Avengers were first produced in early 1942 and were in combat over the Pacific by June of that year. Deliveries to the British Fleet Air Arm began in 1943 and squadrons equipped with them eventually operated from all six Fleet Carriers as well as numerous Escort Carriers.

Avengers operated with convoys to Russia and over the English Chanel before D-Day, but were mainly used in the Pacific area, causing great destruction to Japanese shore establishments.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Engine: 1,850 h.p. Wright Cyclone R..2600-8 Maximum speed: 259 m.p.h. at 11,200 ft. Service ceiling: 23,000 ft. Range: 1,020 miles Armament: two 0.05 calibre guns in wings, one 0.30 calibre gun in ventral position and one 0.50 calibre gun in turret, one 22" torpedo or one 1,000 lb. bomb or one 500 lb. bomb.

​THE KIT:

Frog was a model company based in the UK that went out of business. Their molds then went to the Novo model company in Russia who also went out of business.

The kit came in a tray and lid type box that was not shrink-wrapped, but held shut with strips of tape.

The box art shows 2 Avengers bombing a U-boat. A carrier is seen way in the background.

The Avenger in the foreground is in a wave pattern of matt dark slate grey and matt extra dark sea grey over a matt sky undercarraige. It carries a white letter O under the cockpit.

It is a Avenger with the 857 Sqdn., Fleet Air Arm, Macrihanish, August 1944. Flown by Lt. A. Hunt.

One side panel says the kit contains markings for 2 different Avengers with color photos of the kit made up in those 2 schemes.

The other side panel lists features of the kit in 6 languages, including English. Each listing is labeled with a color illustration of the roundel or marks used by the countries that speak those languages.

The bottom of the box serves as the marking and painting instructions. There are two 3-views of schemes.

​1. The box art scheme (already described above)

2. An Avenger in wave pattern of matt extra dark sea grey and matt dark slate grey over matt sky under carrage. It has a white 385 under the cockpit on the sides and a white W on the rudder.

It is with 857 Sqdn. Fleet Air Arm, HMS Indomitable, British Pacific Fleet Task Force 57, (attached to U.S. 8th Fleet) 1945.

Around sides of the tray is a one-paragraph history of the Avenger in the 8 languages again accompanied by the color illustrations of the roundels and markings.

​WHAT'S IN THE BOX:

This kit contains 4 medium-grey parts trees, a clear tree, the decal sheet and the instructions.

The instructions consist of a single sheet printed on both sides in 8 1/2" x 11" page format.

The face side of the instructions has international assembly symbol explanations across the top, over the first 5 assembly steps.

The reverse side continues with a grand total of 8 assembly steps and a customer assistance coupon.

The 1st medium-grey tree holds: the propeller, display stand bottom section, fuselage half, wheel pants, seat, cockpit floor (7 parts)

​The 2nd medium-grey tree holds: a upper and lower wing half, main wheels, machine gun, pilot figure, pitot tube, tail wheel and alternate folded wheels etc. (14 parts)

​The 3rd medium-grey tree holds: the other fuselage half, the upper arm of the display base, elevators, cowling front (5 parts)

​The 4th medium-grey tree hold: the other upper and lower wing halves, seat, DF loop, landing gear legs, joystick, bulkhead etc. (14 parts)

​The clear parts tree holds cockpit windows, turret bubble canopy etc. (7 parts)

​The decal sheet completes the kits contents.

Part trees are not cello bagged. The trees are not illustrated in the instructions and they are not alphabetized. However. they do have part number tabs next to the parts on the trees.

Control surfaces are molded solid, canopy is moldes shut. The panel lines are all of the raised variety.

So often we see warbird models built to represent the battle-tested mounts of our aviation heroes. The subject of this review, the B-25 is certainly no stranger to famous pilots and war theaters. Underrepresented are the aircraft chosen for less glamorous tasks like domestic patrol, supply runs and training. With the help of Airfix and Iliad Designs, I have attempted to address that.

Airfix's rendition of the Mitchell has been around for a bit so I won’t give you a parts tour. Suffice to say, it lives up to the standard of the new generation Airfix kits. Recessed panel lines, detailed interiors, poseable control surfaces and hatches are features of this release. Fit and finish is almost too good in that a coat of paint seems to interfere with it. The bottom line, with proper care you can build a great model out of the box.

Airfix provides two marking options, both shown in full color, four-view drawings with color references. One is a war veteran on a war bond tour in a desert scheme and the other is an antisubmarine patrol aircraft operating out of Tampa Florida. The decals include stencils that I did use along with the aftermarket sheet.

I only had two issues during this build. First, once all the interior details were installed, I couldn’t fully close the joint behind the canopy and ended up with a slight step once the flight deck clear part was installed. The second issue was finding enough room for ballast to keep the model from sitting on its tail. I ended up gluing the model to the base I made. All of the paints used are from the Vallejo line including their Model Air products that come airbrush-ready from the bottle. Highpoints for me were the interior detail especially the bomb bay and the precise fit of the moveable control surfaces. The dropped flaps are engineered so you don’t have to guess the angle. Don’t let all those window frames scare you away. The frames are very sharp and easy to mask.

The markings are from an Iliad Design sheet

72019 (see separate review) and represent a B-25C assigned to an advanced training unit based in Columbia South Carolina in 1942. I’ve been to a similar field in Liberal Kansas where the various crew positions reported and were trained to work as an integrated team in (B-24s) before they were sent off to the shooting war. Not terribly glamorous, but an essential finishing step in what we call crew resource management now.

Overall, another winner from Airfix. The Lego-like instructions and precision fit make this one a quick build. I really appreciated the extra cowls and plugs for turrets and bomb doors as it helps with painting and modifying your Mitchell into different versions. Airfix has really transformed themselves from the kits this old guy grew up building and they still have a few new ones I intend to delve into. Thank You to Airfix (Hornby Hobbies) and to IPMS for the review sample.