Review of Lifelike 1/72nd Scale
North American B-25 Mitchell Pt. 3 Decal Sheet
Set no. 72-041
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: 1800 Yen ($17.00 U.S. dollars)
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
4THE SHEETS:
Lifelike Decals is based in Japan.
This sheet comes in a zip-locked type cello bag.
The bag contains 3 decal sheets, 3 color guides. One has the histories of the of the 4 B-25's that are featured.
The instructions consists of 2 color guides, printed on one side in color on 8 1/2" x 11 1/2" sheets.
On the left side of the first sheet is 4 color side profiles:
A B-25J that is overall olive-drab, above a grey under-carriage. It has the nickname "PROBLEM CHILD" with a standing gal with a blond pigtail on the side of the nose with a character in a blue skirt pointing at a white cup that has the black word "BABY" on it. It has a large white number 32 on the sides of the rudder. It was with the 82nd Bomber Sqdn.,12th Bomber Group, Fenny, India, March 1943. It has numerous black and white kill markings under the cockpit.
A B-25J that is overall bare metal, with black anti-glare panel in front of the windshield. It has the nickname "FORM 1A/DEAR ARABELLA" on the sides of the nose with a seated gal with her hands behind her head, preceded by a yellow circle, outlined in black with a bomb with a snake wrapped around it and 100 mission markings. On the other side of the nose is another logo of a seated bare-chested gal and the nickname "DEAR ANABELLA". It has yellow and red horizontal stripes on the rudder, over black serial no. 327543. It was with the 381st Bomber Sqdn.,310th Bomber Group, Ghisonccia, Corsica, April-June 1945.
A B-25C that is in a wave pattern of olive-drab and dark-grey overall. It has the nickname "ROSIE" in yellow on the sides of the nose with a seated gal in a white bathing suit. There is a large white 7U on the rudder above the faded yellow serial no. 232530. The other side of the nose says "ROSIE" in red and 70 yellow mission markings. It was with the 487th Bomber Sqdn.,340th Bomber Group, Pompell, Italy, March 22, 1944.
A B-25J that has an olive-drab spine coming half-way down its grey sides and under-carriage. It appeared a little differently 4 times. The first time it had the nickname "BABY BLUE EYES" of a seated gal in a black bathing suit on the sides of the nose and a white number 11 above the yellow serial no. 327696 on the rudder with a tan tip.
The second time the gal is posed against a black background and there are numerous yellow bomb mission markings also on the nose. The tail markings are the same as the first time.
Lifelike Decals is based in Japan.
This sheet comes in a zip-locked type cello bag.
The bag contains 3 decal sheets, 3 color guides. One has the histories of the of the 4 B-25's that are featured.
The instructions consists of 2 color guides, printed on one side in color on 8 1/2" x 11 1/2" sheets.
On the left side of the first sheet is 4 color side profiles:
A B-25J that is overall olive-drab, above a grey under-carriage. It has the nickname "PROBLEM CHILD" with a standing gal with a blond pigtail on the side of the nose with a character in a blue skirt pointing at a white cup that has the black word "BABY" on it. It has a large white number 32 on the sides of the rudder. It was with the 82nd Bomber Sqdn.,12th Bomber Group, Fenny, India, March 1943. It has numerous black and white kill markings under the cockpit.
A B-25J that is overall bare metal, with black anti-glare panel in front of the windshield. It has the nickname "FORM 1A/DEAR ARABELLA" on the sides of the nose with a seated gal with her hands behind her head, preceded by a yellow circle, outlined in black with a bomb with a snake wrapped around it and 100 mission markings. On the other side of the nose is another logo of a seated bare-chested gal and the nickname "DEAR ANABELLA". It has yellow and red horizontal stripes on the rudder, over black serial no. 327543. It was with the 381st Bomber Sqdn.,310th Bomber Group, Ghisonccia, Corsica, April-June 1945.
A B-25C that is in a wave pattern of olive-drab and dark-grey overall. It has the nickname "ROSIE" in yellow on the sides of the nose with a seated gal in a white bathing suit. There is a large white 7U on the rudder above the faded yellow serial no. 232530. The other side of the nose says "ROSIE" in red and 70 yellow mission markings. It was with the 487th Bomber Sqdn.,340th Bomber Group, Pompell, Italy, March 22, 1944.
A B-25J that has an olive-drab spine coming half-way down its grey sides and under-carriage. It appeared a little differently 4 times. The first time it had the nickname "BABY BLUE EYES" of a seated gal in a black bathing suit on the sides of the nose and a white number 11 above the yellow serial no. 327696 on the rudder with a tan tip.
The second time the gal is posed against a black background and there are numerous yellow bomb mission markings also on the nose. The tail markings are the same as the first time.
The third time its shown it is identical in all respects to the second time.
The fourth time it is shown like the last two times, but with a large white 41 over the yellow serial no. 327696 under the tan rudder tip.
It was with the 446th Bomber Sqdn.,321st Bomber Group, Solenzara, Corsica, September 1944 to probably around January 1945.
On the right side of the sheet is color illustrations of the tops of these schemes.
The fourth time it is shown like the last two times, but with a large white 41 over the yellow serial no. 327696 under the tan rudder tip.
It was with the 446th Bomber Sqdn.,321st Bomber Group, Solenzara, Corsica, September 1944 to probably around January 1945.
On the right side of the sheet is color illustrations of the tops of these schemes.
The second color guide repeats these 4 schemes, but larger. It is printed in the same size as the first color guide on both sides.
The third color guide repeats these schemes again with histories of each aircraft.
There is a template to use with some of the markings for "BABY BLUE EYES".
The three decal sheets complete the kits contents.
They were printed by Microscale Industries in the USA and Cartograf in Italy.
This decal set is recommended for use on Airfix's B-25C/D or Hasegawa's B-25J.
They were printed by Microscale Industries in the USA and Cartograf in Italy.
This decal set is recommended for use on Airfix's B-25C/D or Hasegawa's B-25J.
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:
All Lifelike products can be seen on their web site at: