48-691 is the second of the two new sheets covering the North American B-25 Mitchell in AeroMaster's Best Sellers series. 

48-691 provides markings for two B-25Ds of the 345th Bomb Group.  The individual aircraft and their markings are as follows: 

B-25D-1, 41-30051 of the 500th Bomb Squadron.  The markings depict the aircraft as it appeared in May of 1944 when it was being flown by Captain William H. Ames.   The machine is in olive drab over neutral grey camouflage scheme.  The cowling rings are red and there is a white band around the fuselage (the white band and the red cowling rings are 500th Bomb Squadron identity markings). The supplied markings comprise:

• Nose art, comprising a large shark mouth (?) and eye.  AeroMaster must be expecting that you will have problems in placing the shark mouth marking as they have supplied blocks of red and black decal for patching.

• A scoreboard consisting of red, yellow and white bomb silhouettes.

• Pilot and Crew Chief names in white and yellow respectively.

• Yellow 130051 aircraft serial.

• A pair of Japanese rising sun flag kill markings.  This marking is supplied as a one-piece and two-piece decal to counter any register problems.

• A pair of 'snorting mustang' 500th Bomb Squadron insignia for the vertical stabiliser/rudders

• A set of "Fifth Air Force Variation" national insignia – early white star on insignia blue circle background modified with the addition of insignia white rectangles minus the insignia blue outline.

'Tondelayo', (named after the sultry character that the actress Hedy Lamar played in the movie 'White Cargo') B-25D-5 41-30669, also of the 500th Bomb Squadron.  The aircraft had a chequered career being flown by many crews and ending her service life as a stripped down 'chow hound' aircraft flying fresh food, booze and personnel between the 500th Bomb Squadron's base at Biak Island and Australia.  This machine is also and it sports the same red cowling rings and white fuselage band as the previous option. The supplied markings depict the machine as it appeared in June of 1944 and they comprise: 

• Nose art in the form of the semi-naked Tondelayo.  The marking has an olive drab background which was actually the aircraft's original olive drab paint that she was first painted on.

• The name Tondelayo in yellow and red.  There are two versions supplied, one set has the same olive drab surround as per the artwork and for the same reason.

• A scoreboard comprising ten Rising Sun flags, a ship, yellow bomb silhouettes, and crew chief and pilot's names.

• A set of faded and greyed out national insignia.  A set of darker blue partial markings are also provided in case you want to depict your model without the faded insignia.  These are the insignia blue only portions of the markings and you must apply them over the top of the faded ones.

Stencil data is confined to two sets of propeller stencils as well as manufacturer logos. 

The placement guide is A-4 in size and it shows full colour left-hand side profiles of both options as well as plan views.  The tops and bottoms of the wings are also shown as is a guide to stencil data placement for the propeller blades. 

The decals themselves have been "Printed in Mexico".  Everything is in perfect register and sharply printed.  The decals (there are two sheets, the main one and a smaller one holding the non-faded partial national insignia) and placement sheet come packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag. 

The recommended kit is the superb Accurate Miniature one. 

These two Marauding Mitchells sheets really are good.  They provide very colourful markings for some very interesting machines.  As they were very Pacific War machines they were "ridden hard and put away wet".  The photos that exist of them in both colour and black and white show them to be worn chipped faded and patch painted.  If you want to exercise you modelling skills to replicate this I can think of no better kit than the Accurate Miniatures B-25 and no better decals than what AeroMaster has on offer with these two sheets. 

By the way, if you want some stimulation, follow this link to the model of 'Tondelayo' built by Don Fenton http://www.kitparade.com/features01/b25cddf_1.htm here on HyperScale. 

Recommended.

Postscript 

One of the references mentioned on the placement guide is Warpath Across the Pacific by Lawrence J. Hickey.  This is an absolutely fantastic book and it has been used extensively in the research for this sheet.  Original photographs, paintings and complete histories of all of the aircraft on this sheet appear in the book.  If you are a student of the Pacific War don't even hesitate to buy it, it's well and truly worth the price!