tail skid was found to be much deeper than the later fairing, so the part was sawn off at the skid end and allowed to fully set.
PIC 5. The 'streamlined' tail bumper was then moulded over the skid, and roughly shaped with a wet finger tip. Once fully set, it will be sanded to the final shape.
PIC 6. The oil tank hatch in the port engine nacelle has been cut open, and the edges of the aperture thinned out. The visible part of the oil tank, with filler pipe and 'dip stick', will be fabricated and fitted inside the nacelle later, and the open hatch cover will be made and fitted after painting the model This has been done as the model will be the center-piece of a diorama, with a suitable 'ground crew' figure posed on the wing, 'topping up' the oil immediately before an 'Op'.
PIC 7. The air intakes for the oil coolers in each wing, together with the landing lamps, are represented in the kit by finely raised lines. Here, work is underway cutting out the shapes for each. Pieces of fine mesh will be fitted inside the air intakes when done, and the lamp housing and lenses will be scratch-built and fitted later. The clear lamp covers will be sourced from spare items from the Revell B-25J kit, which comes with two sets of transparent parts. (Unfortunately, the cockpit canopy and nose canopy from this kit are a slightly different size, so can't be used in place of the kit parts in the old Revell kit being used for this build.).

That's the state of play to date, but I hope to get a lot more done over the weekend, including making the master for the Mk.XIV bomb sight computer, and moulding the part, if I can get the casting resin, as well as completing the work on the wings.
Thanks again for looking in, and I'll post more, sometime over the weekend.

Nice work Terry

some good surgery my friend!

Thanks very much Wojtek, Karl and Wayne.
Having a bit of a break whilst I attend to the scoring for the last GB - and it's needed, as my eyes are going crossed due to so much work using a magnifying glass !!
I might get a bit more done later today or tonight, if I'm not too stiff. And I must get to the art shop sometime today too, to get some casting resin.

Didn't get the resin - wasted journey to the art shop (see my post in the 'What annoyed you....' thread !).
But I have decided on a worthwhile change.
Those cockpit seats have been bugging me, as they looked like over-sized armchairs stuffed in by mistake, and spoil the entire look of the cockpit area. So I've pulled them out, and I'll adapt the seats from the B-25J kit, which are much more to scale, being around 2 mm or more narrower, and more like the correct shape. I'll get a set of resin seats for the 'J' when I get around to building it.
I'll try to post some pics of both sets of seats, side by side, later tonight, if I'm awake.
I now hurt so much after the bumpy return journey to the art shop, in a bitter wind, that I definitely need a rest, so I'm going to lie down, read the latest issue of 'Fly Past', and maybe get a couple of hours shut eye !

How about these Terry...

Pavla 1/48 B-25 Mitchell seats # S48023

Geo

Thanks Geo. I've seen those seats, but the set from Quickboost are much better, having better definition, and crisp seat belts which are 'draped' differently on each seat - and they're the same price as the Pavla set.
I'll order some for the 'J' kit when I place my next order with Hannants or Model Hobbies, rather than pay shipping cost on just one item.

Beauty work!

Looking great there Terry!!!

Thanks chaps !
I didn't get any more work done today or last night. I seem to have my 'sleepy head' on, as I slept most of today, on and off, missing a beautiful, sunny day !
Just couldn't stay awake !
I'm currently working on the scores for GB 28, so I'll continue the build when I've go them done, some time tomorrow.
A quick trial fit of the unpainted seats from the B-25J kit shows that they're much better, being narrower and allowing more of the cockpit and rear compartment to be seen. I just had to cut off the supports, to allow them to locate on the raised supports moulded in the cockpit - once painted and fitted with seat belts they should look the biz.
More pics and up-date some time tomorrow.

My sleep pattern is now right up the creek - went back to bed around 23.30 hrs, but couldn't get to sleep (not surprising !), so I got up and did a little bit more on the Mitchell, making and fitting the repeater compass/DI for the top of the instrument panel shroud, and polising and starting the masking of the canopy, which will b fitted once the 'new' seat are in place.

PICS 1 and 2 Show the huge difference in the kit seats, and those from the Revell/Monogram B-25J kit.The latter will be cleaned up, seat belts made and fitted, the seats painted, and then fitted into the cockpit.
PIC 3. The compass repeater on top of the instrument panel shroud - complete with finger print in the still wet paint !
The housing was made from thin plastic strip, with another piece of strip glued to the front after drilling a hole in it, and the instrument barrel is a short piece of plastic rod. The markings on the instrument face were scratched into the paint when not fully dry, although they're difficult to see clearly in this pic.
PICS 4 and 5. The canopy was polished with 'T-Cut' (car body colour restorer) to eliminate some of the scratches gathered over the years, although a couple are actually flaws inside the plastic itself. After washing off the polish residue, the canopy was again polished, inside and out, with a micro-fibre polishing cloth, seen under the canopy in the second shot.
PIC 6. The later Mitchell Mk.II aircraft had the extra frames for a clear vision panel on each side of the windscreen, and they are being created here by masking this area first, and then lightly abrading the exposed plastic, in order to provide a better 'key' for the paint.
PICS 7 and 8. The remainder of the masking underway, with the raised framing helping to align the tape. The pilot's and co-pilot's window panels could be slid open, and the frames for these were slightly recessed. This has been replicated by cutting the masking tape inside the moulded frame, and the corners have been angled.

That's it for now, but I hope to post another up-date very soon.

Gadzooks, I never realized it was that big of a difference. Also, a very big difference with the canopy, nice!


Geo

Thanks Geo, and yes, there's a heck of a difference in size, and shape, of the seats.

Well done Pal.

Nice work Terry!

Thoes Monogram seats will look much better

keep up the good work!