…from my buddy, Lewis Pruneau:
…“wow” at the waterfall…plane is from a vacuformed kit…
Incredible work, but it has one fatal flaw which is a very distinct turnoff. That is the pre-May 12, 1942 stars which never could have happened as the 8th AF’s first raid was in August, 1942.
Not too mention that the 8th AF never used B-25s. IIRC there was only one USAAF B-25 in the ETO.
I’m with the other guys on the accuracy of using those markings on that aircraft. It’s a B-25H which went into service in late 1944.
Middle East and Italy
**"**The first B-25s arrived in Egypt just in time to take part in the battle of El Alamein. From there the aircraft took part in the rest of the campaign in North Africa, the invasion of Sicily and the advance up Italy. In Italy the B-25 was used in the ground attack role, concentrating on attacks against road and rail links in Italy, Austria and the Balkans. The B-25 had a longer range than the A-20 Havoc and A-26 Invaders, allowing it to reach further into occupied Europe. The five bombardment groups that used the B-25 in the desert and Italy were the only US units to use the B-25 in Europe.
Europe
The U.S. Eighth Air Force, based in Britain, concentrated on long range raids over Germany and occupied Europe. Although it did have a small number units equipped with twin engined aircraft, the B-25 was not amongst them. However, the RAF received nearly nine hundred Mitchells, using them to replace Douglas Bostons, Lockheed Venturas and Vickers Wellington bombers. The Mitchell entered active RAF service on 22 January 1943. At first it was used to bomb strategic targets in occupied Europe. After the D-Day invasion the RAF used its Mitchells to support the armies in Europe, moving several squadrons to forward airbases in France and Belgium."
Source: http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_B-25_Mitchell.html
While this page technically covers Navy markings, the same wing markings applied to the Army Air Corps/Air Force.
I, too, noticed the innacuracies from a historical perspective…Lewis isn’t big on research or detailed knowledge of many of his subject matter—he just likes to build.
Also, many of his clients tell him what they want in the dio—specifically—and he build it, regardless of it being right, wrong or indifferent…
Historical accuracies, and masterful craftsmanship, aside, I wish there was more movement on the water surface on both immediate sides of the churning waterfall. Water seems to be dead still, smooth as glass. That waterfall is excellent, tho.
If you got close ups of the figures, please post them. They look really good.
Steve
I noticed the stars right away, but what bothers me more is the fact that the aircraft is broken into pieces, but the pieces themselves are pretty darn intact. Looks like the aircraft had a mental breakdown [:D], because no major forces seem to have acted on it (they would leave lots of dents and warped sheetmetal. Plus the parts would probably tumble upon impact. So the first look of the dio is a WOW, but then the second thoughts tell you no.
In the end I’d like to say I respect the effort the modeller put into the dio, and I hope my remarks will help other people tackling similarily very hard to do subjects. Thanks for reading, have a nice day
Pawel
Good stuff from Lewis as usual but I’ve got to agree with the guys. I’m very surprised at the composition flaws on this piece.
Markings, water effect and period aside, my growse would be that the plane looks like it just dropped out of the sky intact 20 feet up and just broke into those big chunks. There’s not much skidding and the house nearby should at least have part of it demolished by the right wing.
Sorry to say, perhaps he was dictated by the client. Probably one bad apple in a box full of good ones.
Would appreciate close ups of the figures as Steve suggested.
Cheers,
Richard
Again, the client he is doing these big dios pretty much dictates what he wants, and how he wants it, even if it isn’t realistic…money talks…this is a business proposition for Lewis more than an artistic or historic exercise…
I loaned Lewis four books on a/c crashes and believe it or not there were examples of some a/c that looked pretty close to what you see here…as far as what marks would have been left on the ground—I dunno? I believe Lewis wanted to depict and a/c that was shot down and fluttered down to the ground more than came in under power…
I can see what you mean…the water could have absorbed the crash. We’ll never know won’t we? It’s just a dio.
Cheers,
Richard
I like it… despite the Stars issue, … it still looks pretty good, as for the skid marks, or lack of, we may not be able to see them from the pic angles… In one shot, you can see the back side of the power pole and it looks like it took a hit from the starboard wing/engine… but not alot of the background to see if there is other evidence of a skid in, or something else. It is possible like Manny said, to not have alot of markings on the ground, as fireman, I’ve seen car wrecks with no skid marks or anything , so… ya never know. But other pics or longer shots might reveal something else we can/can’t see…
I do really like the waterfall, and as for the water moving or not, it could look like that, I’ve seen natural watefalls in local brooks and streams, and depending on the slopes of the banks of the streams, or how quickly the ground runs away from the falls, will control how much the water is moving… so with the level banks, the water flow could look flat, the deepness of the canal waters can add the to flatness… just my humble thoughts…
Over all… swell job…[Y]
Here’s my perspective as an avid fiction reader: From the way the Germans are looking at it, this plane wasn’t there the last time they walked through here. Maybe this isn’t 1942, but late summer or early fall 1944, and the Germans have crossed into an Allied-controlled area where an Allied plane was set up specifically to draw out German units for an ambush. The bodies in the plane are actually German soldiers redressed as Allied pilots, and the plane was a pre-1942 B-25 that crashed while on a training run, behind Allied lines and mocked up to look as though it was shot down. That would also serve to explain the lack of impact crater, and the mud that formed around the nose and port nacelle. But hey, that’s just my thoughts.
All in all, a be-a-utiful diorama.
After looking at it again, the B-25 could have come from the opposite direction…spun…with the tail section breaking away and landing across the river. With not much structural damage I presume it was a belly landing that went way beyond the landing strip.
That seems possible to me.
Cheers,
Richard
Except that it’s NOT a pre 1942 B-25, it’s a B-25H: Solid nose with multiple .50’ and a 75 mm cannon, rear turret and dorsal turret moved to the navigator’s position. The H didn’t go into service until late 1944 and was primarily used in the Pacific as a ground attack/bomber. It would NEVER have had those wing markings.
Excellent craftsmanship on the models & diorama. That has been noted in every comment.[:D[
Historical inaccuracies aside realize a commission build have a deadline. He probably never had the luxury of time to sort out every flaw that has been pointed out.
[2cnts]My two things if tackling a similar project would be:
#1 The dam is usually right in line with the water wheel of the mill. Its purpose is to control the amount of water powering the mill.
#2 The plane appears to have no weight or is sitting on ice. The nose should be plowed into the bank with the engines at least in the water. If indeed a crash landing the gear would have broken off before the plane skipped across the river scene.
Don’t get me wrong, his work is outstanding & I wonder how much a diorama like this would be worth $$$???
Very nicely done! Leave historical accuracies to historians. My only wonder is - where did he find the B-25 in 1:35 scale? Scratch-build?
Vacuformed !
I’ll check when I get home tonight, but I believe in Robert Jackson’s book “Bomber!” gives the details of a failed USAAF (probably 12BG) raid over Holland with B-25’s. This was an early raid (1943?), prior to D-Day. They flew in low and unescorted and were decimated by the German flak with most of the aircraft decorating the Dutch shoreline. Again, I haven’t re-read that book in a dozen or so years.
Mike T.
Not likely the 12th. I just ran a quick check and the 12th served in the MTO and in CBI. They returned to the US by way of Europe/Germany postwar. Just curious, but does anyone know what bopmb Group it was where Joseph Heller was assigned to in the MTO? IIRC that was where he came up with the idea for his novel “Catch -22”.