A versatile twin-engine medium bomber, the B-25 was to find its first fame on April 18th, 1942, as the Bomb Group led by Jimmy Doolittle flew them off the carrier USS Hornet and made the first attack on Tokyo. Mitchells were flown by many of the United States’ Allies, were used throughout WWII, and were in service up into the 1960s.

The new Airfix B- 25C/D was sorely needed in 1/72 scale. The kit comes in a sturdy box with nice box art and is cast in gray plastic with finely molded recessed panel lines. Although each sprue was individually wrapped in clear plastic bags, one half of my sample’s fuselage was warped, and this ended up being a challenge throughout the build. The kit comes with an option of an open or closed bomb bay, and if you decide to open it, 500-pound bombs are provided.

Introduction

This impressive volume is a beautifully bound book over an inch and a half thick, with 127 beautiful map illustrations and descriptive narratives. The maps are based on Osprey’s Campaign Series of books and describe the Allied European Campaign in 1944 and 1945. The maps focus almost entirely on land campaigns rather than air or naval campaigns. Osprey has also produced a separate volume, the Atlas of Eastern Front, 1941 to 1945, that covers the war between Germany and the Soviet Union.

I was drawn to this decal set for two reasons:

One, I thought that camouflaged Mustangs are not seen as much as the bare metal US aircraft.

Two: I had to do the Aussie Southern Cross marking being an Aussie!

LPS Hobby is a decal manufacturer from Brazil. The decal sheet, instruction sheet and cover page are contained within a generously sized zip-lock bag.

This small decal set contains marking for three British camouflaged P-51K Mustangs from Royal Canadian, South African and Royal Australian Air Forces:

• KH608, Y2, “Edmonton Special”, PO John Mallandaine, 442 Sqn RCAF, Hunsdon, England. May 1945
• KH673, GL-N, “Sweetpea”, 5 Sqn SAAF, Udine Italy, January 1945
• KH676, CV-A, F/Lt 'Dusty' Lane, 3 Sqn RAAF, Cervia, Italy, April 1945

The recommended donor kit is the Tamiya 1/72 P-51D Mustang, however the newer Airfix, or any other manufacturers P-51D/K could also be used.