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A brace of Airfix old timer dornier 217's


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Here we have the 1973 boxing of the Airfix Dornier 217e and the 1978 217J . Built the 73 kit when i was around 13ish so probably the first time i saw it on the shelf of Eddys Toy Shop in Helston Cornwall (now sadly closed)

Cant remember how long it took me but no longer than a day , and that was fully painted.

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Got both of these on Ebay for £5.00 for the two .Lots of parts off the sprue so not sure yet if all there however have my form just in case

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Both kits are 99.9 % the same so will be able to mix and match

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One big change between 73 and 78 was our understanding of what the average luftwaffe pilot looked like

1973 pilot P1130863-Copy.jpg

1978 pilot P1130864.jpg

Any way i must get a tube of glue to keep it retro . This is going to be out of box and on supplied stands.

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Proper box art on the later kit. That's what made me pester mum into buying me one back then.

The 1973 crew look like they could be aliens from an early episode of Doctor Who. :D

Whereas the 78 crew look as if they could be extras from Alien ;)

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Really great to see two being built. I might have bits for these so let me know if you are missing something so I can have a look, good luck :winkgrin:

Thanks Jockney for the offer . I will do a parts manifest tonight, but don't leave yourself short as one very wet Sunday afternoon you may feel the urge to build yours .

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Cant remember how long it took me but no longer than a day , and that was fully painted.

Same with me. And I thoroughly enjoyed it! :D

Mind you I was a little bit overenthusiastic with the tube glue on the undercarriage legs, which melted at the top. On the positive side, it did give me my first taste of using alternative adhesive. Araldite soon solved the problem. Well... not exactly soon if you see what I mean. Araldite Rapid was at least fifteen years away... :D

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Had the Airfix Draughtsmen not seen real Germans prior to 1978, maybe they still believed all the wartime propaganda? I dare you to use the 1973 pilots, go on you know you want to.

Duncan B

Yes Duncan i will most certainly be useing the pilots. They have been patiantly waiting in their box for over 25 years to be sent on a mission, it wouldn't be fair not to use them

Same with me. And I thoroughly enjoyed it! :D

Mind you I was a little bit overenthusiastic with the tube glue on the undercarriage legs, which melted at the top. On the positive side, it did give me my first taste of using alternative adhesive. Araldite soon solved the problem. Well... not exactly soon if you see what I mean. Araldite Rapid was at least fifteen years away... :D

The concrete fortifications bult on the channel Islands Are so thick that, only now are they reaching their maximum hardness, very much the same time as your old Araldite.

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  • 2 weeks later...

These are hard kits to get started ,not because they are difficult kits to build but due to them being so different to the kits i have built over the past 20 years. I have now found the wright attitude to get started and that is to build them both absolutly out of the box adding nothing that i would not have had available 40 years agoapart from moden putty.

I took the plunge with the construction of the stand which whent together without any problems ,infact it is such a good fit that no glue was needed

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Had an idea to pimp it up but thought better of that in case it detracted from the finished model.

Bothe wing mounted fuel tanks have now been glued and filled . Think this took as long as it took me to the whole kit first time around . Lots of sink holes and ingrown seams to be filled.

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The cockpit was a joy to make with all parts fitting like a glove and now ready for a coat of paint

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The pit may look a little sparse but when the crew are seated im sure it will come to life.

Upper wing sections have been glued to respective fuselage halfs . The idea behind doing it this way is to get as good a joint as possible on the top wing to avoid too much sanding as i recon replacing the raised rivets will be difficult.

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Very pleased with how they have come out as it looks to be a near perfect joine

Going to get the interior and wheel wells painted with some RLM02 (enamel of course as Acrylic paint doesn't exist .)

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The first paint has been splatted on and things should come together a liitle quicker over the weekend.

the crew are now firmly glued in possition and moral has been raised .The prone gunner has even managed a letter home to his girlfriend .

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Withe the Near competion of step 1 of the instructions it is clear that Dornier made a poor desighn of the cockpit as crew unable to see out of window . Unfortuantly Airfix have chosen to apply this mistake to their kit

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Have just finished the instrument panel which when in possition will be about 6 scale feet away from the pilot so he will never see that the dials are blank.

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to keep with the theme of obsolete the paper panel has been glued on with Cowgum :)

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Those fuel tanks look like U Boats ;)

When i first saw your post i thought "someone has had too much to drink" but just had a look at the picture and you'r right . Howabout that ,the Do217 was able to carry a load of two mini subs

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A little belatedly, but I almost never laugh aloud, but "One big change between 73 and 78 was our understanding of what the average luftwaffe pilot looked like..." certainly did the trick.

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A little belatedly, but I almost never laugh aloud, but "One big change between 73 and 78 was our understanding of what the average luftwaffe pilot looked like..." certainly did the trick.

You mean they never looked like this?

91733DE2-71A8-45EB-9CB6-FCBC2A79A492-100

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This is about as far as you can get from a post on LEMB (luftwaffe Experten Message Board) those of you who frequent it will understand!!!

I have just googled Eduard Photo etch Luftwaffe whips 1/72 17,000 serch results.

You mean they never looked like this?
91733DE2-71A8-45EB-9CB6-FCBC2A79A492-100

Rather more like this, old boy, I should think:

Original.jpg

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Cant remember how long it took me but no longer than a day , and that was fully painted.

That's the way to build kits. Old Skool style. Don't forget to get some glue and paint on the carpet.

I was ready with a quip about space aliens but see I was beaten to that long ago.

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Crikey! I remember building one of those . My dad gave me one for christmas about 1960 dot!! It was in an earlier box than you show;the one with the split background and red stripe.

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