B-25 skin substitutions

[Widewing]

Originally posted by Greebo
I'm going to go for Barbie III. I like Clana Louise but haven't found any photos of it yet. I've ordered a 345th BG book so maybe there will be something in there. Most of the other profiles are Gs, so they are subject to HTC approval I guess.

There is some inconsistency between the photos and profiles of Barbie though. The profiles I've seen of it show an olive drab/neutral grey scheme. However the photos of Barbie III and other 1st Air Commando B-25Hs seem to show them olive drab top and bottom. The Barbie III warbird seems to be OD all over too so I'll go with that scheme for now.

I have several photos of Barbie III from Baisden. It was painted completely in  OD green, as was the other 10 B-25H bombers assigned to 1st Air Commandos.

Barbie III was a B-25H-1-NA and was delivered with only two side-mounted "package" guns on the right side. The second set of "package" guns on the left side didn't appear until serial number 43-4405 (tail number 34405).

One note about serial numbers. Some profiles and the currently flying B-25 in Barbie colors show 34380 as the tail number. However, Baisden states that the tail number was 34280, but photos show otherwise.



I greatly appreciate you doing this skin. When it's added to the plane set, I'll e-mail Chuck some screen shots.

My regards,

Widewing

[Guppy35]

Sure looks like you can see the demarcation line for the neutral gray on those Hs Widewing.  The second in line in particular.

I do like the masking tape to keep the moisture from getting behind the armor plate look though

Greebo.  What 345th book are you getting?  If it's the Lawrence Hickey book, you'll not regret it.  A million photos and profiles.  One of the best, if not the best group history I've ever seen.

[Widewing]

Originally posted by Guppy35
Sure looks like you can see the demarcation line for the neutral gray on those Hs Widewing.  The second in line in particular.
 

It doesn't look like a demarcation line to me as it ends.. There's no hint of gray on Barbie III...



My regards,

Widewing

[Greebo]

There's a hint of a line on Dolly. I'd guess the aircraft were originally painted OD/Neutral grey and then overpainted in OD at a forward depot. Perhaps that's just the grey showing through a bit.

Only problem I can see is that the five stripes look like they meet at an angle top and bottom. There is some banding on the fuselage at that point, so they'll be squared off a bit on the skin.

That photo is a good reference for stuff like the staining on the nacelles. If you have any shots from different angles I'd appreciate it if you could post them Widewing.

I've ordered the Kagero book on the 345th BG Guppy. Couldn't find anyone who had the Hickey book in stock in the UK but I may order it given your recommendation.

[Citabria]

I can see neutral grey demarcation line on barbie III in last photo. is faint and hard to discern but it is there.

looking forward to the b25 skins greebo

personally I dont want to look at a b25 skin project for a long time im burned out on them

[lyric1]

[lyric1]

[lyric1]

http://tarawatheaftermath.com/PhotosFoxholeA.html http://tarawatheaftermath.com/PhotosFoxholeB.html

[whiteman]

That would be my favorite skin ever

[USRanger]

That's awesome lyric!

[Guppy35]

Ink Squirts is a later J model.  The silver C is a war weary non combat aircraft.

[lyric1]

Originally posted by Guppy35
Ink Squirts is a later J model.  The silver C is a war weary non combat aircraft.

 Ok how can you tell what model is what? I have seen pics of c models with all glass noses & like the whodunit b25 it is only a partial glass nose. Also the j models came in solid & glass nose configurations but had a lot of guns mounted in the nose. Although I dont see the ink spots b25 with that many guns on it's front end. I will admit it's only a partial picture of the plane & the guns may be obscured also they may be stripped as I think these aircraft shown are on the way to the scrap heap in Indonesia.

[Krusty]

Js had dorsal guns behind the cockpit, tail guns, staggered waist guns.

Note that Whodunit 2 has no guns at all. It's probably a transport or ... whattaya call'em?... It's a term where they have a ride just to fly places with. A hack? Whatever.

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by lyric1
Ok how can you tell what model is what? I have seen pics of c models with all glass noses & like the whodunit b25 it is only a partial glass nose. Also the j models came in solid & glass nose configurations but had a lot of guns mounted in the nose. Although I dont see the ink spots b25 with that many guns on it's front end. I will admit it's only a partial picture of the plane & the guns may be obscured also they may be stripped as I think these aircraft shown are on the way to the scrap heap in Indonesia.

Giveaway on the C/D Whodunit is the window behind the cockpit and the astrodome for the Navigator as his spot was right there on the B/C/D models  The partial glass just tells us that it is a retired strafer version that no doubt is a squadron or group "Fat Cat' transport for hauling cargo, passengers, booze or whatever.

Ink Squirts clearly has a twin tail gun position.  That and it's still combat loaded and it's NMF with out OD/Gray camo.  The H's and Js are the only ones that were delivered NMF.  You'll find stripped C/D models like Whodunit, but they aren't combat ready.

The rare exception is Dirty Dora II which was a refurbished D model that had a J model gun nose grafted on and was used for ferreting out Japanese radar positions.  That one was NMF and the only B25D-3 in existance.

[lyric1]

Thank you.  I learn something new every day in this game. To bad on the ink squirts would have made a cool skin. Any ideas as to what group that plane was in curious now to find out.