Internet Modeler : New Releases : Book Reviews RSS News Feed

B-25 Mitchell in Detail

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

Volume 60
Detail & Scale Series

By Bert Kinzey
Squadron Signal Publications, 1999
ISBN 1-888974-13-3
80 Pages

With the imminent arrival of the Accurate Miniatures B-25 kits, this book has excellent timing. Bert Kinzey does an excellent job of walking us through the history of this venerable twin, and does it with plenty of pictures, with both detail and overall shots included.

An all too brief historical overview starts this book out, but with all the exploits of the B-25, this title could easily be 10 times the length and still not cover everything this plane did in combat. From the Tokyo raiders to desert bombers to anti-shipping in the China-Burma-India theatre, the B-25 left its mark on every front during the Second World War and flew with all three main Allied countries, including both the Navy and Army Air Corps of the United States.

Once past the brief history, the book dives right into the lineage of the B-25. Starting with the first variants, all the differences between each mark is outlined in photos, drawings, and text. Not much changed between the variants of the B-25, with the most notable change being made from the first ten to the rest. The original B-25 had a constant dihedral in the wing, while all of the later ones had zero degrees of dihedral in the outer panels, giving the B-25 its distinctive gull wing appearance.

The detailed drawings by Lloyd Jones are very well done, with the only complaint being that they are in 1/120 scale. This was done to fit them to the page, but it would have been nice if they were to 1/72 or even a pull-out section with 1/48 drawings. Along with the drawings are several very well done color profiles, showing the vast difference in markings worn by the B-25. And as if that wasn't enough, in addition to the profiles there are several pages of color photos showing different marks of the B-25 in service during WW2. These photos really make the book, as color photos of operational B-25s are very uncommon indeed.

In addition to the great photos showing the colors and markings of the B-25, there are enough detail photos in both color and black and white to allow even the most tedious modeler the ability to add anything and everything to a model. The color detail photos are of a restored B-25, while the black and white shots are a mix of both restored birds, period photos, and T.O. photos. Nothing is left unseen here and the individual sections on the different marks add their own detail sections, making this very easy to find the details you need for whatever variant you're modeling.

Speaking of modeling, the final few pages of the book are devoted to a glossing over of all the kits of the B-25. In earlier Detail & Scale books, this section was very comprehensive and gave a mini-review of every model of the subject. These days, all the models of a particular scale are lumped together, with a somewhat detailed review of only the best in each scale given. For 1/48 scale, they have a preview of the Accurate Miniatures kit and basically say that nothing else compares. For 1/72, the Italeri kit is top dog, but even it needs some work to become accurate, and these changes are outlined.

Overall this is a very well done title, with excellent research and a wonderful selection of photos. The brief history has left me wanting to read more about the B-25, and the detailed photos have me itching to do a couple Italeri kits. Who could ask for anything more?