1/48 PBJ-1D (B-25D) – VMB-433 - “The Fork-Tailed Devils”

[DavidsScaleModels]

I am taking a short break from commission builds during this holiday season. So for the first build of 2025 I am building Academy's 1/48 PBJ-1D (B-25D). The scheme will be "The Fork-Tailed Devils" of VMB-433 for the U.S. Marines located on Emirau Island, New Guinea 1944. I will be adding some resin seats as well as photo etch details to compliment the model. For a reference I am using William Wolf's "B-25 Mitchell – The ultimate look" book. This covers everything on the B-25 from drawing board to flying arsenal as well as all versions including the PBJ's. One nice thing is this lists out all the various colors used on the interior. Surprisingly there are three different "greens" used throughout the interior. The book has color images of various interior sections including the variances from version to version.

As usual I am starting off with the cockpit. The resin seat is way more accurate than the kit version. The cockpit floor and control sticks required some clean up due to mold marks. The instrument panel in the kit is molded in clear. This allows you to place the decal with the gauges on the backside and paint the front flat black. This gives the instrument panel gauges the depth of the real gauges. The control sticks and the center pod was detailed using photo etch levers and the adjustment wheel. For the cockpit floor more photo etch details were added. I am working of finishing the cockpit and then moving onto the Navigators station and the bomb bay which houses an internal fuel tank.

You can all the photos and details in the build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-pbj-1d-b-25-mitchell/

 

[DavidsScaleModels]

Welcome to 2025! This is the second week of the PBJ-1D build. This week was spent on building and detailing the interior assemblies and fuselage walls. Starting with the center section I detailed the Flight Engineer's seat which sits above the forward entry ladder and then added the internal auxiliary fuel tank in the bomb bay section. The next section was the dorsal turret section. The twin kit guns were detailed using the photo etch set. This replaces the barrels with photo etch versions which are the correct diameter and length for the scale. The ammo belts were also replaced with photo etch versions. The turret assembly was then mounted to the platform and I added some additional wiring for the turret motors.

I finished off the cockpit by mounting the seats and installing the control pedals. The interior of the fuselage halves were then detailed and painted to match the color photos in the reference book. Finally I test fit the 3 major interior assemblies to make sure there were no issues. I still need to detail the bomb bay walls and I am starting to detail the nose area.

You can all the photos and details from the start in the build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-pbj-1d-b-25-mitchell/

 

[TimM63]

Very nice detail work.

 

[DavidsScaleModels]

The third week of the PBJ-1D build was spent detailing the nose area. To start with the starboard side has the ammo boxes, electronic gun and the spent casing bag. The gun is molded and only half of the frame. The ammo belt was just a blob of plastic. I had a set of Eduard Brassin resin guns so I decided to use these instead of the kit versions. I started by cutting the starboard wall apart. The kit "blob" for an ammo belt was cut off and replaced with a photo etch ammo belt. The resin gun was then mounted on the spent casing bag. The upper ammo case for the nose gun was then modified for the belt feed and mounted on the starboard side.

For the port side I detail painted the wall and the bomb sight. I then used some solder to replicate the air duct for the bomb sight. The nose gun was then detailed with the photo etch handles and added the chute to the ejection port. The ammo belt was then routed from the upper ammo box to the gun. Another detail I added was the elastic lines that hook up to the rear of the gun to hold it up in place when not in use. The clear nose and the top canopy of the nose were then sanded slightly to clean up the fit to the nose section.

I am currently reviewing details of the tail gunners section. The kit only has a twin gun mount to stick out the back. I will be making the entire section using photo etch and scratch building. I will be using some more Eduard Brassin resin guns and will need to make a tarp that covers the opening of the tail. The reference photos show this was used to keep sand and dirt out of the gun assembly. I will detail how I make the tarp when I get to that point.



You can all the photos and details from the start in the build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-pbj-1d-b-25-mitchell/