Modelers, I have the AM B-25 C/D kit and I’m looking at finishing options. Most of the commercially avaliable decals I’ve found don’t interest me. I’m looking for some other schemes that I may consider doing my own decals for. Are there any sites out there showing any C or D model schemes? I’m trying to find that “one” that gets my attention.
Thanks.
during the time of those versions it was pretty much od over light gray… and more od over light gray. Not a whole lot of anything for those planes.
Dana!
Bugger, eh? I hope there are some schemes out there a little more eye-catching than just OD over grey - I’ve got the AM B-25C/D as well and want something a little different.
I’ll keep an eye on this post to see what pops up.
You might take a look at the C/D’s operating in North Africa and Italy. Desert Pink and Neutral Gray, OD and Desert Pink over Neutral Grey. Another scheme you might consider is a Marine PBJ-1D. Some early versions were in Blue/Grey over light grey and of course the “Tri Color” scheme (NS Sea Blue tops, Intermediate Blue sides and White lowers). There are a lot of B-25C/D schemes other than OD/Neutral Grey out there.
Well, the OD over grey doesn’t bother me. There are a few like that that have shark faces etc painted on the nose. I’ve found a few like that but I’d like to see more. BTW, these particular birds were strafers, which I had thought was what I wanted. However, I was thinking of finding one of those rare ones that utilized the bottom turrent.
These views are of the USAAC/USMC/USN B25 Mitchell variants, I do have the sideviews for the B 25 Mitchell under Commonwealth Air Forces and a decal sheet for 320 Sqn [Dutch] RAF.
I hope these help a little
Wow! Thanks Lobbie! I think I’ve seen these somewhere else but couldn’t remember where. Got em now!!
I assume the bulge on the bottom of some is the turrent retracted, right? I wasn’t sure if it was some kind of bulging cover.
Some of the Navy and Marine birds had a radar in place of the aft lower turrent and it was dome shaped compared to the flatten turrent. See Squadron Signal’s B-25 In Action pages 43 and 45.
I’m in the process of a conversion project on that AM B-25C/D kit for a magazine build and have been researching this variant for the past three months or so. Mine is not an AAF machine, but I’ve been researching them because there is very little difference between any C/D B-25 no matter who used them, so AAF references are good for any countries or branch of the service’s B-25, including the Brit, Dutch, French and Russian ones.
Yes, the bottom turret on Marine Corps PBJ-1C/D’s (the Navy did not fly the B-25 in any version) was replaced by a radome in many cases, removed in all cases. It was retractable and not glassed over, but sighted by a sort of periscope thing (technical, ain’t I?). Sometimes, though, on the PBJ (Marine Corps) it was just faired over and the radome was placed over the greenhouse bombardier’s station in what was called the “hose nose” conversion. Very ugly. But doable if you want a really different B-25.
On AAF B-25C/D models, the bottom turret was not removed until halfway through the production run of the G model, the first one to have a cannon nose. The strafing versions of the C/D had the glass just painted over and usually four guns in a square pattern were placed in the nose. The glass was not replaced with metal sheets, just painted over, though there could have been exceptions.
Aside from that great set of markings Lobbie has (whose decals are those, Lobbie? that’s one I haven’t seen and it has everything on it, even J models.), look up the Osprey Book “B-25 Units of the MTO.” Many, many interesting desert schemes and nose art profiles and photos in this book.
One thing: don’t make the mistake a lot of modelers do. The J model can look a lot like the C/D if you aren’t careful, and they are very different birds (the plane changed a lot when the H and J came along). The quick way to tell and H from a G, and a J from a C/D, is that the H (the only one, besides the G, with the cannon nose) and J had the top turret moved to the forward fuselage, and the ventral turret was removed altogether. So if the turret’s ahead of the wing, it’s a late model B-25/PBJ.
Hope this wasn’t more than you cared to know.
TOM