B25 Mitchell Apache Princess

[dcmacharlie]

B25 Mitchell Apache Princess
Hi group
I got tired of waiting for someone to build and sell us the 1/18 B25 so I picked one up that is somewhat 1/18 and have begun working on it, IM trying to make it look a little better then the planes calls for, there was a big head in the front with no detail so I took the front glass off and cut out the big head that was there built a floor and side shelves to hold ammo cans and feed lines for the 50s, put (2) 50 cals, one for him to shoot and one the pilot operates, some ammo cans and some other things I figured he might use in flight added a crew member to man the 50, he is a volunteer from one of my 1/18 fighters don’t remember which one, took the cockpit glass off removed the two big heads out of the cockpit, built a front control panel side instruments and seat and control sticks for pilot and co pilot, added a pilot and co pilots from my other 1/18 airplanes, made a little head phone for the pilot to use, added sliding windows both sides, I work on this when I feel the need and have the time, working on the wing and landing gear and will take pic of that when im somewhat done with one wing and gear, I know this airplane is a little over 1/18 but I think it will do, just love the bombers of WW2 , I have seen the work some of the others have done on there’s and others airplanes and mine will not compare to there work , I think some of you doing the mods are true artist, with a god given talent for that kind of work only wish I could do as well, but life goes on and ill try my best to make this B25 as nice as I can get it, here are some pic of my work on this airplane, almost got the right wing completed when I do ill send some pic of that. Also a 1/18 P40 for comparison, the original B 25 is from BH models from Viet nam
Carlos

[Tanker85]

I love the B-25 and yours is looking so so cool. Hope to see it when your finished.

Eric

[pickelhaube]

Great looking project !!

[tmanthegreat]

Is that the Flying Styro Kit or one of the other 1/17-1/16 scale B-25s made by another manufacturer? Its looking good so far

[Jesse James]

A friend of my father's just gave me a bunch of items from his father's collection. He was a B-25 pilot in the Pacific. He gave me their farewell hankie, his patch off his jacket, a war trophy, and the kicker item was he gave me the actual owner's manual to the B-25. I'm working on a way to display it all.

Would love to build a replica of the man's plane to have it go along with the items his son gave me.

[plasticboy]

MaMaMiYa~ I love to have one B-25, She's beauty!

[dcmacharlie]

Thank you all for your comments, This is not the styro kit from hobby lobby, I was thinking of getting that one but read some negative comments on it and up close it looks like foam did not like that but it did have some nice detail on some things, has lights and im trying to figure how to add that, I like having lights in the wings just got to figure out how to do that , maybe something from radio shack , im adding a few pic of the wing and cockpit, still adding to the cockpit just do not know what to add looking at pic of original airplane and looking at those for ideas, took the cockpit glass off so you can see some of the inside of the cockpit, instrument panel and flight controls. The original retracting gear was just a straight piece of wire with a L piece to hold the tire, I modified it a little to look more real and the original tire set up from the kit showed the main tires opposite of what they are supposed to look like, out from the gear on each main not in from the gear , and that was a little work to fix still dealing with that, the engine cylinders were a little work also , used sprinkler parts and plastic screws, and tooth picks , a long story but they came out ok not what I really wanted the engines to look like but ok , anyway ill stop writing im confusing myself. Carlos

[gliderdwm]

Here is one but it larger than 1:18
http://www.fsk-warbirds.eu/detail_north ... 10?lang=en

[Grognard]

Nice.

[aferguson]

the FSK shown in the link above is about 1/17 and has a 48 inch wingspan. The apache princess is a tad bigger with a wingspan of around 53 inches.

[dcmacharlie]

The wingspan on mine is 62 inches and the length is 48 inches, the 1/18 crew members are a little small but they are the best i could find and i have lots being i have lots of 1/18 fighters to chose pilots from and they do not look half bad Carlos

[aferguson]

ah that's an even bigger version....hadn't heard of that one before. Looks great so far

[pizzaguy]

Carlos,
The B-25 looks Great! Nice Job.
Here's a couple websites for landing lights. The first is a DYI approach and the second is a ready to install system made by RAM. I have used a set of their NAV lights for a R/C aircraft I did for one of our restaurants about 10 years ago. Their still flashing. Good product.

http://www.rc-cam.com/navlight.htm
http://www.quicktechhobby.com/Car_Acces ... lights.htm

If your just interested in some clear lights under the wings I could set you up with a couple Bright White LED lights and a 3V battery pack. I use the same lights in my display stands. You can get about 24 hours off new set of batteries. PM if your interested. Pizzaguy

[YT]

That looks great, please keep us updated.

[dcmacharlie]

Thank you Pizzaguy
ill check that out and i may take you up on the led lights, they have to fit in some kind of fixture with a clear lens that then installs in the leading edge of the wing i have to see what and how to fit them and if there is a way to turn them on and off with the up and down movement of the gear, lots of work and still have to do honey dos, and all the rest of the other things in my life. I have seen some of the other members add lights to there aircraft and I was really impressed as how nice they look when the lights are on, BTW if you know did the B25 come with the red and green outside wing lights, or because it was in war time they left them off in manufacturing it.

[normandy]

Your B-25 is looking great!
RE: red and green lights/navigation lights.....most aircraft were manufactured with them, the trick was to remember to shut them off it was the quickest way to get shot down.
Keep up the good work.

[AMERICAN_GRENADIER]

love that bird

[snake]

Great looking project, dcmacharlie.

That sucker is pretty huge.

Keep us posted with your progress.

[mountian-man]

the FSK shown in the link above is about 1/17 and has a 48 inch wingspan. The apache princess is a tad bigger with a wingspan of around 53 inches.

Isn't "Apache Princess" the one shown in the link above???

[Dauntless]

You just don't know how friggin' huge a 1:18 or thereabouts B-25 is, till you put it next to that 21st Pearl Harbor P-40. It dwarfs it.

[dcmacharlie]

First thank you all for your positive comments and ill try and post more pic as i work on it, When i get the wings on ill post pictures of it next to some of my 1/18 just to see the size difference, question did the B 25 use a fighter escort and if they did what aircraft was used? And if my memory is correct did not one of the manufactures tell us they were going to put out a 1/18 scale B 25 along with a Viet Nam F 4, I would have giving all my toys and first born to have them both, that would have been one big airplane for comparison how big would the wingspan on the B25 be for it to be 1/18?

[Rogue 01]

looking great can't wait to see it finished

[flayrah]

Good work, that's looking great. Excellent idea about the plastic screws as cylinders, I would never have thought of that. Nice workstand, too.

[dcmacharlie]

Good work, that's looking great. Excellent idea about the plastic screws as cylinders, I would never have thought of that. Nice workstand, too.

Here are a couple of pic of the set up for the engine cylinders with the sprinkler head and screw i used, i cut the screw in half so each one made two cylinders, glued them around the sprinkler head and added the two little cylinder rods made from round toothpicks and painted them silver with the rest of the engine dark grey. the hole in the sprinkler head fit the electric engine perfect. The work stand was made from PVC pipe, schedule 40 and fittings, made it cheap and pipe foam insulation for protection

[pickelhaube]

Good work, that's looking great. Excellent idea about the plastic screws as cylinders, I would never have thought of that. Nice workstand, too.

Here are a couple of pic of the set up for the engine cylinders with the sprinkler head and screw i used, i cut the screw in half so each one made two cylinders, glued them around the sprinkler head and added the two little cylinder rods made from round toothpicks and painted them silver with the rest of the engine dark grey. the hole in the sprinkler head fit the electric engine perfect. The work stand was made from PVC pipe, schedule 40 and fittings, made it cheap and pipe foam insulation for protection

Very clever idea