1/48 Revell B-25

Gallery Article by Phil Marchese on Dec 20 2010

 

I started plastic modeling about age four.  Even at two or three I was able to tell distinguish a '55 T-Bird from a 53 Murc.  So when I discovered the Highway Pioneers, I got glue on my hands for the first time.  By 2007 or so, shortly after the AACA opened their new museum in the antique car and chocolate capitol of the US, I was honored to have a display of all 35 of the Highway Pioneers that I refurbished after a surgery in 2000.  But I build mostly to vacuforms and major conversions, tending to work in the small scales I've researched the USAAF in WW II since the early 1960s and knew a B-29 at four also.  I have contributed to many works published as books, magazines or electronically.  I was instrumental in forming a gathering of builders of the antique car models and most of us have become very skilled in combining cars kits and materials to build a large variety of brass age cars models beyond the 5 dozen or so available as kits. 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

The four pictures represent some of the scope of my collection.  The display is the one at Hershey, PA with the entire Highway Pioneer collection including the prior Hudson Miniature moldings.

The 75 mm Gun Motor Carriage is my conversion of the basic Matchbox AA halftrack. The B-25 is a combination of the 1/48 Revell B series and the then Monogram J2 straffer.  It represents one of less than 30 B-25G of the 41st BG refitted for their last tour from Kadena AF, Okinawa. The nose art is hand painted.  Last is an Execuform kit. Yes, they can be built. It is a massive reconstruction of the kit whose major parts were drawn from the prototype shape.  It represents on of the first six sub chaser Mariners ( PBM-3S), after I first revamped the kit into the basic PBM-3C, the source of the real conversions.  Hardly a piece of the kit parts remains without major adjustments.

I hope you enjoy these photos.

Sincerely,

Phil Marchese

Photos and text © by Phil Marchese