Hobby Craft 1/48 Dornier Do-17Z (yes, I know) with Airwaves etch (and yes, I know)

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

 

Well, here it is.

I've had to move it out of the way for too long to have a look for what I really wanted to build, so I guess it was trying to tell me something.

It was probably "SELL ME!"

But, as it had come as part of a job lot with a £4 average, I figured it was worth a slot in the After Hours Lab

 

 

From what I have read of builds on t'Interweb this is a terrible kit.

Not only inaccurate, but also awkward to put together too.

What's not to like?

 

Just as well it included an updated instruction sheet (on the right)

 

Ah, yes, it all makes perfect sense now.

 

Oddly enough, some of the molding is very fine. Take the trailing edge of the main wing, for example

 

Two wing surfaces, razor sharp join, better than certain 'modern' Defiants, also of this parish.

 

Andthen there are the engine cowl flaps

 

Lacking in interior detail, but commendably thin.

 

Pity the rest of the wings/engines etc are bereft of thought

 

I seem to recall something about landing gear locating being vague?

 

 

Anyhoo, the place to start is the cockpit, right?

 

Parts parted, not all are needed for this version. Nice touch that Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear & Baby Bear can all get to be the driver.

 

Airwaves has upgraded parts for the radio section and other instrumentation

 

And the main IP

 

Amongst other parts, they should all add another dimension of realism when it all comes together.

 

Right ho. Following the (more recent) instructions, main cockpit components roughed out

 

 

 

 

I'm just going to leave it there for a bit

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve 🍷

 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

After a long and considered deliberation, I've finally rejected the option of building this kit with any accuracy toward the actual aircraft, and embrace the ethos of Hobby Craft Canada.

 

There are many inspirational builds of this kit on t'Interweb, most of them requiring major surgery and a flair for scratch building to get close to reality, but this is not what I came for.

 

To whit:-

 

The main fuselage is a "Banana"

Not a problem.

 

I've put in some bits to make the cockpit insides not as barren

 

 

I know it looks like the Brick-A-Brack shelf from a charity shop, but I miss them so much...

 

And now the seats need attention

 

 

The IP

 

And ongoing chairs

 

 

Just as well there's wine.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve 🍷

 

[Jochen Barett]

19 hours ago, ProfSparks said:

Hi All

 

After a long and considered deliberation, I've finally rejected the option of building this kit with any accuracy toward the actual aircraft, and embrace the ethos of Hobby Craft Canada.

...

I've put in some bits (stolen from my kid)

 

I know it looks like the Brick-A-Brack shelf from a charity shop, but I miss them so much...

 

Cheers

Steve 🍷

 

The FUG 22 Lego contol unit was introduced quite late in the war ... but don't forget the matching antenna!

[Greg Law]

The banana is a known problem with this kit. The are two ways of fixing it. One is to cut a wedge out of the fuselage and the other if to buy a resin rear fuselage section. I'm not sure if you can still get them. Some where on the net there is a tut on how to do the wedge method. 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

On 5/8/2020 at 8:09 PM, Jochen Barett said:

The FUG 22 Lego contol unit was introduced quite late in the war ... but don't forget the matching antenna!

Hi Jochen, I'll have a look through my (MY!) Lego to see if I still have it

 

On 5/9/2020 at 10:06 AM, Greg Law said:

The banana is a known problem with this kit. The are two ways of fixing it. One is to cut a wedge out of the fuselage and the other if to buy a resin rear fuselage section. I'm not sure if you can still get them. Some where on the net there is a tut on how to do the wedge method. 

Hi Greg, that cut'n'shut mod would have been my method, but unearthing the rest of the inaccuracies put me off the scale of work required to bring it to anywhere near the real thing.

Not just the banana, but also the cockpit, engines, landing gear, overall surfaces, you name it.

And that etch set hardly improves anything either,

It's big enough to see and hold and bad enough to not take too seriously, so I'm doing it as a "What If?" (as in "what if the plane actually looked like this Hobby Craft kit?")

 

Anyhoo, I put some stripped wire in

 

Gave it all a blast of Vallejo VA71.054 Dark Grey Blue (my WhIf version of RLM66)

 

And have spent an enjoyable hour or so going through some old decals and sticking them on places

Bonus points for identifying the donor kits

 

The seat webbing got some Skeletal Bone action topped off with some brown Tamiya Panel Line, the whole lot will get a cursory dry brush, a sludge wash, and a Matt varnish.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve 🍷

 

[Tail-Dragon]

Here's the sight for the 'banana fuselage' fix …  GOOD LUCK!

