I’ve looked and looked, but cannot find one. Does any one know of a solid nose conversion for Monogram’s 1/48 B-25J?
Excerpt from USAF Museum website regarding what I’m talkin’ about:
"NAA modified 800 -J models by installing a solid nose in place of the bombardier’s ‘greenhouse.’ The solid nose housed eight .50-cal. machine guns bringing the total to eighteen–fourteen of which were forward firing for strafing missions. "
Looking at the plane in my signiature you can easily guess why I’m asking this question. [:D]
Monogram made a solid nose version of the B-25J several years ago.
Don’t know if it’s still in production, though.
Gunny, Those .50’s were used for strafing. Some of the B-25 strafers also had a
pair of .50’s on each side of the cockpit mounted to the fuselage sides. With the top
turret pointed forward, that brought it up to 14 forward firing guns. A very unhealthy
combination for anything or anyone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Ray
There is a resin 8 gun nose out there. Can’t remember if it’s by Aires or Verlinden. You might also consider modeling a “glass” nosed gunship J model. The B-25 in Action by squadron has a picture of a glass nosed B-25J converted to a gun ship operating out of Okinawa at the end of the war. Nose contained six 50 cal. mgs w/plexiglass painted over just like the earlier C and D model gunship conversions.
gunney
The idea was to create a low level strike aircraft. The initial conversions were thought up and converted in the field. As I understand it the initial idea was to use the 50 cals to suppress antiaircraft fire during low level attacks but it didn’t take long to discover that the weapons would cut through a destroyer like a hot knife thru butter. Add to that delayed action 100, 500 and 100 lb bombs and para-frags and you had an extremely deadly weapon.
The difference between the earlier release (which was a B-25H) and the B-25J, was the fact that that the H had a 75mm cannon along with the MGs’. The J had no cannon.
I’ve already started the greenhouse version, so its kinda late to acquire the Monogram solid nose version. I think it was an H not a J though. Different shaped nose. The H has a “snubbed” nose compared to the solid nosed Js and only two .75-cal canons on the front.
I checked Aires and didn’t see anything, but I’ll look again. Haven’t checked Verlinden, I forget about those guys sometimes, so I’ll head over there just now to see what they have. I think the painted over glass nose will be a last resort. The Green Dragon B-25s had that scheme, but I think those were -Cs an -Ds.
These B-25-Hs and solid nosed -Js were the early gunships of their day I’ve read and seen. I’ve got video footage of one of these -Js attacking a Japanese harbor. Just shredding anything in its path on the approach and then dropping those 100lb bombs with parachutes, thus the delay. Footage cuts out before you can see what the bombs did, but I’m sure it made even more of a mess of what was left in the harbor.
The B-25G, with its solid nose containing a 75 mm cannon and two .50 cals on either side of the nose, was absolute hell on shipping (and on the planes’ own crews as well, I’ve read). The machine guns on the G model were for clearing the decks, keeping the AA gunners’ heads down and for range-finding for the big gun. Unfortunately, these big-bore guns’ recoil tending to tear the planes apart and had a terrible effect on airspeed while firing.
(Early in its service life, A-10 pilots had to learn to fire very, very short bursts with that monster they carry. Pilots reported it was as if the airplane suddenly stopped dead in its tracks when the gun recoil quite literally kicked in.)
I can’t wait to start my AcMin B-25G, but it’s such a beautiful kit I want everything to be perfect before I lift a sprue, and that includes some AM stuff (I only have TD wheels and a Waldron radio room right now) and some colorful AM decals for it, which are not easy to find yet.
Tom
TWO 75’s in the nose… THAT would’ve been fun, Pappy thinks…
Yes, they made an ‘H’ and then the glass-nosed ‘J’, but also released a solid-nosed ‘J’ sometime in the late 80’s, or perhaps it was the 90’s. And no I’m not hallucinating; I built one and started two others… Every time I go looking for that particular issue of the kit, it’s been tough to find.
Anyhoo, I don’t have an extra set for the Aeromaster solid-nose conversion anymore, musta ditched awhile ago. If you wanna build a strafer, then try to find that solid-nose issue of the Monogram kit…
I’ve got the remains of the Monogram 8 gun nose kit in one of my spares boxes. Somewhere!!!
