North
American B-25D "Mitchell"
Lend/Lease
337. APDD UdSSR
To
the Original:
The
airplane belonged to the pilot, second lieutenant Arkadi Mogilnitskiy,
Hungary, spring 1945. The North American B-25D-30 'red 85' became his
personal machine in the 337. APDD (in December 1943 pieces to the 35th
GvAPDD were renamed, but then again as 251. GvBAP back characterized).
This variant of the Mitchell was marked in the USSR as B-25DP. Such machines
were a mixture from D and J, differences gave it only in the armament.
The
production line of the standard armament included locally specified mg on
the sides of the cockpit also. These were developed in the USSR before
delivery to the combat units. All lower surfaces were neutral grey and
the top sides in olive drab, those colors of US Air Force were maintained.
The Nose artwork was painted upon the request of the pilot only on the pilot
side. It existed by the head of a tiger with yellow (supposed) heart as
background.
The
descriptions in red one reads "Za krov ' Vityebska" (for the
blood of Witebsk). Witebsk was Mogilnitskiys hometown. The arrow was
white. Tactical NR. 85 in red was white bordered. The seriel
number was 43-33729 on the tails which were green re-painted over. The red stars with
red-white edge on the wing and the fuselage sides. The nose gear wheel disk
was white and the red star carried a white edge. This airplane was flown
from Mogilnitskiy to the victory day and also later, than its regiment was
stationed in Hungary.
Altogether
during the Lend/Lease to the USSR 870 B-25 of all versions were supplied.
In the last weeks of the war the employments of the Russian B-25
concentrated on East Prussia and the realm area. Several times Soviet B-25's
attacked the realm capital Berlin in the flight. Because of cold weather
some B-25 of the Soviet air forces were equipped with adjustable air
intakes before the radial engine, which one could remove in the warm
season again. Such air intakes were already used as standard
equipment on the Lisunow
Li-2 (Soviet manufacture under licence of the DC-3).
To
the model:
The
Italeri kit NR. 2650 comes from Accurate Miniatures and is just as
developed as the kit of the B-25B "Doollittle Raid". It
has to be
stated however that at the parts have more burr than with the Accurate
Miniatures kit. The so convincing thing for me was only that in the kit 2
parts were missing, which are very important for the building of a B-25D.
These are the two rear windows with the defensive weapons, which I had
from a good friend from his kit of a B-25J. I began
with the glueing of the two fuselage halves. Looks good, one
has later nothing of it. Harm, but it unfortunately does not go
differently. After up to the missing windows all parts are appropriate in
the fuselage halves, I began to put the cockpit together. This time
also again OOB that is called without etched and resin parts. Since
Italeri unfortunately put no B-25 D variant into the kit, but studying my
reference material for a B-version, I had to procure for myself from an acquaintance the
lateral on-board contactor windows and to reproduce the curvatures at
these with my wax putty equipment. These windows were on both sides of the
fuselage, but some smaller windows (oval and round on both sides) no more
attached in the original. This were also over-painted later. Then
the display base for the GAZ-67B was started. In addition the grass mat
which was
moistened along the traces and scratched then with a tinkering measurer
the grass down. Since it concerns an old Air Force airfield, it will have
to be given probably also a grave of a German soldier. The commissioner reads
out from the "Prawda". The submachine guns by the tree, are
captured German storm rifles MPi-44 and originate from the Tamiya kit of
the German infantry.
Steffen
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