Airfix Dornier 217-J

[BobbyC]

This is my first time doing a wip, or a group build. 
This was one of the models I bought on holiday in Falmouth in 1981. An excellent selection of models - Matchbox 1/32 109E, Airfix 1/72 Tornado in the MRCA boxing and Dassault Mirage F.1 making up for a otherwise rubbish holiday. It rained. We did jigsaws of the happy couple for the Royal Wedding. The hotel was “odd”, I was told I was too young to see “For Your Eyes Only” at the cinema. 

But, the 217J was great. 
 

I have ordered a used, fairly modern boxing on the internet, and new brass guns. So for now a stock image, and I will wait for the postman to deliver my goodies. 

or I would post the image if I could get the url from “OneDrive” to work...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by BobbyC
Trying to load photo

[helios16v]

Welcome to GBs Bobby!

[Dansk]

Hi bobby, welcome and i hope you have a lot of fun in the gb . (Love your description of the hotel 😄 - i have faulty towers as a mental picture)

[PeterB]

Hi,

 

I can remember getting one of the bomber "E" version from the model railway shop near my school in the mid 1960's I think. and lugging it back home on two buses. Not relevant to your boxing as I gather it is the J but Airfix said paint in just one shade of green over light blue as they did with their Stuka. I have seen a few "profiles" showing that but I am still not entirely convinced it is correct, A lot of them were used for anti-shipping strikes and finished in the low contrast RLM72/73 scheme according to a number of my books, and in certain photos it does indeed look like just the one colour, but in others you can just about make out the two colour splinter pattern. 

 

Anyway, having said that, your kit is presumably the later night fighter version so I guess it will either be black or perhaps a combination of blue and grey if it was in service that long. No doubt somebody else will now chip in with their thoughts on the subject - one of the nice things about this forum is that people exchange ideas and information.

 

Good luck with the build - though I was aware that Airfix had changed it I have never actually seen one of these built. Do they still give the bomber option or have they re-tooled the fuselage?

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited May 19, 2020 by PeterB

[Graham Boak]

All the Dornier 217 bombers (at least initially but possibly always) were painted in the maritime scheme of 72/73, presumably as a remnant of the time when they were half-offered to the Kreigsmarine to meet their demands for such aircraft.  (It's a complex story involving Goering's "Everything that flies belongs to me" and far too long-winded to be relevant here.)

 

Js were black - including Italian ones - but I think I may have seen one photo of one that survived into the three greys period, and got repainted.  Maybe.

[PeterB]

Hi Graham,

 

Thanks for that. I have come across the story you mention (in Irvings "Rise & Fall" aka "the gospel according to Erhard Milch" perhaps) but did not realise all 217E were painted in the maritime scheme, albeit perhaps only initially as you point out. I was thinking of refurbishing my old kit as a plane belonging to II/KG40 as my 217 K will eventually be painted as a night bomber I suspect, having missed getting the long winged version carrying Hs293 or Fritz X, whichever it was!

 

Apologies for the partial hijack of your build thread Bobby - one of those things that happens in GB! At least Graham and I are still talking about Dornier 217's.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited May 19, 2020 by PeterB

[modelling minion]

12 hours ago, BobbyC said:

This is my first time doing a wip, or a group build. 

Fantastic that you have decided to join us here for your first GB Bobby, you couldn't have come to a better place!

 

I have very fond memories of this kit and built quite a few of them, nearly all as the nightfighter option as all those guns were too much to resist. I was considering this one myself but couldn't get one at what I thought was a reasonable price so I', really interested to see how you get on with your kit when it arrives.

 

Welcome aboard!

[BobbyC]

18 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi,

 

I can remember getting one of the bomber "E" version from the model railway shop near my school in the mid 1960's I think. and lugging it back home on two buses. Not relevant to your boxing as I gather it is the J but Airfix said paint in just one shade of green over light blue as they did with their Stuka. I have seen a few "profiles" showing that but I am still not entirely convinced it is correct, A lot of them were used for anti-shipping strikes and finished in the low contrast RLM72/73 scheme according to a number of my books, and in certain photos it does indeed look like just the one colour, but in others you can just about make out the two colour splinter pattern. 

 

Anyway, having said that, your kit is presumably the later night fighter version so I guess it will either be black or perhaps a combination of blue and grey if it was in service that long. No doubt somebody else will now chip in with their thoughts on the subject - one of the nice things about this forum is that people exchange ideas and information.

 

Good luck with the build - though I was aware that Airfix had changed it I have never actually seen one of these built. Do they still give the bomber option or have they re-tooled the fuselage?

 

Cheers

 

Pete

 

[PeterB]

Hi Bobby,

 

Your build got me interested agian in Do 217 kits so I had a look at Scalemates. I see Airfix give you the option of both the N and an E with two tone green uppers and black unders. I knew Italeri released the K-1 as I have that kit, and that they went on to produce the longer span K-2 and the M with different engines, but I now also see they later released an E, J and N. Must have a look and see if I can pick one or two up second hand.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[BobbyC]

Thank you for all making me so welcome.  
 

Since I got back to modelling 4 or 5 years ago I have,

 

1. bought the stash I always wanted as a child, and then a lot more...
2. realised that the colour “yellow” is the work of the devil 
3. bought a airbrush, which is amazing, but for the first year stayed in the box, as I was worried I would ruin my plastic
4.  been stunned at the quality of new moulds, from all manufacturers
5. now have to buy all sorts of aftermarket goodies, for my ever growing stash

 

the Airfix 217 is the same moulding for both “E” and “J”. I think it is not therefore felt to be the most accurate kit, @PeterB, as the bomb bay is the same for the J as the E. As @modelling minion says, as a child all the guns meant that there could only be one version to build. 

regarding @Graham Boak says this will be black. I am thinking of spraying Tamiya Rubber black on a black primer, with some marbling. I have never done this before, and it will be a good test as I have plenty of Bomber Command kits in both 1/72 and 1/48 to work on. 
 

so now I just need the postman to arrive. 

[PeterB]

Hi Bobby,

 

Thanks for that - 217 kits are going for silly prices on e-Bay for some reason. According to my various books by William Green, the early J-1 was a simple conversion from the E retaining the aft bomb bay and the underside "bulge" under the nose - I believe it was intended for night intrusion against Bomber Command airfields and having bombs was considered useful. Later conversions had radar added, as had the J-2 which also had the bomb bay faired over, so the Airfix kit could be fairly accurate for an early J-1. The N seems to have been a conversion from the M with inline engines, and all but the early ones dispensed with the upper turret behind the cockpit and had a cleaned up underside, or so Green states.

 

Graham knows more about German planes than I do so he will probably be able to add to that.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Jeepboy]

A kit I'd forgotten.  I had this when I was about 10 in the 1970's.   The bomber version with a clear nose in pale blue plastic.  I was so happy as it made a very substantial model.  Looking forward to what you can do.

[JOCKNEY]

Hi Bobby

 

Delighted you have decided to lose your GB cherry on this GB, you wont regret it i can assure you !

As you will discover, the GB participants are the greatest group of fellow kit torturers you could hope to meet.

I can promise you will get nothing but support and encouragement throughout the build, advice if you ask for it, and lots of fun along the way.

The very best of luck with your build.

 

cheers Pat 

 

PS One word of warning, GBs are very addictive, so don't be surprised if you suddenly have multiple builds in multiple GBs all on the go at the same time ! 😉

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

9 hours ago, BobbyC said:

Thank you for all making me so welcome.  

Everyone is welcome Bobby, if you take a look at some of the other builds coming up in the future build area. You might find some more that strike your fancy. 
 

Dennis

[BobbyC]

No kit in the post yet, but these did arrive today;

 

 

Which will go with the 2 packs of "MG 17 & MG FF METAL BARREL TIPS TO MESSERSCHMITT Bf-109 E/T #72009 1/72 MASTER" I am waiting on too. Whilst waiting for the 217 I will get round to finishing the Eduard Mk XVI dual combo pack, which have been sitting around for far too long - both the bubble top and high back done as clipped wing. I was tempted to start the blitz group build, but would have more kits on the go at once than would be seemly...

 

So, still waiting to get started.

[klr]

On 5/20/2020 at 4:18 PM, PeterB said:

Hi Bobby,

 

Your build got me interested agian in Do 217 kits so I had a look at Scalemates. I see Airfix give you the option of both the N and an E with two tone green uppers and black unders. I knew Italeri released the K-1 as I have that kit, and that they went on to produce the longer span K-2 and the M with different engines, but I now also see they later released an E, J and N. Must have a look and see if I can pick one or two up second hand.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Italeri has really milked its Do 217 tooling for all it's worth, with 6 different versions. I've bought them all, and built three of them thus far.

 

I liked the old Airfix kit, and still remember building it once upon a Christmas in the early 1980s. I hadn't realised until now that it was originally released as the bomber version only. I guess you learn something new every day.

[BobbyC]

The kit arrived today - hurrah! it is an earlier boxing, the original I think from 1977. The "E" is depicted on the side.

 

I also have the Airwaves etch for the Italeri "K" so I can play around in the cockpit to add a little detail.

 

Getting the 1977 box is a bonus, this is closer to the one I would have bought in 1981. The decals though could be interesting...fairly yellow. They also so not have some overwing red stencilling that later boxes have, this I will try and find some aftermarkets for.

 

 

So, I hope to start tomorrow

[Jinxman]

 A great little kit - who could resist the J-1 with all those guns in the nose?

[JOCKNEY]

1 hour ago, Jinxman said:

 A great little kit - who could resist the J-1 with all those guns in the nose?

Guilty as charged 

[John]

Cool. I've never built the J but I did have a Type 3 E, resplendent in Airfix Blue plastic.

 

It's a big beastie once you put it together.

 

John

[Ventora3300]

2 hours ago, BobbyC said:

The kit arrived today - hurrah! it is an earlier boxing, the original I think from 1977. The "E" is depicted on the side.

 

I also have the Airwaves etch for the Italeri "K" so I can play around in the cockpit to add a little detail.

 

Getting the 1977 box is a bonus, this is closer to the one I would have bought in 1981. The decals though could be interesting...fairly yellow. They also so not have some overwing red stencilling that later boxes have, this I will try and find some aftermarkets for.

 

So, I hope to start tomorrow

A great kit and this will be interesting, BobbyC.

 

I am trying to remember if they improved the crew figures from the original E-2 kit, as they looked like Aliens. Also, to see out of the windscreen, the cockpit floor had to be raised a bit.

[modelling minion]

5 hours ago, Jinxman said:

 A great little kit - who could resist the J-1 with all those guns in the nose?

Not me!

 

This is exactly the boxing I remember too, I remember enjoying this one as a kid so I'm really eager to see how you get on.

[Dansk]

Hey Bobby how are you getting on? I think we’re all excited to see this one under construction 🤗

[modelling minion]

I know that I am!