**** DONE: GB-40 1/72 B-25J - Heavy Hitters III

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N4521U said:
Thanks for ALL that.
Did two things; made me see the "over under" guns on the starboard side of the nose in my first picture.
So now I realize I was looking for something that did not exist.
I can proceed, with your help.
Cheers
Click to expand...
You probably will found this in some of the B-25 books, but AFAIK 2 fixed guns + 1 flexible (the middle one) in the greenhouse nose was a standard that came with block B-25J-20. As I mentioned in this post your a/c is an earlier one - block 1. But as it often happened many old a/cs have been retrofitted as well. With other words we see only one fixed gun on the photo, but the provisions for the hand-held were there for sure and the second fixed one could have been installed at some point or not. The a/cs with second fixed gun had the flexible one installed by 4" higher. We can visually recognize this by the bigger steel plate installed in the nose - compare the photos in post #19. But these are photos of restored a/cs and such elements are not always the original ones.
Cheers!
 

Well, color me old. I went back and re-read your post.
I missed most of what you posted, but Now it's making sense.
I'm going to have to pay more attention to what I am looking at.
Questions;
1. if this was fitted with two fixed, and one swivel; did they use all the standard hardware and mountings of the fixed?
2. do we have a frontal, or interior glass house photo of the higher mounting of the swivel gun?
I am assuming the higher mount was to clear the bomb sight...?

Is this more of what it would look like????
Thanks heaps.
 
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That photo above is pretty much the standard with 2+1 guns. I'm not sure about the mounting of the 2 fixed guns, are they the same - I guess so.

I have a very nice scheme of this mounting from the inside (in one of the more technical books like "Detail & Scale" by Kinzey), showing the amo-boxes for the 2 guns. When I'm at home I'll copy it for you.
The flexible one hangs on cables, attached to the sides of the nose - maybe this was the reason to move it higher - I don't know exactly. It was a pain in the butt for the bombardier anyways. The 2 fixed caused many vibrations and fumes in the nose. The fairings around the barrels as we see them on restored a/cs were never that nice and intact. This (and because of the weight) was the reason to remove them. If you want for your model you can show something similar - one fixed, the second removed (or never installed) and the middle one removed as well. Only the hole in the middle.
 
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CATCH 22 said:
That photo above is pretty much the standard with 2+1 guns. I'm not sure about the mounting of the 2 fixed guns, are they the same - I guess so.
Click to expand...

I found this gem on the web....... Workshop
It's 6M recovered and being restored. It appears to be much like 6Y. Heaps of photos recovered and in the process.
Do you suppose these can be used for a "like" A/C?
 
N4521U said:
I found this gem on the web....... Workshop
It's 6M recovered and being restored. It appears to be much like 6Y. Heaps of photos recovered and in the process.
Do you suppose these can be used for a "like" A/C?
Click to expand...
In fact this a/c was 6I.... but in the movie "Catch 22"! Oh, how I love this mish-mash of identities.
The B-25 was restored and even pictured in a magazine with its real s/n 44-30925 but with a squadron number 6I it never had and bogus nose-art "Laden Maiden" from "Catch 22"!

You might also know a movie called "Hannover street" (I tried to find all movies with B-25s for my private collection) - Han Solo flies "Mitchells" there. One of them is the former 6I, this time called differently:


And the last movie role of the same "girl": Thar she blows in the movie "Eye of the Needle"

I remember when the plane was brought back to Belgium in 2005. Check this article about the story of "Laden Maiden". It's a block -30 a/c - much "younger" than yours, but of course one can use all those nice details and photos from a restoration process.
You might have seen already that the a/c has the big steel plate for the flexible gun (correct for block -30). For block -1 check this authentic photo of a factory fresh B-25J-1 (small plate for the flexible+1 fixed gun):

Cheers!
 
Well dang....................
If the one above is std............
Perhaps the one I posted with the bigger plate is for me.
!/72nd is driiiiiving me crazy. SO here goes nuttin and goin with what I got.

Thanks for all your effort.
 
Now, after being promoted to "Airman 1st Class", I must tell you not to worry that much (just take it easy) about the size of that plate or about any differences between block -1 and -20 or -30 in 1:72. No one will see them.
BTW the first photo you've posted in the other thread clearly shows 1 fixed and 1 flexible gun in the nose (early standard, not retrofitted). The amo-boxes for the flexible gun on the side "shelf" (just over the metal) are visible as well. If I were you I would do it in this configuration.


I'm not sure if the plastic model represents an early B-25J or a later one. There might be some other differences (top turret, front glazing etc.).
Cheers!
 
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I knew that it started but wasn't sure if there was a month of preparation. Couldn't remember what the guidelines actually were to be honest
 
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