41 replies to this topic

[popeye]

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Dornier 17/217 family in 1/72nd



The Dornier 17 / 217 family has always held a special fascination for me.

The line of Dorniers from Do 17 prototype, Do 17 E/F, Do 215, Do 17 Z to the Do 217 and the final Do 317 is a unique and exemplary testimonial of the enormous strides in aircraft development over a short time span of just some 10 years before and during WW II.

The lineage is clearly evident in all models, even though the 217 and 317 were new designs and not just evolutions of the basic subject.

All these Dornier bombers have always been somehow overshadowed by their Heinkel & Junkers contemporaries and unfortunately not a single example of any version has remained for posterity.

This may be one reason why the type has never really been well represented in kits in both main scales until today.

Until about 2005 when RS and ICM released the 17 E,F,M,K,P and 215 respectively, there were only dated kits from Airfix (17 E/F) and Frog/Revell (17 Z) and the ancient Monogram 17 Z, now reissued by Revell Germany.

Decent models can be realised from these oldtimers with the help of Falcon clear parts and some improvements. All 3 lack detailed cockpits.


But let’s start this overview at the roots.
My collection is still sadly missing a prototype. Modeller friend Siggy has just recently presented his Do 17 V-1 here on Britmodeller.

[popeye]

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The Do 17 E bomber variant entered service in the summer of 1936, to be followed by the reconnaissance version Do 17 F in spring 1937.

Powered by the 12 cylinder-V BMW VI of 750 hp the aircraft attained some 360 km/h - showing a clean pair of heels to contemporary biplane fighters.


Do 17 F-1, G2+BH represents an a/c of 1 (F) Aufkl. Gr 124 some time before 1939

The model was built OOB with some improvements from the ancient Airfix kit, paints used for the pre-war camo were AGAMA/Xtracylic RLM 61 / 62 / 63 / 65.
The paints correspond closely with sample colour sample cards from Kookaburra and Flugzeug - on second thoughts some lightening of the 63 might have improved the look somewhat more.

[popeye]

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The Do 17 P was an improved recce version based on the Do 17 M bomber. First flight was in June 1938 with subsequent production of 330 examples.
Powered by BMW 132 radials with fuel injection yielding 910 hp it attained 410 km/h.

The model was built using Airfix fuselage and empennage, Frog wings, engines from an Italeri Ju 86 and some improvements just before RS announced their first kit of the Do 17 M.

This Do 17 P-1 of 4 (F) 121 at the time of the start of WW II 1939/40
was painted in standard splinter camo with Vallejo Acrylics.











More detailed reference and an illustrated build report for both models can be found from page 9 onwards in the Luftwaffe recce thread on ipms.uk

[F-32]

They really are very nice

[Plasticbutcher]

Thats a great body of work

[MikeR]

Lovely - I do like the look of the early Do 17 variants.

Mike.

Edited by MikeR, 23 May 2012 - 06:55 PM.

[xw302]

Nicely done.

Dave

[popeye]

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The Do 215 - powered by Daimler DB 601 with 1100 hp inlines - was an interim solution, manufactured 1938/39 and originally also aimed at possible export markets.
Only about a hundred examples of all sub-variants were built before production was switched to the Do 17 Z.
The type was widely used for all kind of experiments with bomber and night fighter variants but more than half of the production total was equipped for long range recce
and used by recce units - even clandestinely and under civil guise.
With the start of the war all existing export contracts and a/c were absorbed by the Luftwaffe.

In 2006 ICM announced the kit - and a follow on kit of a new Do 17 Z.
When the 215 became available in 2008 it made a very good impression in the box. Realising a decent model however turned out to be another story described here.


The Do 215 B-4 G2+KH of 1(F) Aufkl. 124 represents an a/c sometime late 1940 in France.









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[Seahawk]

I was never that interested in the Airfix Dornier Do 17E/F because it wasn't a Battle of Britain variant but it's quite a nice kit, isn't it, and has stood the passage of time quite well: nice delicate undercarriage parts and more cockpit detail than one might have expected.

[tango98]

Excellent work as always Rolf.

Cheers
Dave

[Carts]

I do love a Dornier,and you are presenting them in spades! Surely Revell will give us a 1/32nd scale version at some point.

[Mike DeTorrice]

These are all outstanding Dorniers ! A great collection here, that definitely make for extremely enjoyable photos. The airfield shots are wonderful and give a terrific sense of the real craft standing by, ready for action.

Mike

[popeye]

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A small number of Do 17 Z-3 were equipped for recce with a fixed camera behind the ventral rear gun post.
The aircraft seem to have been integrated in bomber units and I do not know of any photographic evidende of such an aircraft in service.
Z-variants were also widely used for weather reconnaissance.


The Monogram kit of the Do 17 Z suffers from a wing which is too broad in chord and engine faces integrated in the cowlings far to much forward but looks otherwise still the best of presently available kits of this variant.
Hopefully we can expect a manufacturer to release a state of the art Do 17 Z sooner or later.

The Do 17 Z, shown here for the sake of completeness only, was built OOB some 30+ years ago from the Monogram kit, brush painted with Intermodel RLM enamels.



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[canberra kid]

Outstanding Rolf! I don't have a grate love of the Do.17 but I love your models! and I can definitely appreciate the work you put in to them, keep it up my friend.
John

[popeye]

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Do 217 variants

At first glance 72nd scale modellers are well served by Italeri’s Do 217’s, first kitted as J, N & K models in the 70’s and a partly retooled 217 E variant from 2007.
With cross kitting and some small additional modifications all main versions of the 217 can be modelled. Due to stemming from the 70’s there is not much detail and almost no cockpit detailing included.

This has been partially redressed with Italeri’s “Historic upgrade” kit of a Do 217 M in 2011.



The most annoying fact (for me at least) however is a much too slender tail section or more exact, a lack of volume of the rear half of the fuselage.
Actually the rear of the Italeri fuselage should be deeper and more portly, the wing profile at the root might be somewhat thinner and the landing gear gondolas and the engine diameter might be a bit “fatter”.
Compared to pictures of the original, the finished model out of the box simply looks to slender compared to the quite substantial fuselage of the original.

A way to correct the issue can be found on 72nd Scale Aircraft.



Actually no dedicated photo recce versions, the two Do 217 E’s presented here can nevertheless be counted in, as they were used mainly for armed reconnaissance over the Biscay and the western approaches.



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Edited by popeye, 24 May 2012 - 03:44 PM.

[jimbuna]

Crackin builds mate.

[popeye]

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thanks everybody - still have the two 217 E's and an M coming ......
Rolf

[turnerdad]

Great builds and although no examples exist today, lets hope the BoB example recently discovered off the English coast and due to be raised is still recogniseable.

Edited by turnerdad, 24 May 2012 - 05:21 PM.

[popeye]

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The Do 217 E-1 of 6 /KG 40 represents one of the early 217’s serving with this unit from summer 1941 onwards.
The aircraft still had the Do 17 style canopy with hand held rear defence gun and had
standard fixed MG 151 front armement for low level attacks.









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[MCD081]

Great collection and fantastic pics too!