The version that had the 75 mm cannon, only had 4 .50 machine guns.
The 8 gun version has the guns mounted similar to the A-26K Counter Invader of Vietnam fame.
If you don’t mind waiting, I’ll see if I can dig up the parts for you. It mat take awhile, as I have just finished a move and a lot of my “stuff” is still in boxes. Just let me know.
I checked Verlinden. No dice. The Aires website must be down. Getting no response there.
Well, I can always try Monogram’s part replacement program if I can get a kit number and parts numbers for that solid-nosed ‘J’ kit. [:D] If you’ve got them that is Wolf. I know that’s a big 'if". [:D]
Anything would probably help Randie. As you can see by my signiature the ‘Quagmyre Quarter Scale Aircraft Assembly’ (QQSAA) won’t open 'til November when I start housesitting while my house is being finished. They start digging the foundation Monday (FINALLY)!!! Send me an email at rja1422@yahoo.com so we can trade info. Thanks a ton!!!
Well, If I were looking to do a gun nose B-25 I’d collect every photo of any I could find, because the original gun noses (both machine gunes and the 75 mm. – and I’ve never heard of one with four 50s and the 75 mm., but that doesn’t mean it didn’t exist)…er, as I was saying, the original gun noses were all field mods. The Pacific Theater was one helluva mother of invention, because they were so poorly supplied with anything, let alone modern, purpose-built aircraft. So to plink Marus, they modified B-25s, and tried every imaginable gun combination in the book, so you can hardly go wrong if you have some spare parts and a bunch of photos.
The really snubby-nosed B-25s you see are G models. As I said above, they came from the factory modified with a solid nose, two .50 cals., one 75 mm cannon. There were about 400 of them, every one modified from old B-25Cs. They were not really popular with crews, but certainly look cool.
Oh, and if you want to paint that eight-gun monster blue instead of OD, the Marine Corps operated some as PBJ-1s. There is an old 1/72 Italeri/Testor kit of it, in fact, as well as a glass nose PBJ/B-25
Let me just confuse this further, if I may. Confusing things is what I do, OK? According to “U.S. Aircraft 1908-1946 (Heavier Than Air)” copyright 1946, 4,318 B-25J models were delivered, all with tail nos. starting with year 43 (or just 3). Delivered with bombardier greenhouse noses, according to this reference, and the “J” model was 52’11" long, like the Doolittle B-25B. This is almost two feet longer, because of that bombardier greenhouse nose, than the 51’ factory-gun-nose B-25G and B-25H (which is the same as a G except the top turret is set farther forward on the fuselage). So, as I said before, your J models with gun noses will be field mods. Some with solid noses, some with metal plates replacing the glass in the framework and painted over, some with glass painted over. And the package guns on the side? Don’t even try to apply a marque to them. They didn’t call them package guns for nothing. They began life in field modifications, and that’s where they thrived.
In the end though, it all comes down to this: References, references, references.
If you care if your airplane is accurate, photo references are all that count. All else is 60-year-old statistics, the fading memories of old men, and people with nothing better to do who think they are experts arguing about such things. People like…well…um, me.
P.S. I’ll bet a significant number of the 800 factory mods Quag found in his references went to the Navy and Marines as PBJ’s, which is why my ancient postwar AAF reference book does not mention them at all in the very numerous footnotes. I don’t think the word Navy appears in the whole book.
Saahweeeeeeeet Wolf! Thanks!
Wasn’t gonna build it with the hatch up cause I like the nose art soo much, but now you’ve inspired me. There’s a wolf’s head on the starboard side too, and the bodacious betty should remain undisturbed with the gun hatch open. Feel free to send the larger pic to my email addy.
Quagmyre. I have the old Monogram kit! It’s P/N: 5507 If I can be of any help to you let me know. I have not built the kit yet, and I have the assemblt instructions if you think they would be of any help to you. You can drop me an email or a note here. semper fi, mike
Hey Mike. Thanks for the kit #. Looks like Randie is gonna help me out, but just in case. If you can read through the instructions and let me know what the parts numbers are for the 8 guns and the solid nose that would be bueno. Thanks!
