B-25C/D Mitchell

Italeri, 1/48 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

Italeri's 1/48 scale B-25C/D Mitchell will be available online from Squadron

Accurate Miniatures' released their 1/48 scale B-25 family in the late 1990s. These became a landmark series of kits that redefined the state of the scale modelling art.

Italeri has now re-packaged Accurate Miniatures' 1/48 scale B-25C/D kit. The moulds do not seem to have suffered at all, as the plastic parts are very crisp and free of any flash.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Surface detail is extremely well done. Panel lines are, in the main, recessed with a few appropriately raised structural features. Tyres even feature the "Goodyear" name and logo. Control surfaces are very nice too, with raised fabric detail. All control surfaces are moulded in place (ie, not separate).

There are no ejector pin marks on the outside surfaces of any parts, but a few are present on interior parts including the crew doors, small undercarriage doors, and impossible-to-see recesses of a few bulkheads and fuselage interior. There are a few sink lines on exterior surfaces as an inevitable result of the ambitious kit design. These are most obvious on the fuselage, but they are positioned so that they might be mistaken for vertical stressed metal effect. I will probably not bother filling mine.

The interior is impressive, with structural detail, fabric texture and wiring moulded on to fuselage sidewalls; and a myriad of detail added to create a very complete front and back office. The instrument panel is supplied as a clear part. A decal is applied to the back of the panel, and the front is painted with the instrument lenses left clear. Decal harnesses are also included. The bomb bay is equally good. Several full bomb load alternatives are included.

The angle of the characteristic gull wing will be guaranteed by two substantial wing spars moulded with fuselage bulkheads.

Engine detail is very nice with separately moulded cylinder banks added to a delicate pushrod/ignition wire/crankcase part. Propeller blades are very thin. The big clamshell undercarriage doors are moulded shut (these doors were typically only seen open when the undercarriage was extending or retracting) but the small undercarriage doors are well detailed. Gear legs will locate positively in a keyed hole in the wheel bay.

Options include lower gun turret, choice of bomb load, venturi, choice of rear armament (machine guns, dummy guns or no armament), movable turrets, positionable crew access hatches, alternate canopies and nose guns.

Perhaps the best news, though, is that this release includes all the ordnance and related options  in the same box which had previously been split up between different Accurate Miniatures boxings. As far as I am aware, this is the first time that all options have been made available in a single kit.

The second unique aspect of Italeri's offering is the big new decal sheet. Five varied marking options are supplied - three US, one British and one Dutch The decals are well printed and in register.

Clear parts are very thin and free of distortion. Once again, all the options for the B-25C/D family are included in this package including the raised rear gunner's position and three versions of the clear nose. Some of these parts are marked "not for use", but will come in handy depending on what version you are planning to build.

Accuracy is generally very good. There have been some questions raised about the diameter of the opening in the engine nacelles, but if this issue is of concern, Cutting Edge offers resin replacement cowlings. Otherwise, shapes are quite accurate.

What we do not get in this Italeri boxing are the canopy masks and nose weights that were included in the original Accurate Miniatures releases.

Seven years after its original release, Accurate Miniatures' 1/48 scale B-25C/D kit looks just as impressive now as it did then. Italeri

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Italeri for the review sample