ICM Dornier Do.17Z-2 WWII Finnish Bomber - 1:48 ICM (48246)

[Julien]

Dornier Do.17Z-2 WWII Finnish Bomber

1:48 ICM (48246)

 

 

The Dornier Do 17, nicknamed the flying pencil due to its slender shape, was a light bomber designed by Dornier Flugzeugwerke in the mid-1930s. Along with the Heinkel He 111, the Do 17 carried out the lion’s share of bombing raids against the UK up to the end of the Battle of Britain. The Do 17 Z was the main production variant and featured a redesigned forward fuselage that was enlarged in order to accommodate a rear gunner. The Z-2 sub-variant featured new 1000hp engines which addressed an earlier problem with under powered units. This enabled the bomb load to be doubled from 500kgs to 1000kgs, this full load did though limit combat radius to 210 miles. For the crew there were additional side firing guns, however as the three guns in the pod were only served by one gunner he could not do all at the same time. After heavy losses the machine guns were replaced with heavier MG 151/15 cannons. As the Germans supplied equipment to their allied No.46 Sqn (Later 46 Bomber Sqn) of the Finnish Air Force would receive 15 Aircraft in January 1942.  Ten of these would be lost to operations but the remaining five would serve through to 1952 when they were scrapped. 

 

 

The Kit

ICM have been releasing plenty of Do.17 and Do.215/7 variants in the last couple of years, which has been great news for the Luftwaffe modeller in 1:48, with only a few kits and variants to choose from previously.  The Z-10 was first of the Do.17 variants to hit the shelves, with the Z-2 and  Z-7 all based on the same basic sprues but with additional parts added to depict the differences.  The origin of the tooling is 2015, and is part of the newly ICM that has been improving their mould manufacturing techniques, so is of good standard, with plenty of detail.  There are a number of parts that will be left on the sprues after construction due to the nature of the tooling, and these are marked out on the instructions.  The box is standard ICM fair with the inner flap protecting the parts, and inside the sprues are protected by a single resealable bag with another separating the clear parts within to prevent any issues. 

 

Construction begins with the cockpit, but unusually it is the sidewalls details that are inserted within the fuselage, which even includes the small raised platform on which the pilot's seat and control column sits.  The other crew seat is fitted to the starboard fuselage side along with more details, and aft of this there are three bulkheads that bracket the bomb bay, which also has a stiffening lip added long the sides.  The rear gunner's seat is fitted last on frames at the rear of the cockpit, and what passes for a cockpit floor is first glued to an insert that then attaches to the underside of the nose.  The underside nose glazing is then added. A main internal tank is then made up and fitted behind the cockpit section.

 

 

The upper wing is full span, and the lower wings are separate, with cut-outs for the landing gear bays that expose moulded-in detail within the inside of the upper panels.  It has separate ailerons and fits over the top of the fuselage, covering the bomb bay over.  If you're planning on opening the bay doors, remember to paint the inside of the wing a dark colour so it can't be seen, as it doesn't have any internal structure, but does have some recesses and ejector pin marks that could possibly be seen past the fuel tank or in the aft portion of the bay that is empty.  The elevators are separate and form a H-shaped assembly with the rudders, which are also poseable, and these fit flush with the top of the fuselage by the usual slot/tab arrangement.  Taking care to align these properly now will save a lot of work blending them in later.

 

 

 

Building up the engine nacelles commences with the firewalls added to the lower wing cut-outs, following which the aft bulkhead has the retraction struts glued in place, and they too slot into the wing.  The inner sides of the wheel bays are added to the wing, and these have pegs on their backsides that locate the outer nacelle skins on the airframe correctly, after the engine mounts are inserted into the port sides.  The starboard sides are mounted in the same manner, and the radial engines are then constructed from a healthy number of parts, including detailed pistons, crank case, exhaust collector and fishtail tips, fitting onto the exposed engine mounts in each nacelle.  The cowlings are provided as a frontal section with the annular radiator behind them, and then a framework that allows the access panels to be posed open or closed to show off the detail provided within.  The props are single parts, with a spinner that fits over them, and if you're so minded, you could leave them able to spin just for the fun of it.  A few scoops are fixed to the nacelles, the sturdy twin undercarriage legs with large tyres slot into the front of the bays, with two bay doors per nacelle, one each side fitting onto little hinge-points within the nacelle lip.  

 

 

The landing gear is made up of a two part wheel added to the main strut. A mud guard is also fitted. For the inside of the bomber full bomb racks and bombs are supplied which are now built up and slotted inside.  The bomb bay doors can of course be closed as well as open but it would be shame not to include all the detail. 

 

 

 The rear of the nose gondola is a clear part with two circular windows that will need masking off, and the canopy is moulded as a single part.  Four ball-mounted machine guns slot through the front, rear, and both sides (at the rear), an aerial fits into a recess on the roof, and a  blade aerial fit on top. The canopy can then be mounted. The nose glazing can also be fitted with its ball mounted machine gun.

 

 

 

Decals

There is a choice of two markings from 46 Sqn of the Finnish Air Force. Both are in Black/Green camo with blue undersides. They have yellow fuselage bands and underside yellow wing tips. One Aircraft also has large areas of white winter camo. Decals are in good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

Another of ICM's excellent line.  Good detail with a slightly narrow choice of decals, which given only one sqn of the Finnish Air Force flew them its hardly surprising.  It's now more possible than ever before to build a wide range of Do17s  in 1:48, for which ICM are to be congratulated.  Highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of

[vppelt68]

I´d hate to assemble those national markings from all the bits and pieces! Luckily there´s a very good aftermarket option available. DN-57 was a real warrior, the sole Dornier that was active through the whole Summer War from June to September -44. The lucky one, too? Thanks for the review! V-P

[Greg Law]

Good review. However, I didn't notice any mention of the inaccurate rear fuselage. This is the biggest issue with the kit. There is an after market resin replacement for it which is very nice. I have it for both my Do 17z an the Do 215. It doesn't look too difficult to put on. You can get it from NeOmega-Resin.com.

[thepureness]

ICM are very quickly turning in to one or the top brands for their aircraft.

 

Built two of their JU-88s and wow, just wow. Mig-25 is amazing although I have the Revell boxing and the He-111 which I also have just looks insane

[ABeck]

More eye catching than the tail is the unsatisfying representation of the cowling suspension struts. I am still considering how to do with normal means. Best solution would be something like a 3D printed metal construction (like Eduard Brassin landing gear legs), hmm.... would become very expensive....

[Julien]

2 hours ago, ABeck said:

More eye catching than the tail is the unsatisfying representation of the cowling suspension struts. I am still considering how to do with normal means. Best solution would be something like a 3D printed metal construction (like Eduard Brassin landing gear legs), hmm.... would become very expensive....

Well you answered your own observation by saying how expensive this would be to correct?  Kits will always be a compromise in some areas.