Hasegawa 1/72 B-25J Mitchell 'Silver Wing'

KIT #

00781

PRICE:

3200 yen

DECALS:

Two aircraft

REVIEWER:

Scott Van Aken

NOTES:

2005 Limited Edition

HISTORY


The B-25 Mitchell is arguably the best medium bomber of the war. I say arguably as there are folks who have their own preferences, but one thing for sure, it served on all fronts and in rather large numbers from the beginning of the war until the end.

The J version was one of the last large, mass produced variants of the Mitchell and it was this sub-type. Many of these were supplied to Allied nations of the time, including the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France. The aircraft was often modified and used post-war. The vast majority of extant B-25s are J models that were converted to TB-25J trainers. Thanks to the large number of spares that were available for this airplane, many of these were later converted back to B-25J bomber configuration by war bird owners.  

THE KIT

When you open the box, and look at the parts layout, you may well think 'Accurate Miniatures'. It is quite similar in this regard, but then again, there are only so many ways to mold a kit of a certain aircraft so that is more than likely the reason why.  Some similarities are in the way the wings are done, the horizontal stab, the gun turret, and the interior are all very much like the larger Accurate Miniatures kit.

 As you might expect, detailing is outstanding with all the interior bits and pieces and all the outside panel lines just in the right place. In the cockpit, the seat belts are molded on the seats (a first for Hasegawa, I do believe) and all the instruments are decals. The kit does lack sidewall detailing in the cockpit, but it is really not that big an issue.

There is a full bomb bay and it will be interesting to see if the bay doors can be built closed or not. The cowling will require little pieces of ejector stub to be glued on, and that was one area I'd hoped Hasegawa would have made a modification. The sprues on this kit are identical to the basic boxing, and that includes the glass gun nose as used in the Southwest Pacific. This boxing doesn't need the four nose guns nor the gun packs on the side, but you still have to drill a hole for the single additional nose gun. No info on supplying nose weight is provided as the kit offers a small support for the rear crew entry door but if you do not want to rely on a prop, you'll have to be clever in the way that you place weight. I like that the upper turret can be installed after you paint the airframe.

Instructions are standard Hasegawa with Gunze paint references. There are two options. One is the box art plane from the 489th BS/340th BG from Italy in January 1945. The blue on the outer fin is part of the decal though the aircraft number and serial are provided separately so you can paint the fin. This would be the best option as the prop hub and forward engine cowling are painted in this blue as well.  The other with the stripes on the fin is from the 380 BS/310th BG based on Corsica in November 1944. Decals are nicely printed, but they are the old style where the white is off white and the decals will require hot water to easily remove from the backing.

CONCLUSIONS

I would say this is the best 1/72 B-25J on the market and will make a nice model in the markings provided. Those wanting something different can go with the many aftermarket sheets available for this plane. I'm sure that Airfix will eventually do a new tool B-25J based on their B-25C/D kit, but until then, this is the one for the J. 

September 2020

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