Review of Lifelike 1/72nd Scale
North American B-25 Mitchell Pt. 4 Decal Sheet
Set no. 72-042
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
THE SHEETS:
Lifelike Decals is based in Japan.
These sheets come in a zip-locked type cello bag.
The bag contains 3 decal sheets, 3 color guides. One has the 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 8 1/2" x 11 1/2" sheets.
On the left side of the first sheet is 5 color side profiles:
A B-25D that is overall bare-metal. It is nicknamed "CHOW HOUND" and has a color illustration of the dog Pluto caring a wicker basket full of food in his mouth on the side of the nose. On the sides of the rudder is a large black 669 over a tan circle with an Indian Chief 's head with a feathered head-dress on it. It was with the 345th Bomber Group, Blak Island, Philippines, December 1944.
A B-25D that is also overall bare metal. It is nicknamed 'CHOW HOUND JUNIOR". It has the color illustration of the dog Pluto caring a wicker basket full of food on the side of its nose, but the illustration is slightly different. On the sides of the rudder is a black circle with white border with the Indian chief's head on it. It was also with the 345th Bomber Group, Clark Field, Philippines, June 1945.
A B-25J that is olive-drab over a grey undercarriage. It is nicknamed "MALE CALL" and has a color illustration of a gal on the phone on the side of the nose. It has a blue shield with a red cross with two horizontal cross bars on it. Over the yellow word "CRUSADERS" and yellow serial no. 328016. It was with the 390th Bomber Sqdn.,42nd Bomber Group, Sansapor, New Guinea, 1945.
A B-25J that is olive-drab over a grey undercarriage. It is nicknamed "MY BUCK". It has a naked gal posed against a red banner with MY BUCK in white on it. She is kneeling and leaning back on both her arms. On the sides of the rudder there is a yellow comet that has a character riding a black bomb on it and 5 white stars around it. The bottom of the rudder is white. It has numerous yellow mission markings under the cockpit. It was with the 17th Bomber Sqdn.,71st Bomber Group, Lingayen, Philippines, February to July 1945.
The right side of the guide shows top views of these schemes.
Lifelike Decals is based in Japan.
These sheets come in a zip-locked type cello bag.
The bag contains 3 decal sheets, 3 color guides. One has the 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 8 1/2" x 11 1/2" sheets.
On the left side of the first sheet is 5 color side profiles:
A B-25D that is overall bare-metal. It is nicknamed "CHOW HOUND" and has a color illustration of the dog Pluto caring a wicker basket full of food in his mouth on the side of the nose. On the sides of the rudder is a large black 669 over a tan circle with an Indian Chief 's head with a feathered head-dress on it. It was with the 345th Bomber Group, Blak Island, Philippines, December 1944.
A B-25D that is also overall bare metal. It is nicknamed 'CHOW HOUND JUNIOR". It has the color illustration of the dog Pluto caring a wicker basket full of food on the side of its nose, but the illustration is slightly different. On the sides of the rudder is a black circle with white border with the Indian chief's head on it. It was also with the 345th Bomber Group, Clark Field, Philippines, June 1945.
A B-25J that is olive-drab over a grey undercarriage. It is nicknamed "MALE CALL" and has a color illustration of a gal on the phone on the side of the nose. It has a blue shield with a red cross with two horizontal cross bars on it. Over the yellow word "CRUSADERS" and yellow serial no. 328016. It was with the 390th Bomber Sqdn.,42nd Bomber Group, Sansapor, New Guinea, 1945.
A B-25J that is olive-drab over a grey undercarriage. It is nicknamed "MY BUCK". It has a naked gal posed against a red banner with MY BUCK in white on it. She is kneeling and leaning back on both her arms. On the sides of the rudder there is a yellow comet that has a character riding a black bomb on it and 5 white stars around it. The bottom of the rudder is white. It has numerous yellow mission markings under the cockpit. It was with the 17th Bomber Sqdn.,71st Bomber Group, Lingayen, Philippines, February to July 1945.
The right side of the guide shows top views of these schemes.
The second color guide repeats these 4 schemes larger and tells the histories of the 4 B-25's.
These decals are recommended for the Airfix B-25C/D or the Hasegawa B-25J kits.
The decals were printed by Microscale Industries in the USA and Cartograf in Italy.
The decals were printed by Microscale Industries in the USA and Cartograf in Italy.
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: