Greg Law Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) After a long build which took most of this year, my 1/48 scale Do 217E-1 is complete. The plane I have chosen is F8-DM. This was a late 1940 KG40 plane so would have been quite new at the time, as a result I haven’t heavily weathered it. I have not used drop tanks as this would have been used against England during the Blitz period on night bombing raids. The build was straight forward except for the Canopy which isn’t the best of fits. It is a fraction too narrow and needs some putty work to get it to look right. The model was built out of the box with handmade masks. I have used aftermarket decals by Eagle Strike. These were good decals although the separate white outline gave me trouble. I ended up using three decal sets before it was completed. The tail marking are separate to the swastika which I had trouble getting in the right place as you will see. Thanks to Dave (Rabbit Leader) who came to my rescue twice with the white outline “D” and when the right side decals were damaged by a mask dropping on to them. I did have problems with the canopy as mentioned. To start with I dipped it in future which would have been fine if it had gone on easily. After removing it and the resetting it the inside surface showed fogging when the mask was removed. This would have been a major problem if I hadn’t cut the access hatch open earlier. This allowed me to get some future on the inside window surface and clean out some dust that had got inside. Still in the end it was a lot better, but not what I would call great. Once again it was Dave’s suggestion that got me through it. I have also just noticed the spinners should have had white tips. Something for another day. I cut out the crew access hatch and added a scratch built ladder. This makes the plane much more interesting. After lots of minor accidents when I would knock off bits in the last day the plane was finished at long last. I took it to a friend of mine to get some images. On the way the wing Pitot tube was knocked off and I didn’t notice it until the photo shoot was finished. As a result I have used Photoshop to show it. It will be back on the plane tomorrow. I also used Photoshop to add the aerial wire that goes from the fuselage to the main aerial wire. It was on the plane, but got knocked off last night I will get it back on later. These are the only parts added in Photoshop. The rest of the image work was removing the join line in the back drop sheets in some of the photos. Well that’s it after a very interesting journey I present my Do 217E-1. Edited December 8, 2018 by Greg Law 56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince1159 Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 What a beauty,great job on the camo..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franky boy Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Great work Greg! Is this the Monogram kit? James 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) 9 minutes ago, franky boy said: Great work Greg! Is this the Monogram kit? James Yes it is under the Revell brand. I managed to get the spinners off so I will be able to give them white tips. This should help it even more as it is quite a dark plane being a night bomber. Edited December 8, 2018 by Greg Law 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Well done Greg, your persistence has well and truly paid off when other modellers (such as myself) would have given up long ago. She really has tuned out wonderfully well and it really looks like a gruesome beast in those dark night ops colours. The crew door addition is a great feature and helps the overall look and feel of the original subject. You also have some exceptional photoshop skills and might be something I could use to finally rig a biplane or two!! It was good to talk to you through this build and although you have nicely credited me with some helpful tips, it’s just what we modellers all do to help us get through these tough times.... so I might need to lean on you a bit to finish off my little frustrating P-40! Cheers and very well modelled.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) Great work really paid off! Edited December 8, 2018 by exdraken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREG DESTEC Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Nice one Greg All that extra work certainly paid off. Cheers Greg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niknak Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Super work, nick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) Thanks guys. This model started as a test model for my ICM kits like the Do 17z. Then it took on a life of it's own and became an interesting project in it's own right. The only real stress it caused was when the decals Dave so kindly sent to replace the damaged ones got damaged themselves. Fortunately I was able to find another set on eBay of this rare decal set and finally finish it after a delay while I completed my Zero for the Pacific GB. Dave the way I use Photoshop is to add the bits that have come off at the last minute, but will be put back on in a day or two. Also to fix the background sheet. I don't believe in adding things that won't be there in reality or improving the finish of the plane. I will take a photo myself when I sort out the things I have mentioned in a day or two. It is a 150km drive to get it reshot and a risk of more damage, so this is why I did the fix's in Photoshop for this presentation. Edited December 8, 2018 by Greg Law 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve27752 Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Should the tails not have Swastikas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Greg, despite your trials and tribulations you've made a great job of that. Well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fubar57 Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Great job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted December 8, 2018 Author Share Posted December 8, 2018 54 minutes ago, Steve27752 said: Should the tails not have Swastikas? It does have Swastikas. It is dark grey under the the codes on the tail. Unfortunately I had trouble getting it in the center. The first time I put it on it was prefect then I removed it when I had trouble with the 'D' out line. At the time I couldn't find replacement decals anywhere, so I decided to change the markings to a different plane. That's when Rabbit Leader came to my rescue. When I replaced the tail markings I found I had put the Swastika off center. But as the decals were hard to find I decided to live with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 All good Greg, I hope I didn’t offend you about the use of photoshop? That’s just my silly way of explaining how bad I am at rigging and still too scared to take on a bi-plane because of it! Anyway, just wanted to clear things up if I’ve woken up and read this the wrong way. Cheers.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 It was worth the fight Greg, it's stunning 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted December 8, 2018 Share Posted December 8, 2018 Awsome work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted December 9, 2018 Author Share Posted December 9, 2018 5 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said: All good Greg, I hope I didn’t offend you about the use of photoshop? That’s just my silly way of explaining how bad I am at rigging and still too scared to take on a bi-plane because of it! Anyway, just wanted to clear things up if I’ve woken up and read this the wrong way. Cheers.. Dave Not at all Dave. I will be putting up a few more images done by me when I fix all the bits that were missing and have put the white on the spinners. I have already done the white on the spinners then stuffed it up, having to do them again. Down to being in to much of a hurry this morning. So I have slowed down now and getting it right. It did look good when I had a quick look at them on the plane. I made sure I declared what I had done so you folks will feel confident that you are looking at the real model work on my next model. By the way I will be doing another bi-plane in the not too distant future. It it works out I hope you will give it a go. I think my problem was a case of not using the right glue and if the atmosphere isn't right put it down and have another go later. This is why I didn't stick the aerial wire back on when I broke it. It didn't stick like before so I have put it down till it feels right to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitchen Modeller Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 A very nice example - I like the clean brand new look you went with - well worth the trials and tribulations. Well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernandocouto Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 Good kit, not easy fit, you've done a great work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank083 Posted December 9, 2018 Share Posted December 9, 2018 Very nice flying pen! Love it 👍👍👍 Feank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted December 11, 2018 Author Share Posted December 11, 2018 This is an update of images using my camera that seems to bring out the weathering more than it shows in reality. However, I wanted to show the final model that has all the broken parts put on and the missing white spinner tips. The Pitot tube is brass painted. It broke when I tried to put it on, so this is the replacement. You will notice some damage on the left side by the code markings which is from me trying to put the aerial wire back on. I ended up getting it on the next day. I think the plane looks better with the with spinner tips. The only thing I have done in Photoshop this time is to change the image size. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holzhamer Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 (edited) Wonderful, just wonderful. Your 217 looks exactly as you described how your imagination captured this plane. I wish we could see this model more often made. God knows I have one partially made for years, perhaps my oldest hangar queen, all because of some crappy Verlinden flap PE. Your model is a boost to get the mojo back on track Edited December 12, 2018 by Holzhamer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ringo Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Waauw, what a beauty! Very subtile weathering! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Looks great despite your difficulties with it Greg, really nice work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Beautiful build and great paint work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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