"Maintenance in the Bats Belfry" New Guinea, 1943 Unfinished
Camera- Casio Boulder Camera Phone so no complaining about quality!:wink:
Basically what we have here are 4 pics that doesn't do the diorama justice! Many of you know Shep Paine's work, and here is what you might say, is a little homage to him and his work. While this scene must have actually played out hundreds of times over those 4 years in the pacific, the meaning is still the same. My aircraft will resemble a 499th BS aircraft. The actual bat decal is an older set that is becoming rarer and rarer. The decal was hell to put on as it kept cracking.
Model: Minicraft B-25J/H - Converted to a B-25D Field Mod. Gun Nose (The fuselage on this model is generally too wide in the nose and aft sections so sanding is required to thin out the sections. The front glasshouse was also cut in half and sanded down. The two pieces were then glued together and sanded to further shape the glass of a real B-25. Weight was added in the nose and nacelles. New sheet styrene gear doors, front hatch, Bombay doors, Cockpit armor,and pack-cheek guns. One resin cast PBY engine was used for the #2 engine. A different engine will be created and used for the #1 that will have the panels off. The prop on #2 is also the PBY prop. The landing gear shown here will not be used and instead, a newer more accurate set has been created. The nose gear being from the PBY also, has had a few-pieces added on to resemble a B-25 landing gear more.
Base: 4 Special smaller bases that were molded together to create a decent sized space. These bases are no longer available from the manufacturer. The paints I used in the sand base part are all average water and enamel model paints. Using more of an artist's touch I dry-brushed and layered the base until it started to please me.
Scenery: The palm tree's trunks are actually from small tumbleweeds found in our T-33 at CASC, while each of leaves for the 5 trees were cut by yours truly from thin strips of cardboard. Each tree has about 10 to 17 leaves. The rest is just typical long grass you can buy at any hobby store. Just cut to desired length and glue. Then trim if necessary. Other small bits of forest were added.
Extras: Santa left me something really nice in my stocking this Christmas. Sweet inc. has made 55 gal drums for 1/144th scale! AHHHH! Needless to say i went overboard and decided to put 12 or so in the diorama. 2 of them will be in the foreground, sporting a plank of wood as a table. The Engine/Prop hoist was scratch-built from rods of styrene. As was the scaffolding which will be placed next to the engine in service. The prop you see on the hoist is just a dummy. The real prop will have the center bored through and look more realistic. I was able to grab a 21st Century 1/2 Ton Truck, which are now more expensive than a Faberge Egg! Some heavy weathering was inflicted on the truck as i imagined how much wear and tear a maintenance workhorse would look. I ended up creating a tent to put over the gas drums in the background. Overall layout of all the guys in the diorama isn't known yet.
If you guys see some historical inaccuracies let me know!
Keep Em' Flying
Keep Building Em'
Christopher
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
So I need to paint and glue a new one of those on.
