Manufacturer: Accurate Miniatures, 100 Centre St., Charlotte, NC 28216-4064, 704-391-1176.
Kit: No. 3430-0200
Scale: 1/48
Price: $49.98
Comments: Injection molded, 170 parts, decals
Pros: Loads of detail, accurate shapes, decals for every Doolittle Raider
Cons: Some flash, some fit problems, some interior detail hidden when fuselage is closed
Accurate Miniatures' first release of the B-25 family, a B-25B Tokyo Raider, comes packaged in a two-pound box, complete with pictures and history of the famous Doolittle Tokyo raid. The supplied decals depict all 16 aircraft from the raid. The parts are molded in light gray and clear styrene with engraved panel lines.
A highly detailed interior is the highlight of the kit; while it's educational, much of it will be invisible when the fuselage halves are closed. Additional features include weighted tires, pre-cut vinyl masks for all clear panels, and pre-shaped brass weights to ensure the finished model rests firmly on its nose gear.
The plastic of my review sample was a bit soft and pliable, and some of the detail was not as crisp as on previous Accurate Miniature kits. Be careful removing parts from the sprues; it's easy to take a chunk out of the part unless you cut it cleanly. Many of the parts show a little flash, but that was easily removed.
The instructions state that it is important to dry-fit parts before gluing in place. Not following this advice will lead to spending a lot of time filling and sanding or even dismantling and reassembling. One problem area is the fit of the upper and lower wings and upper and lower horizontal stabilizer. The fit is great but the panel lines for the ailerons, elevators, and trim tabs don't line up. However, once assembled, this misalignment is not readily apparent unless you decide to drop the flaps or reposition the control surfaces. I had to use filler along the fuselage joints, nose, and tail assembly.
Accurate provides two alternatives to finishing the clear-plastic instrument panel. You can paint it flat black and apply the standard decal, or you can mask each of the instruments with liquid mask and spray the front only flat back. Once the panel is dry, you apply the face-down decal (C) to the rear of the panel. Add a little dry brushing and highlighting to accent the switches and knobs, pick off the masks from the gauges, and you have a terrific instrument panel.
The fit of the fuselage windows in steps 5 and 6 is excellent. After pressing each of the eight windows into position, I carefully applied liquid cement to the window edges to ensure a secure bond. If one of these windows would pop loose after the fuselage is completed it would be almost impossible to reattach.
When attaching the nose assembly (steps 10 and 11) it is important that the forward bulkhead (K21) is glued in place flush with the sides of the fuselage. I found it necessary to file down the length of the brass weights supplied with the kit and thin the bulkhead itself. The pilot's and bombardier's canopies fit well. Dipping the clear parts in Future floor polish reduces a slight haze.
The rest of the construction is straightforward, but remember to dry-fit each assembly. The engine nacelle-to-wing joint required a little filler. Because of their excellent fit, I waited to attach the wings to the fuselage and the rudders to the horizontal stabilizer until I had completed the final painting. This makes masking the de-icer boots carried by the Tokyo Raiders much easier. When it was time to paint the boots, I discovered a small inlet on the inboard leading edge of the left wing was missing. I drilled this vent out and used a small file to clean up the edges.
I finished my Raider with AeroMaster Olive Drab 41 over Neutral Gray 43, using oil washes to accent some panel lines. Having been just repainted, the Raiders show very little wear with the exception of engine exhausts and some chipping on maintenance fasteners.
I was not looking forward to masking the intricate greenhouse canopies, but the pre-cut vinyl masks fit perfectly, except for the top and side fuselage windows, which were slightly oversized. I trimmed them to fit. I chose to complete my model as Colonel Doolittle's lead bomber. The decals went on perfectly, requiring no setting solution.
I relied on several books for reference including Squadron/Signal's B-25 In Action and Stan Cohen's Destination Tokyo: A Pictorial History of Doolittle's Tokyo Raid. I found the Accurate Miniatures kit measures accurately.
This is not a kit for beginners, due to the complex assembly and number of parts. I spent approximately 45 hours completing my Doolittle Raider, most of the time dry-fitting and cleaning up individual pieces and subassemblies. The extra work is worth it, though. Once completed, the Accurate Miniature B-25B kit results in a spectacular model of one of World War II's most famous aircraft.