Foiled HKM B-25J Strafer - 345th BG Air Apaches - Lady LiL

[geedubelyer]

Wait, wait,...lemme just get my checklist.

 

Let's see, comfy chair.........check.

 

Cold brew.........check,

 

Tasty nibbles.........check

 

Ok, I'm good to go. Bring it on......

 

 

[Out2gtcha]

lol, Thanks for the warm words guys!

 

Ive started doing a bit O research to see if there is anything Im missing of the stuff I personally want to correct or improve.

 

I am in no way shape or form an "open panels" kind of guy, and Im also a firm believer in "if you cant see it, I aint addin it". More or less.

The strafers like the lady were used to great effect in the PTO by the Americans, and 8 gun nose B-25 Js like the Lady came from the factory in this config.

 

However knowing all of the little intricacies of the interior and some venting/piping/detailing that is missing from both the front interior and upper turrets and side guns, I know I have no interest in fixing or replacing most of these type of little details. (I will be trying to add some side gun support cables and the like)

The main parts of the interior that WILL be seen is what I will be concentrating on, and will forgo the extra work its going to take to fab a lot of stuff that will in the end, be very hard to see in the strafer.

 

This build will be about the stuff that IMHO makes a kit look like a work of art, and will be noticeable to even non experts like the paint / finish (or in this case foil), guns, bomb detail, cockpit detail, props, wheels, gear, ect, ect.

 

So knowing I will be improving the pit to a certain degree, (not going all out but improving the stuff that will be noticed) since there will be no "open canopy" to speak.

I will however be cutting the side windows out, smoothing the square opening and posing the window in an open position using some super thin Squadron thermo-form.

 

The other thing I noted that I dont have is a gun site for the gun nosed bomber. I picked up Profimodellers cockpit set (and strafer masks) mainly for the gun sight and cross hairs, ALTHOUGH I will still be adding the trigger and wiring on the yoke -

 

 

 

Profimodeller seems to have some nice details in their set, although Im not sure how much of it beyond the gun sight Ill use since I have most of teh Eduard sets. Illl end up doing what I normally do.............picking and choosing the best options out of OOB, Eduard and Profim options -

 

 

 

 

The next and last thing I realized about the Strafer was broght to my attention by a friend and fellow LSPer PeteG. And thats the fact that the missions that the Lady flew, along with other strafers from the 345th, were VERY low level, and they were likely NOT dropping 500 lbers.

 

 

 

 

The Lady and her other fellow strafers likely were dropping the standard WWII 23 Lb AN-M40 para-frag bomb:

 

 

 

As you can see, these things were not very big, (a little over 31 inches long) and since they have no fins, should be easy to scratch up.

 

I will be attempting to scratch about 12 of these things, as a normal bomb load of 6 500 lbers is replaced for low level strafing missions with 12 para-frag bombs.

 

Hopefully more pics in the next few days.

 

Cheers!

[Vandy 1 VX 4]

Brian hope this can help in your parafrag bomb "clusters" http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1262399104/1-48th+scale+Parafrags

 

I have researched these allready so if you want to pm me with your email. I can give you what I have

Cheers

[Out2gtcha]

Brian hope this can help in your parafrag bomb "clusters" http://www.network54.com/Forum/149674/thread/1262399104/1-48th+scale+Parafrags

 

I have researched these allready so if you want to pm me with your email. I can give you what I have

Cheers

 

 

Cool thanks! That pic is just what I needed. It looks like these were loaded in clusters of 3 in place of where a normal 500 Lber went? So I might be making 18 of these suckers, with 6 cluster adapters...........

 

PMd

[Youngtiger1]

Wow, wow, wow, Brian you said you put while back that will throw everything on this build ones you get the kit...including the Kitchen sink. Now, I don't see the sink in any of these photos...

 

Seriously, this is going to be a gorges and highly detail aircraft with all that bling bling

 

A must follow WIP of yours....again. Just make sure I see that sink in there some place or else..

 

 

[Pete G.]

Brian,

 

First, the DH 2 looks awesome! I am very much looking forward to watching this build! To elaborate on the bombload, as we discussed, one could obviously use 500 pounders as well. They were obviously used for skip bombing and we could also assume they we're employed at low level over land with delayed fuses. I honestly don't know for sure. It all comes down to what you like in the bomb bay, if anything is put in there at all. The parafrags sure would look interesting though! I don't think I've ever seen them put in a model before!

 

Cheers!

 

Pete

[Guest Peterpools]

Brian

Perfect POA. Looking forward to the starting post.

Edited February 7, 2013 by Peterpools

[shepard]

Im here to, trying to learn a little bit with you my friend...

I have one glassnose here....my next project asap...

