LB's FlightLine B-25J to B-25C "Desert Warrior" Build

[Elbee]

Mitchell Maniax,

A small victory, but those are my favorites.

All the teeny dials are glued in place and the IP is lookin' pretty good.

All the dials are individually placed with no repeats except for the port engine/starboard engine status dials.

The reference sources actually had more instruments than I had holes to place those....

Needs a second round of clear for the dial glass and paint for the IP lights, etc.

More when there is more.

Best, LB

[Charlee]

Beautiful job on the instruments! I spent 3 weeks working on the cockpit for my 1/10 scale and it was the most enjoyable period during the project. Most of the details no one can see, but as you said, I know they are there.

[Elbee]

Addendum:

Added the 2nd round of clear to the instruments, nice difference and the IP light colors.

Looks good with the cockpit shroud.

All dry fitted at this point.

Also, reprinted and primed the Nose 50 Cal I smashed with a box, so onward.

LB

[jetfool]

Outstanding work, Elbee.

[RRHandy]

Looking Good

[borntoolate]

Mitchell Maniax,

A small victory, but those are my favorites.

All the teeny dials are glued in place and the IP is lookin' pretty good.

All the dials are individually placed with no repeats except for the port engine/starboard engine status dials.

The reference sources actually had more instruments than I had holes to place those....

Needs a second round of clear for the dial glass and paint for the IP lights, etc.

More when there is more.

Best, LB

Amazing work... masterclass in my opinion!

Bob

[Elbee]

Thanks, Bob. Too kind.

[Aros]

More incredibleness from Mr. Incredible!

[Elbee]

RRHandy jetfool Aros borntoolate

You Guys are way too easily entertained

I do thank you all for the encouraging comments.

I get myself into this by thinking, but what if I did.....

I love it so.

Best, LB

[Elbee]

Bomber Brethren,

I decided which seat I will use, I believe it's early production, and suitably unorthodox; that's what I liked about it.

I suppose it made sense when first introduced, but obviously did not make it into later models.

Looking at the reference pics and the entirety of the cockpit I fairly confident it's a Mitchell, but....

The historians among us might have better intel.

I designed the seat a bit thicker in "Y" to fit over the OEM Ply Seat Backs and it looks pretty okay to me.
So much of this will be difficult to see at 60 MPH and 75 feet AGL. but that's what makes it fun.

I am on to 'tiny pilot painting', so I can close up the cockpit.

More when there is more.

Best, LB

[Elbee]

More incredibleness from Mr. Incredible!

Yes, that's me, Mr. Incredible.......

[Elbee]

Hey All,

Quick update on painting of the "little dudes" for the the cockpit.

The hardest part is waiting for paint to dry to move on the next shade, but it is a process.

Will do another couple washes to adjust the colors.

The shirts look a bit green in the pic, but it ain't necessarily so.

Headsets, sunglasses on one and eyes on the other up next, then maybe some weathering, but maybe not so much, as these guys are really small aviators.

They look pretty decent behind canopy glass, we'll see.

Next will be some assembly, YAY!

And then masking of the canopy and nose greenhouse, harrumph face :unamused:.

More when there is more....:pop

Best, LB

[Charlee]

"And then masking of the canopy and nose greenhouse", the most difficult and frustrating part of converting the B-25! Your pilots look outstanding! I just cut the head off the stock copilot and glued it back on cocked to the right

[Elbee]

Charlee

Kind words, indeed, and I thank you.

Any pose other than the OEM is an improvement, IMHO.

Your Mitchell is exemplary and a version I had considered.

However, I had just finished the FL Corsair in Tri-Color and had wanted to try an MTO example of something and found the "Desert Warrior".

Yeah I don't mind the masking as much as I might let on, but it is not a task I should do with interruptions; not an easy thing around here.

Best, Steve

[Elbee]

Hey All,

Fiddled with the 'little dudes' and I think I am finally done.

I could mess with these, like forever, and never be pleased with the results.

The pics I took just don't render the colors or tones or whatever very well.

Perhaps a new camera; don't own a smart-fon, so there's that, rather have a decent camera.

On to the assembly I wrote of several posts back.

Best, LB

[Grossman56]

That's okay Elbee, those Smart phones ain't so smart!
Looks good to me, pictures never give a sense of scale what's a 1/4 inch in real life gets blown up to a full inch and so do all the little details.

Great job, we all know what your skills are!

Grossman56
(Dangerous Dan)

[Elbee]

Grossman56

I thank you.

It sometimes seems if it just isn't perfect (what's in my head) then it's not quite good enough.

Besides, Tamms came into the Hanger and said "you still working on that?"

I showed her 'the little dudes' and she said, "They're fine...stop".

Can't argue with that or at least I ought-naught.

Best, Steve

[borntoolate]

Hey All,

Quick update on painting of the "little dudes" for the the cockpit.

The hardest part is waiting for paint to dry to move on the next shade, but it is a process.

Will do another couple washes to adjust the colors.

The shirts look a bit green in the pic, but it ain't necessarily so.

Headsets, sunglasses on one and eyes on the other up next, then maybe some weathering, but maybe not so much, as these guys are really small aviators.

They look pretty decent behind canopy glass, we'll see.

Next will be some assembly, YAY!

And then masking of the canopy and nose greenhouse, harrumph face :unamused:.

More when there is more....:pop

Best, LB

very cool!!!


Bob

[borntoolate]

Hey All,

Fiddled with the 'little dudes' and I think I am finally done.

I could mess with these, like forever, and never be pleased with the results.

The pics I took just don't render the colors or tones or whatever very well.

Perhaps a new camera; don't own a smart-fon, so there's that, rather have a decent camera.

On to the assembly I wrote of several posts back.

Best, LB

Excellent! Especially the one without glasses!


Bob

[RRHandy]

Looks good to me, Profectionist

[Elbee]

borntoolate RRHandy .

Thanks Gentlemen.

I painted the eyes 3 times, I think, and once I added the clear green to the sunglasses there was really no going back.

The print on the sunglasses pilot just doesn't scale as well going this small.

I wanted gold frames, which is a bit messy, if I'd painted those black I think all would have blended better.

The detail on the Max Grueter pilot bust is really good at 1:6th, the design scale.

I'd say this is about a tiny (1:12.8) one could miniaturize the file and still have much to work with.

I should find a watchmaker who paints miniatures.... or tint the canopy glass...

....just kidding, I get what I got and it'll do.

Thanks again for the encouragement.

Steve