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Dornier Do 24T, Luftwaffe 3/Seenotgruppe, 1942 (Italeri 1/72)


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Dear All,

 

Here is my rendition of Italeri's 1/72 Dornier Do-24T1, in the colours of Luftwaffe's 3/Seenotgruppe, 1942 (in a unidentified operational theatre, though it could be the Black Sea, due to the yellow underwing tips).

 

This build started life as my entry to the Flying Boats and Floatplanes GB, which I hosted in late 2017 till mid-January 2018. As usual, I didn't manage to finish in time but I was using this build as a test bed for seaplane weathering techniques, so it would be difficult to finish in time anyway. In fact, it took me an additional 4 and a half months past the GB deadline to finish it...

 

First a few words on the kit itself:

 

  • Fit is generally good, but I had to fill in the joins between the wing sections and between the sponsons and fuselage. The really worst part, in terms of fit is glueing the wing to the struts and these to the fuselage, as there are almost no location holes to ensure proper alignment.
  • Good detail in the cockpit and engines, the machine guns are not bad either (for plastic parts)
  • There's a lot of surface detail: a mix of recessed panel lines, raised panel lines and rivets. I'm sure there will be people who won't like it but it didn't bother me. In fact, it seems that a lot more panel lines could be seen in real pictures.
  • The kit comes with a PE fret but the instrument panel has no detail for the instruments (it's not a multi-layer panel, like Eduard's current approach, or a metal part + acetate with instruments; there's no decal for instruments either). However, this is a minor point, as the instrument panel can't really be seen through the cockpit windows.
  • The PE walkways are very difficult to bend on the edges (there should be a slight bend, delimiting the walkways laterally)
  • The transparent parts for the side windows  are really bad but, again, there's nothing to look at inside and the gun turrets are a bit thick. The transparent part for the cockpit windows is very clear and distortion free but didn't fit perfectly on the fuselage.
  • The instructions are reasonably good but some details are a bit vague (ex: installation of the rear turret, demarcation of the camouflage in the German versions) and there was an error on the decal scheme of the German versions (decals nº 9 should be nº 10 and vice-versa)
  • The decals are very good (Cartograph)

 

Regarding the build itself, some noteworthy points:

 

  • The kit was built completely out of the box. No after-market or scratch building has been added, with the exception of rigging and antenna wires.
  • I used Gunze Aquous and Tamiya acrylic paints (XF-26 and XF-27 for RLM72 and RLM73, respectively) airbrushed
  • The most important part of the build was the weathering (based as much as possible on period pictures):
    • a lot of chipping was applied on walk-on areas and areas subject to friction or spray of sea water
    • chipping was applied in several layers: aluminium - chipping fluid - primer colour (RLM02) - chipping - chipping fluid - camouflage colour - chipping
    • salt accumulations on the top surfaces simulated with a misty layer of "rain streaks" product, which was then removed almost totally with a brush
    • water line mark created with AMMO Mig's "Nature Effects Dark Slime"
    • grime accumulation and staining of panel lines and panels on the undersides (hull, tail, tailplane) with several AMMO Mig Oilbrusher colours (Dark Brown, Ochre, Olive Gree, Rust)
    • panel lines on "above the water" surfaces were enhanced with a dark brown wash
    • oil leaks on engine nacelles with a "Fresh Engine Oil" product
    • fuel leaks on top of wing with diluted transparent yellow
    • exhaust stains on top of wing using black pastels

 

As a first try with sea plane weathering techniques I'm very pleased with the results. The WIP can be found here.

 

Here are the final pictures.

 

1. Overall views

y4mzoyFkGY_HBG9Vr17BbKbAI_J5k-dhA_SVCDBs

IMAG5519

 

y4mPnJZcOgvM558HAqElRLAh7lXbEmWoDYHP3mpd

IMAG5520

 

y4mVyjQUmQQ74xf5W-7KJUZuq0KKXPaKwtbjfkhB

IMAG5526

 

y4m1jLqq4jKp20j3QlyxtyB5BhXGu4_2vf7UWiAD

IMAG5527

 

y4mCQ5-Ssk4aANkz0NylQmE-Kv0YI33GSi0TKYEo

IMAG5531

 

y4mGOkOJm4ub3RiVyj_0YqnC1GbLcCH_KEv1pn-6

IMAG5532

 

y4mLkUU8qXtIEx4LJh4lhYp3X9i9EZm5t_I1TYeF

IMAG5535

 

y4mlJYF92FGok6hMgZNdpszMxO_wQb5vw2N4qHHL

IMAG5499

 

y4mqDWos2c1YoMgkDd97LnQXsDco2PY0tifivofF

IMAG5503

 

y4mJf44hLtS6LjdW5r7MzelTtU4l6mw33wMnipdh

IMAG5506

 

y4meYRI8ZOTx_bFyIZnUaivctkFtev-200V45rqZ

IMAG5539

 

y4mSKips8GsC9nqk9ZDJ63gLvivBl4eXOtg3T4xB

IMAG5521

 

y4mTUOAFppFBUzqYsf8bO6uM2vTGENf3kGq5Vxfk

IMAG5534

 

2. Details of gun turrets and cockpit

 

Front turret

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IMAG5522

 

Cockpit barely seen through the windows

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IMAG5523

 

Mid-ship turret

y4mUVHa3m7OYImontVqNkH7AEuv9S6unuyc45o1n

IMAG5515

 

Tail turret:

y4mSZnSFEygC80PJhLasSqbeMA5nbZfN88jjqu8p

IMAG5516

 

3. Rigging, antennas and engine detail

 

Rigging between the lateral struts, done with elastic fishing wire, brushpainted RLM65, antenna wires done with AMMO 0,3 mm rigging thread:

y4mVGm41ZEbvr1e2z0SnHK0v1wVsl7H9AXPwl-wa

IMAG5524

 

Details of engine nacelles and propellers, showing engine oil spills:

y4m0Vhn1KfUO_AWZq99Wb_M6jEAoAXoejGbmqmK_

IMAG5525

 

y4mQnJ7P_9qVagae0kLjROQtKYN6Fh4kv9jIKADb

IMAG5537

 

y4mUncqYiARrmewHBx4QdlnJiyiypOzvtwhK86UO

IMAG5538

 

Some chipping on the propellers, done with a silver pencil:

y4mgmQo-vMcAI_6_LCHrgx3qnoEz57yK2alOBgQH

IMAG5536

 

4. Weathering on the upper surface of the wing

 

Chipping on the walk-on surfaces, chipped paint on nacelles, oil spills, fuel spills, exhaust stains:

y4mD48xbvLMcH3_IYBmX61U2Wc71R2r7XqJjDfmf

IMAG5528

 

Detail of starboard side, showing also some accumulation of salt:

y4m8OXqtcowAb75PfVaSSh5XX1oykfcgbPC_HFl2

IMAG5529

 

The same for the port side:

y4mHJAakdbYo80AIOtmnPGQLLPBBzBLpmOcnjZiz

IMAG5530

 

5. Weathering on the under surfaces of the wing and tail plane

 

Accumulations of salt and grime and general staining of the starboard underside of the wing:

y4m8x2GbkWkmRWXTplDEeWBRKD6FLjycAfs3tXZI

IMAG5540

 

The same for the port side:

y4m6kALVJo4JLwdxIILz2CefaaT8vckrWQsOZQ2X

IMAG5540

 

Underside of the tail plane, weathered differently, since it was subject to sea water spills:

y4my4r4n-FJlfELZp7_Eq4njwks8QWX1pLHkqnCy

IMAG5542

 

6. Weathering of the hull and sponsons

 

The weathering of the hull and sponsons includes: chipping of the paint, showing primer (RLM02) or metal, water line mark, accumulation of grime on panel lines and panel staining and spots of rust:

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IMAG5543

 

y4mRpay_HlZhxXScvnUoRFvbHr6U8IWKGkV3iDV0

IMAG5544

 

y4m5ndXWl8PWso_A-sPiufshRxGQ7qZEE2amZteb

IMAG5545

 

y4mrKHDu1HMoG6RmIjK3HCV4Ypv3tujxamlQmY7n

IMAG5546

 

y4mDuE74wqXJnFxqCG0MMRkgChRCrzs2-Xj2ecCd

IMAG5547

 

y4m37NsSA2Q_HVNMmJkZx5o5SsoIwPX4Gogd3TwJ

IMAG5549

 

7. Interior detail

The following series of pictures shows the finished cockpit before closing the fuselage. It's been weathered with dry brush and wash techniques:

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y4mHXwi3131JS1qjWAgjPHNE-cPbg-4ngDajgi-K

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y4mVmWMwy8ouhNxjBRJWEOwYXc1aZXZsENv_i6kB

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y4m0IBjchWeU2vYH32E-FY6GbFnylX9vBtIiQnF5

IMAG5145

 

y4mJ9uasYvil8mBdCHZGrTeUfHPWg_kAVIh2beZr

IMAG5146

 

y4m2qHj8b3Nh2mzu8HZmmDqQl6X_A3nbpYWcEICm

IMAG5147

 

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IMAG5148
 

8. Pictures of real weathered aircraft (for comparison)

 

Just for comparison of my weathering efforts with real weathered aircraft, here are period pictures of Luftwaffe Do24s:

Do-24_p263.jpg

 

Do-24_p112.jpg

 

Do-24_p450.jpg

 

I hope you like it. All comments are welcome.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Jaime

 

Cheers

Edited by jrlx
added pictures of interior and of real aircraft
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Lovely build of an interesting seaplane.

 

Excellent and very brave close up details too, some of the best I have seen on here so far. There really is no where to hide ..............

 

adey

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44 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Very Impressive build and weathering :clap2: 

 

36 minutes ago, adey m said:

Lovely build of an interesting seaplane.

 

Excellent and very brave close up details too, some of the best I have seen on here so far. There really is no where to hide ..............

 

adey

Thank you both for the very kind comments! Much appreciated! :)

 

The pictures were taken with a HTC 10 smartphone, which has a 12 Mpixel camera with very good low-light performance. No flash was used, just a desk lamp. I used A3 sheets of white paper has background. Post-processing was done on a simple Microsoft Office Photo Editor, and consisted on simple colour balance and/or brightness adjustments.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

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21 minutes ago, Spitfire31 said:

Beautiful rendition  of the gracious looking Dornier!

 

In fact, she's crying out for a topical sea diorama…

 

Impressive modelling!

 

Kind regards,

 

Joachim

Thank you very much, Joachim! Much appreciated :)

 

I still have to try doing a diorama. Sea dioramas are fantastic but look difficult to do convincingly.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

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Just now, giemme said:

:wow:Totally worth the wait! :worthy:

 

I just love the weathering, impressively realistic :clap: :clap:

 

Ciao

Hi Giorgio,

 

Thanks a lot for your very kind regards! I'm glad you liked it :)

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

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1 hour ago, Hairtrigger said:

Splendid, I like the weathering.

Thank you very much!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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She's a beauty Jaime, a real beauty. You've certainly perfected your weathering techniques - great job :) 

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Impressive build and great process description! Like reading such articles a lot! 

And one of my favourite planes too! Not an enthusiast WWII builder- but Do-24 saw fairly extensive post-war service :) So it's on my plan.

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12 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Superb!!!!🤯

attention to detail is off the scale. Great work kid.

 

Johnny.