 

http://www.olddogsplanes.com/olddogsbananafix.htm

 

 

[Greg Law]

Funnily enough I still do have this kit in my stash with the resin tail fix. I also have the Do 17P kit which i do plan to build one day unless ICM do one, which i doubt. They seem to look ahead rather than back in the versions they do. 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

The PE IP 'upgrade'

 

Might be for a different kit?

 

So I'll pass on that and do some of what I planned before

 

 

 

Airwaves seat belts on the seats

 

Close enough, considering the number I fed to the Carpet Monster

 

And finally for tonight, a mock-up of the mock-pit

 

 

 

I figure it's as close to the real thing as Hobby Craft were, so no harm done (and yes, I'll put back that errant seat belt strap)

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve 🍷

 

[Greg Law]

Looks good.

Maybe that instrument panel is for the Classic Airframes kit.

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Time to move this one on a touch.

 

Top fuselage section on

 

Masking masking masking

 

Wings and tail glued on, canopy and other clear parts held on with Maskol to remove them later

 

The landing gear braces are oddly divided

 

And they need to join the main legs at 58 degrees. However, I followed hobby Craft's lead and set them at a jaunty 60 degrees.

 

They then joined the spray box for a blast of VA71.054 Dark Grey Blue to match the cockpit interior

 

With any luck it will see paint later this week, and with any more luck it will be finished!

 

 

 

Comments and suggestions welome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[JohnT]

If there were awards for modelling bravery this would rank up there with the Charge of the Light Brigade. C’est magnifique Mais ce n’est pas du modelage . C’est de la folie.

(apologies to Pierre Bosquet and Steve)

 

Madness or Genius keep on going Steve!

[Shark444]

Looking good - making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, so to speak.  A good history lesson for all of us as I wasn't ware that LEGO was a supplier to Dornier for internal cockpit instrumentation!  😉 (I hope you didn't sand that off...!)

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

On 7/13/2020 at 9:55 PM, JohnT said:

If there were awards for modelling bravery this would rank up there with the Charge of the Light Brigade. C’est magnifique Mais ce n’est pas du modelage . C’est de la folie.

(apologies to Pierre Bosquet and Steve)

 

Madness or Genius keep on going Steve!

Hi JohnT, certainly not any dedication to the true modelers art, more of something to keep my idle hands busy after a medicinal glass of wine or two

 

On 7/13/2020 at 10:13 PM, Shark444 said:

Looking good - making a silk purse out of a sow's ear, so to speak.  A good history lesson for all of us as I wasn't ware that LEGO was a supplier to Dornier for internal cockpit instrumentation!  😉 (I hope you didn't sand that off...!)

Hi Shark 444, no, the logo is still prominent! Doubt it will be seen (or recognised) once the 2" thick canopy is in place.

 

Not much more done on her, other than glueing on and filling in the gap left by the nacelles, and then clicking the wheel well covers into place for spraying.

 

Yes they really just click into place, possibly the best fit of the whole kit!

 

Pity they have to be cut in half for the doors to be posed open

 

Anyhoo, some random white primer and a flash over with Vallejo VA71.078 Yellow RLM04 later

 

Must admit this feels like DUPLO after other kits

 

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Back on the Duplo Dornier to round things off.

 

A smooth coat of Vallejo VA71.257 Light Blue RLM76 (possibly the wrong RLM, but at this stage anything goes)

 

And unmasked, I rather like the contrast

 

Next step is masking and the upper surface paint.

 

Let's have a look at the tail fins

 

Notice anything about the locating holes? Should they not at least appear perpendicular to the rudder? What's it like with them fitted?

 

Perhaps they're to offset the upward Banana sweep of the fuselage?

 

 

 

 

Comments and suggestions to Hobbycraft Canada

 

Cheers

Steve

 

[elger]

That version of RLM 76 looks a lot like 65 anyway!

[corsaircorp]

Hello Prof !!

Real good and great job...

I have 2 of these kit in my stash, So many thanks for clearing my path...

Sincerely.

CC

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

On 8/10/2020 at 10:32 AM, elger said:

That version of RLM 76 looks a lot like 65 anyway!

True, just as the kit looks a lot like a Do-17z

 

On 8/10/2020 at 10:44 AM, corsaircorp said:

Hello Prof !!

Real good and great job...

I have 2 of these kit in my stash, So many thanks for clearing my path...

Sincerely.

CC

Thanks CC, and if I were you I'd clear them both from the path entirely !

 

 

Anyhoo, after an upper coat of Tamiya (possibly XF-81 Dark Green RAF with a splash of XF-61 Dark Green, or possibly the other way round?) it was time to bring on the worms

 

The 'Black' parts of the camo were done with Tamiya XF-69 NATO Black, as this a very very dark green

 

It looks black enough to be black, but not black enough to look out of place.

 

Other bits 'n' bobs were done, including the props in Vallejo VA71.021 Black Green RLM70, and tyres in Vallejo VA71.315 Tire Black. I usually prefer Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black for tyres, it has a subtle blueishness about it, whereas this Vallejo Tire Black has a bit of a green tinge.

 

Not long now.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve 🍷

 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Engines and cowlings on

 

I'll not document the fit or locational certainty of these, but imagine lining up a cereal bowl on the stripes of a watermelon.

 

 

Anyhoo, elsewhere, this kit continues to be a design of two halves with the decals.

 

I'm going for the Finnish scheme, and the swastikas come split diagonally. They need to be cut from their overlapping carrier film and aligned carefully

 

The decals themselves are commendably thin, but as can be seen from the underside, not commendably opaque.

 

On the plus side though, a selection of numerals are supplied in both green and black to adapt for different camo patterning.

 

They settle down well once Micro Sol has done it's thang

 

And will be sealed with Pledge to await the Flory onslaught.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve 🍷

 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

A liberal serving of Flory Grime later

 

Removed with a dry kitchen cloth, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters, then given a coat of W&N Matt Varnish

 

@Jochen Barett will no doubt appreciate the addition of the FUG 22 Lego control unit antenna at this stage

 

I also emptied out all those bits that had come loose from the cockpit area, basically the home made chairs.

 

Moving on to the main landing legs, care must have been taken earlier in the build to align the bay forward bulkheads so that the locating lugs for the legs are inline, as they are the only fixing point for the legs to hang perpendicular and parallel.

 

Also, those locationally challenged engine cowlings would have been better left off until the legs were affixed, so the lower air intakes would be centralised with the gear.

 

You can probably see that neither of these points from my future self made it back to my present self.

 

 

Anyhoo, while the legs cling to the bulkheads under the grip of TET, the canopies were unmasked

 

Nearly, but there again, close enough.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve 🍷

 

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

Seats back in, and a last look at the cockpit before the polythene cloche goes on

 

 

And on it goes

 

 

(even the camera doesn't want to look at it!)

 

I'll tidy up the join to match the rest of the airframe...

 

Only those beautiful wheel well doors to chop up and fit, then out it goes.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve 🍷

 

[opus999]

I only just now saw this thread.  It's entertaining to say the least.  Too bad it's such a dog of a kit, but I think it looks marvelous none the less!

[ProfSparks]

Hi All

 

The underlegs doors were sliced in half, then fitted upside down as the cut edge was about four scale inches thick, so that went against the bodywork, while the beautifully chamfered edge dangled in the air.

I'll not show pictures of those, as I had previously discovered I had glued the mounting bulkheads for the legs into the wheel wells parallel to the wing under surface and not perpendicular to ground level. Too late to go back and dig them out now as she's on her way to a large specimen jar of formaldehyde and IPA.

So am I.

 

 

Anyhoo, aerial cable on!

 

And finally introducing probably the most accurate part of the whole build, the paint called RLM70 on the props

 

 

(I'm not claiming anything accurate about the paint other than Vallejo label 71.021 as Black Green RLM70)

 

 

So there she is.

If it's a respectable 1/48 Do-17z kit you're after to build, I'd suggest you look elsewhere.

I'd suggest you look really REALLY HARD elsewhere.

And as for the etch...

 

However, if it's something to throw glue and paint at, to keep your hands occupied and away from your other builds while you relax after a long day in The Lab, then it's just about passable.

Just.

 

 

Thanks to all who joined along on this fantastical journey, see you on the next one.

 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome

 

Cheers

Steve 🍷

[Supertom]

It looks really great actually. Glad to see people are still building unwanted kits. Some of the guys in the club ask why I'd build a "crap" kit, and well, it's fun, it's good practice, and it makes me happy.

 

Hey, we should do a Rubbish Kit Group Build.

[JohnT]

On 30/08/2020 at 09:30, ProfSparks said:

 

Thanks to all who joined along on this fantastical journey, see you on the next one.

Steve,  I’ll take you up on that one. I assume by that you intend doing another one so I am posting my one which was banished to the back of the stash cupboard several years ago and told not to come out so you can enjoy the experience all over again. Anything for a fellow modeller 

 

more seriously well done. You made it look like a decent kit which is no minor achievement 

[Tail-Dragon]

While the kit itself might closely resemble one of the twig and straw decoy dummy's set up around an airfield, the fun you had, and the skills you practiced were real!