 

Shep

[mhorina]

Hello Brian,

Here is some info on the M86 120 lb fragmentation bomb. This info taken from pg 139 REPLICA IN SCALE VOL 2 S&S 1974. 118.2lbs, 58.8" long, 6.1"dia, nose fuse, 2 suspension lugs 14" apart one on the bomb case, and one on the parachute case. Sorry there is no silouette of this bomb only of the Mk 72A1 24lb frag. HTH

Mike Horina

[BloorwestSiR]

Hi Brian,

 

Like everyone else, I'm waiting with baited breath to see what you come up with.

 

One question I have is do you know of any pics where they show Lady Lil still in OD over NG? Eli's decal sheet mentions that this is the way she was originally and I'm thinking of building my kit this way.

 

Carl

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks for the words guys, much appreciated. Carl, yeah I saw that on Elis sheet as well, but dont have any photos of the Lady as she was (assuming that she was not "Lady LiL" in camo maybe?) before she was natural metal.

 

Hells bells, I cant even find any period pics of her with her cheek guns installed, and from the blast marks I KNOW she had them at one point. Most seemed like they were removed due to cracking of the airframe, and in the Ladys case, they were interfering or possibly damaging her picture it seemed!

 

Well on to business chaps………………………

 

I finally got down to make a good start on the Lady. With all of the attention the HK 25 family of kits is getting its enough to make me kinda-sorta not want to work on it. I know, I know, weird, but I like doing unique things, and its hard to be unique when there are a lot of the subjects being done. Absolutely no offence intended to anyone else with one, as it’s a great kit and cant begrudge anyone from building their own, Im just a weirdo.

 

Shut up Phil. (lol)

 

So basically, for about 4 – 8 hrs I took a seat. Well I guess two actually.

I started on the pit, and in my particular order, I decided the best plan of attack was to start in on the massive amounts of PE in the cockpit.

 

I have most all of the Eduard kits except the bomb bay……………………was not going to do the bay open………….but every period pick of the Lady Ive seen has her bay open. Im starting to think I should have ordered that set, and could have skipped the exterior upgrade, as it looks to be mostly for the engines and wheel wells……………both of which on my ship will be as closed up as they can.

 

I also have the Profilmodeller set for the pit and have noticed that the resin in the set is not that terrific IMHO, and the PE seems to be substantially thicker and harder to work with than the much more delicate Eduard stuff.

 

I just ordered the bomb bay set from SB.com now that I know Ill be doing the bay open as well.

 

So I started with the cockpit floor, and both the pilots and Navigators seat bases. Eduard provides very nice detail here –

 

 

 

 

I also pulled both halves of the fuse out, as well as the nose and gun doors to tape some things together, and check some fit on these key components. Fit of the doors to the nose to the fuse is actually quite good, even dry fit –

 

 

This thing is quite massive –

 

 

Substantially larger than my 1/24^th scale CHC II Beaver even –

 

 

 

MORE……………………….

[Out2gtcha]

Next I started on the much more complex seats themselves. These are actually very nice, thin and scale looking.

I also have to note here that I believe (Maybe just me, or the fact that I haven’t used brand new tool Eduard PE parts in a long time) that Edaurd has changed, and IMHO, slightly improved the overall quality, look, detail and maybe even process for their PE. Previous uses of their PE, had a more silvery appearance, and the thin-ness and detail didn’t seem quite as up to par as these sheets seem.

 

These new PE sheets are much more brass/coppery looking with very crisp etched areas to them, and as always, seemed very thin and usable.

 

I started in on the seats themselves, which gave me a chance to use my new toy!

 

It’s the 4 inch “hold and fold” and its from the small-shop. This thing works AWESOME! For bending larger (and even smaller too) PE parts, its been invaluable. Works super well, and is VERY adjustable –

 

 

 

Here are some shots of the assembled seats –

 

 

 

 

Here they are just resting/dry fit in their soon to be new homes –

 

 

 

 

Well it’s a start, and now that im engaged with the kit, and its always been one Ive wanted to do, Im finally in a groove so things should be picking up………………..

 

I just have to work on other things whilst waiting on the bomb bay set to show up.

 

Cheers, and thanks for stopping in on me.

[LSP_Kevin]

You're a wizard Harry! Er, I mean Brian! That PE looks amazing. I hate working with PE personally, and all that delicate, fiddly stuff you've done so far would have put me in the loony bin. Great work!

 

Kev

[dodgem37]

Pretty impressive. Not that I know anything, but I would have thought the pilot/co-pilot sat up straighter than the seat implies. Maybe it's the lens.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Guest Peterpools]

Brian

Glad you dug in and fired up the engine. I understand how you feel about so many other B-25 being underway but speaking for myself, I'll be following yours and the others with great interest. Looks like you have your Hold and Fold fired up and since buying mine right after your purchase, it's become a favorite. From the looks of it, the two of you will be spending a lot of time together, bending those Eduard gorgeous PE parts into shape. Agreed, the Eduard parts now seem to be more copper in color and the detail still knocks me over.

I've been using the thinner CCA (Loctite) glue with PE lately and finding it seems to work a little faster and bonds better then the thicker CCA glues. Any observations?

Keep 'em coming