 

4 hours ago, CedB said:

She's a beauty Jaime, a real beauty. You've certainly perfected your weathering techniques - great job :) 

 

4 hours ago, Dennis_C said:

Impressive build and great process description! Like reading such articles a lot! 

And one of my favourite planes too! Not an enthusiast WWII builder- but Do-24 saw fairly extensive post-war service :) So it's on my plan.

Johnny, Ced, Dennis,

 

Thank you very much for your kind words! Your interest is much appreaciated :)

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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1 hour ago, PlaStix said:

Superbly beautiful modelling Jaime! Fntastic on all levels!! :worthy::worthy:

Kind regards,

Stix

Thank you for your appreciation and interest, Stix!

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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Looks like a lot of work and effort has gone into this. Well done.

 

Maybe its just me but I always think it is odd that larger military seaplanes (or sea patrol aircraft*) are painted with camo more suited to flying over land! Not just German. Think *Condor, Sunderland, Catalina etc. Think forward to more modern aircraft such as Nimrod which seemed to be mainly grey! Friend has just said that the Germans were short of grey paint because all their Battleships and Taxis used it all......

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6 minutes ago, Sideways Sid said:

Looks like a lot of work and effort has gone into this. Well done.

 

Maybe its just me but I always think it is odd that larger military seaplanes (or sea patrol aircraft*) are painted with camo more suited to flying over land! Not just German. Think *Condor, Sunderland, Catalina etc. Think forward to more modern aircraft such as Nimrod which seemed to be mainly grey! Friend has just said that the Germans were short of grey paint because all their Battleships and Taxis used it all......

Thank you for your appreciation!

 

Regarding camouflages, it's not only modern sea patrol aircraft that are painted grey. It seems that a lot of modern land based fighters are also grey, since "low viz" camouflages are the main trend now. Anyway, I always choose more colourful camouflages when available, "desert camo" being my favourites :)

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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I built most types in my early to late teens. Always preferred the WW2 Luftwaffe aircraft because they looked menacing, had interesting camo and guns sticking out everywhere. Built everything from Fiesler Storch through to the big Heinkels. Now busy running a business and fending off grandsons in my spare time! Still have time to appreciate the work of others though. Some amazing finished projects on this forum and at least I can share the enthusiasm.

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Cracking job but a really oddball plane.  Looks like it was designed by a committee after a visit to the local pub.  The weathering looks so real I was about to suggest copper cladding on the hull to prevent the build-up of that green mossy gunk...

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8 minutes ago, Sideways Sid said:

I built most types in my early to late teens. Always preferred the WW2 Luftwaffe aircraft because they looked menacing, had interesting camo and guns sticking out everywhere. Built everything from Fiesler Storch through to the big Heinkels. Now busy running a business and fending off grandsons in my spare time! Still have time to appreciate the work of others though. Some amazing finished projects on this forum and at least I can share the enthusiasm.

I also built many models as a child and teenager. At the time I built aircraft, war ships and sailing ships. I stopped modelling at 18, when I went to the University. My last completed model was a F18 and I left an A4 half finished.

 

I've returned to modelling four years ago, after reading Richard Overy's "The Bombing War". Apart from being an excellent Military History book, it also reignited my interest for aircraft modelling.

 

I find Luftwaffe aircraft very appealing as well, not only for being the "bad guys" but, like you, for the variety of camouflages.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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17 minutes ago, Uncle Pete said:

Cracking job but a really oddball plane.  Looks like it was designed by a committee after a visit to the local pub.  The weathering looks so real I was about to suggest copper cladding on the hull to prevent the build-up of that green mossy gunk...

Thanks a lot for your appreciation, Pete! Very kind!

 

I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with you regarding the aircraft :) I find it rather elegant, especially on the side view.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Niknak said:

Super work, weathering is great. 

Thanks a lot! Very kind :)

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

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Just to let you know that I've added pictures of real weathered aircraft to the original post, just for comparison with my weathering efforts.

 

Cheers

 

Jaime

 

 

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