Review of Lifelike 1/72nd Scale
North American B-25 Mitchell Decal Sheet
Set no. 72-039
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: 1800 Yen ($17.00 U.S. dollars)
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: 1800 Yen ($17.00 U.S. dollars)
HISTORY:
The North American B-25 Mitchell is a medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation.
Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in every theater of World War II, and after the war ended, many remained in service, operating across four decades.
Produced in numerous variants, nearly 10,000 B-25's were built. These included a few limited models such as the F-10 reconnaissance aircraft, the AT-24 crew trainers, and the United States Marine Corps PBJ-1 patrol bomber.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Medium bomber
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
First flight: 19 August 1940
Introduction to service: 1941
Retired: 1979 (Indonesia)
Primary users: United States Army Air Forces, Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, United States Marine Corps
Number built: 9,816
Developed from: North American NA-40
Developed into: North American XB-28
The North American B-25 Mitchell is a medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation.
Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in every theater of World War II, and after the war ended, many remained in service, operating across four decades.
Produced in numerous variants, nearly 10,000 B-25's were built. These included a few limited models such as the F-10 reconnaissance aircraft, the AT-24 crew trainers, and the United States Marine Corps PBJ-1 patrol bomber.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Medium bomber
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
First flight: 19 August 1940
Introduction to service: 1941
Retired: 1979 (Indonesia)
Primary users: United States Army Air Forces, Royal Air Force, Soviet Air Force, United States Marine Corps
Number built: 9,816
Developed from: North American NA-40
Developed into: North American XB-28
THE SHEET:
Lifelike Decals is based in Japan.
This sheet comes in a zip-locked type cello bag.
The bag contains 3 decal sheets, instructions and histories of the of the 5 B-25's that are featured.
The instructions consists of 2 color guides, printed on one side in color on a 8 1/2" x 11 1/2" sheets.
The left side shows side profiles of: a B-25C that is nicknamed "TOKYO SLEEPER". It is overall olive-drab with a grey undercarriage and a shark mouth on its nose and has 136 yellow mission marks under the cockpit and yellow serial no. 112905 on the sides of the rudder. It was with the 405th Bomber Sqdn., 38th Bomber Group, Nadzab, New Guinea, March 1944.
A B-25J that is nicknamed "BUGS BUNNY". It is overall olive-drab above a grey undercarriage. It has a yellow tiger's head and Bugs Bunny on the side of the nose and 100 yellow mission marks under the cockpit and yellow serial no. 327957 on the sides of the rudder. It was with the 823rd Bomber Sqdn.,38th Bomber Group, Lingayen, Phillipines, July 1945.
A B-25J that is nicknamed "ESTRALLITA". It is overall olive-drab with a grey undercarriage. It has a black wolf's head on the sides of the nose and 106 yellow mission markings under the cockpit and yellow serial no. 328145 on the sides of the rudder under a yellow upper tip. It was with the 71st Bomber Sqdn., 38th Bomber Group, Lingayen, Philippines, June 1945.
A B-25J that is not nicknamed. It is overall bare metal with a black wolf's head on the side of the nose. Forward ends of the engine nacelles is red and it has a black anti-glare panel in front of the windshield. The rudder is divided into a green, white and yellow section with 764 over yellow and black serial no. 429284.
A B-25D that is nicknamed "HARDSHIPS 2nd". It is overall bare metal with a black anti-glare panel. It has a logo of an Eagle and bombs over a Japanese flag on the side of its nose. It was with the 38th Bomber Group, Clark Field, Philippines, June 1, 1945.
The right side of the sheet shows color upper illustrations of the aircraft, over a list of references and the copyright date of 2019 for the sheet and MADE IN JAPAN.
Lifelike Decals is based in Japan.
This sheet comes in a zip-locked type cello bag.
The bag contains 3 decal sheets, instructions and histories of the of the 5 B-25's that are featured.
The instructions consists of 2 color guides, printed on one side in color on a 8 1/2" x 11 1/2" sheets.
The left side shows side profiles of: a B-25C that is nicknamed "TOKYO SLEEPER". It is overall olive-drab with a grey undercarriage and a shark mouth on its nose and has 136 yellow mission marks under the cockpit and yellow serial no. 112905 on the sides of the rudder. It was with the 405th Bomber Sqdn., 38th Bomber Group, Nadzab, New Guinea, March 1944.
A B-25J that is nicknamed "BUGS BUNNY". It is overall olive-drab above a grey undercarriage. It has a yellow tiger's head and Bugs Bunny on the side of the nose and 100 yellow mission marks under the cockpit and yellow serial no. 327957 on the sides of the rudder. It was with the 823rd Bomber Sqdn.,38th Bomber Group, Lingayen, Phillipines, July 1945.
A B-25J that is nicknamed "ESTRALLITA". It is overall olive-drab with a grey undercarriage. It has a black wolf's head on the sides of the nose and 106 yellow mission markings under the cockpit and yellow serial no. 328145 on the sides of the rudder under a yellow upper tip. It was with the 71st Bomber Sqdn., 38th Bomber Group, Lingayen, Philippines, June 1945.
A B-25J that is not nicknamed. It is overall bare metal with a black wolf's head on the side of the nose. Forward ends of the engine nacelles is red and it has a black anti-glare panel in front of the windshield. The rudder is divided into a green, white and yellow section with 764 over yellow and black serial no. 429284.
A B-25D that is nicknamed "HARDSHIPS 2nd". It is overall bare metal with a black anti-glare panel. It has a logo of an Eagle and bombs over a Japanese flag on the side of its nose. It was with the 38th Bomber Group, Clark Field, Philippines, June 1, 1945.
The right side of the sheet shows color upper illustrations of the aircraft, over a list of references and the copyright date of 2019 for the sheet and MADE IN JAPAN.
The second instruction sheets has one printed on both sides in 8 1/2" x 12" format and the other one half that size. These two sheets tell the histories of each of the aircraft featured in the set.
The second color guide shows all these aircraft profiles again illustrated larger.
The decal sheets say they are printed by Microscale Industries, USA and Cartograf, Italy.
Recommended kits to use these decals on are: the Airfix B-25C/D or the Hasegawa B-25J solid nose.
I want to thank the folks at Lifelike Decals in Japan for this sample.
All Lifelike products can be seen on their web site at:
I want to thank the folks at Lifelike Decals in Japan for this sample.
All Lifelike products can be seen on their web site at: