Kit: E16
Scale: 1/72
Manufacturer: Hasegawa, imported by Dragon Models USA, 1315 John Reed Court, City of Industry, CA 91745, 866-365-8721 www.dragonmodelsusa.com
Price: $38.50
Comments: Injection-molded, 134 parts (4 vinyl), decals
Pros: Excellent recessed panel lines, detailed interior, good engines, excellent fit, good decals
Cons: Aligning guns inside the nose is difficult, much interior detail is hidden once the fuselage is assembled

The North American B-25 Mitchell is probably the most heralded medium bomber of World War II. It saw action in every theater, served with the U.S. Army Air Forces, U.S. Navy, the Royal Air Force, and even the Soviet air force. B-25s were twisted and tweaked to carry more weaponry, and called on to carry out nearly impossible missions. The most- famous of those was the Doolittle raid over Japan April 18, 1942.

For 1/72 scale modelers, kits of the B-25 have been constantly available, but since Italeri’s pair of early and late Mitchells in the late 1970s, and Monogram’s SnapTite kit of the 1980s, no new moldings have appeared. Before those, you could find B-25 kits from Airfix and Frog.

Although never absent, the Mitchell had not been well-served in 1/72 scale. Finally, Hasegawa extended its recent series of WWII twin-engine bombers from Japanese subjects to American – a trend I hope continues.

Hasegawa’s Mitchell family represents the late variants, with the tail-gun station and dorsal turret forward of the bomb bay (no ventral turret). From the base molds, Hasegawa has also produced the 75mm- cannon-armed B-25H, and could also issue the U.S. Navy versions of the H and J models. To produce earlier versions, Hasegawa would have to cut new fuselage molds and other details.

So, what comes in this box? For those who enjoy loads of interior details, break out the smiley faces. The kit comes with a complete bomb bay with posable doors and two 500-pound bombs. Up front, the cockpit has a fine instrument panel decal, seats, control columns and rudder pedals. The dorsal turret has the twin-gun mount, empty-shell collector bags, a gunner’s seat and a one-piece clear bubble. In the nose, you get extra machine guns with ammo cans and a bomb sight. External armor plates and “package guns” are also provided.

Behind the bomb bay, the waist-gunners’ positions are detailed with ammo cans and jump seats, and the tail-gunner’s position has the hand-grip controls and armored plate. Rather than recommend additional weight to hold the nose down, Hasegawa has included a step stool to wedge underneath the rear boarding hatch. This was likely an actual practice, since too many crewmembers boarding aft could have caused the bomber to plop down on its tail.

The engines are well-detailed, too, with the separate cylinder banks and crankcase, and individual exhaust-stack blisters on the cowls.

Building the model was a pleasure because fit was good nearly everywhere. The only problem I had was the exact positioning of the internal nose guns and their top-mounted ammo cans. If mounted too far aft on the notched mounts, the guns will collide with the compartment’s aft bulkhead when the nose is installed. Also, the guns protrude through holes in the nose blister, and if not installed properly, they will bend out at crazy angles.

After spending hours painting, washing, and dry-brushing the fine interior detail, I was depressed to see that much of it is invisible when the fuselage halves are closed. Next time, I’ll concentrate on the cockpit, nose, and bomb bay, and leave the rest alone.

The square pegs of the main gear struts are a tight fit with the mounts inside the wing. You should sand them down a smidge so they will fit all the way in. The main gear doors are molded shut, as they should be – they opened only during gear cycling and for servicing.

I was impressed by the fit of the wing halves – no warping or overlapping anywhere. The wings fit into depressions in the fuselage, and there’s a little extra room there that can be filled with a sliver of .005″ styrene.

The cowls’ front openings seemed a bit constricted, so I enlarged them just a bit with sandpaper wrapped around a dowel.

Painting was no problem – olive drab over neutral gray – except for masking the complex greenhouse canopies. Some of the dorsal turret framing includes internal clear strip reinforcements, not painted metal, so study references before painting. The white wing tips and yellow cowls add pizzazz.

The nose art for “Jaunty Jo” was applied to fresh olive drab painted over some of the nose windows. I used Model Master enamels for the camouflage, then hand-painted Polly Scale olive drab for the nose-art area. The decals are well-printed, but the white areas of the insignias are off-white.

The handsome finished model confirms my analysis of available 1/72 scale Mitchells; this is the best of the bunch. I spent about 30 hours on mine. The model looks just like the photos of bombers in several references, including Bert Kinzey’s two-part B-25 Mitchell in Detail & Scale.

I hope Hasegawa expands the Mitchell family to the earlier versions and looks into branching out with new kits of Invaders, Marauders, and Havocs. I can dream, can’t I?

– Paul Boyer