"Dragons and Tigers and Girls... Oh My!"

B-25 Mitchell at War

Albatros Modelworks

Albatros Productions' B-25 Decals will be available online from Squadron.com

Reviewed by Brett Green

The UPS envelope with the sender's address of Mexico can only mean one thing - Albatros Modelworks has released a new decal sheet.

The latest offering in both 1/72 and 1/48 scale is "Dragons and Tigers and Girls..... Oh My! B-25 Mitchell at War". That is a long title, but the decal set more than justifies the description.

The generous contents of "B-25 Mitchell at War" are packed into a ziplock bag. There are four full-sized decal sheets included. The quality of the decals is up to Albatros' previous high standards. The colour is vivid, registration perfect and excess carrier film is kept to an absolute minimum.

13 separate aircraft are illustrated. These schemes cover desert tones, Olive Drab and Neutral Gray plus a natural metal aircraft. The real variety starts with the noseart. "Dragons and Tigers and Girls" is what the title of this decal set promises, and the four sheets certainly deliver!

In summary, the subjects comprise:

1. B-25C-5-NA "Worth Fighting For" - swimsuit clad girl and scoreboard, Tunisia 1943

2. B-25D-1 "Near Miss" - Parrot's head on forward fuselage, scoreboard, girl on stbd side, Port Moresby, New Guinea, 1943

3. B-25D-1-NC, Dragon's head on nose, Wewak, New Guinea, 1943

4. B-25G - Panther's head on nose

5. B-25G-12 "Shady Lady" - large text and woman's sillouhette on both sides of the nose. Sand finish, Algeria 1943.

6. B-25G-5-NA "Luscious Lucy" - female noseart and bomb tally, Makin Island, 1943

7. B-25G "Tee-Kay" - lion's head, Nadzab, New Guinea, 1944

8. B-25G "Kunai Kutter" - lion's head, Nazdab, New Guinea, 1944

9. B-25H-1-NA "Vikin's Vicious Virgin" - monster's face on nose and female noseart on fuselage side, Karachi, India, 1944

10. B-25J-11 "Apache Princess" - female noseart plus indian's head on tail surfaces, Tacloban, Leyte Island, 1945

11. B-25J-11 "Reina Del Pacifico" - female noseart plus indian's head on tail surfaces, Tacloban, Leyte Island, 1945

12. B-25J-11 "Emergency Strip" - woman in pink heart plus wolf's head, Okinawa, 1945

13. B-25J-32 "Sunday Punch" - monster's face on nose and female noseart on fuselage side, Padaveswar, India, 1945

Minimal stencils are supplied.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images of the 13 subject aircraft:

Albatros Modelworks' instructions have always been good, but this release lifts them to a new standard. The marking guide is supplied as a centre-stapled, eight-page, full colour booklet. A single side view of each Mitchell is provided, plus scrap-views of the opposite side if the markings are different.

The back page includes two top-view diagrams to indicate positions of upper surface national markings and medium green "splotch" locations as applicable.

The only tricky aspect of this release is that two of the B-25G subjects are equipped with Fairfax waist guns. This rectangular opening in each side of the rear fuselage was more commonly seen on B-25H and J variants, but was sometimes retrofitted to Cs, Ds and Gs. The instructions suggest that the conversion might be effected by grafting the windows and fittings from the fuselage of the Monogram kits. I feel this would be a terrible waste of a very respectable kit. The ProModeler version of the B-25J, re-released recently, contained a full second set of transparent parts including the windows for the Fairfax guns. With these windows and a little scrap styrene, sandpaper and patience, it should be possible to replicate the fuselage fittings for the guns without sacrificing a good kit. We can also hope that the resin after-market comes to the rescue!

Every release by Albatros Modelworks seems to be an attempt to top their previous impressive efforts. In my opinion, "B-25 Mitchell at War" is their most spectacular offering to date. 

Whether you are building Accurate Miniatures' B-25C, D or G; or Monogram's very respectable B-25H or J; or Italeri's 1/72 scale Mitchells, you will find colourful and high quality options in this decal set.

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Eli from Albatros Productions for the review sample.

Albatros Productions Decals are available from many dealers including CRM Hobbies ,  Linden Hill Imports , Great Models webstore , Flightdecs , Meteor Productions , Victory Models , Hannant's , North American Hobbies and Squadron Mail Order

Review Copyright © 2001 by Brett Green
This Page Created on 07 December, 2001
Last updated 09 November, 2003

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