Dornier Do 217-E2 Refurbishment***FINISHED***

[PeterB]

Well that was fun!

Never going to be perfect - none of my builds ever are, but I am quite happy with that. Anyway it is mostly going to be hidden under the stores. I have put something resembling extended sway braces on the drop tank to make it look a bit more realistic.

 

Onwards and upwards!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited July 31, 2020 by PeterB

[modelling minion]

I think that you have done an excellent job painting the national markings over the pylons, top job Pete.

[PeterB]

Worked out quite well.

The racks are not quite the right shape so I have not painted the front of them in green as in SD's picture, but except for the open entry hatch and the lack of glazing it looks about the same to me.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[modelling minion]

Very nearly there now Pete.

[Dansk]

Looking very nice Pete 👍

[PeterB]

Hi guys,

 

Well, this has been quite a strange build and I don't know whether I should laugh or cry! I first decided to re-furbish the old Airfix kit about 3 or 4 years ago, but gave up as it looked like hard work. However, I decided to have a go for this GB and dug my Italeri 217K out of my stash where it had been for over 10 years, thinking I would copy the cockpit interior and undercarriage from that to use on this. The Italeri box is an end opening one and over the years it had taken a bit of a battering. I had opened the bag when I bought it to check that all the parts were there, but had not resealed it very well it appears, and as it has been moved quite a few times, I found that I was missing a couple of critical parts! There is a lesson there - take care of your stash!

 

As luck would have it, I was able to pick up a replacement cheaply, so the original has become a donor for this build in a big way. Not only the cockpit interior, though I tarted it up a lot, but also the undercarriage bay inserts, legs, braces, mudguards, doors and wheels. Add to that the guns, pitot tube, radio mast, elevator actuators and of course the upper turret, and my initial bad luck has probably worked to my advantage. I still had to use all the old Airfix transparent parts except the turret unfortunately as neither the Italeri parts nor the Falcon set would fit, and my childhood attempts with tube cement had left them somewhat less than perfect, but other than the ventral gun window they cleaned and polished up pretty well. Throw in some racks from my Airfix He 177, a 900L tank from my Fujimi Me 110 spares and a Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb from my yet to be built Revell Condor, and the end result should be far and away better than I ever expected.

 

I have just glued the last bits on, and will paint them in the morning and then take some pics.

 

Thanks for your interest and support - it has been much appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited July 31, 2020 by PeterB

[modelling minion]

9 hours ago, PeterB said:

Thanks for your interest and support - it has been much appreciated.

You're more than welcome Pete,it has been an interesting project to follow.

[PeterB]

So, all the bits are on and painted .

With regards to the guns, I have mounted MG131 in the turret and ventral position. The one in the old Profile Publication I have based it on also had another MG131 in the nose, though some versions seem to have had an MGFF 20mm cannon. I was tempted as I have some nice resin MGFF, but decided against it as it would need a support frame making and fitting, and also I could not work out if it was drum or belt fed. Actually it seems a bit odd to me as the whole purpose of the Hs 293 was to allow the attacking bomber to launch outside the range of the increasingly dangerous AA weapons fitted to ships, so would they really want to risk making a strafing run with a cannon? Perhaps it was intended as air defence – who knows!

 

Is it accurate – I don't really know. The span is about right but the length is around 4ft short according to Green's data on an E-2, but I suspect that might have been fitted with the longer “dive brake” tail cone, unlike this model. Certainly the glazing is not correct as the windscreen should have more rake to it, and perhaps as a consequence the framing is wrong. As to the nose glazing, it is about right when viewed from the Port, but the Starboard side should have another row of windows from the floor up to level with the cockpit canopy. The glazing on the ventral gun position is also not quite right I think, but will have to do.

 

I have fitted what I presume are the prominent elevator actuators from the Italeri kit, which Airfix overlooked, though I seem to remember they included them on their Do 17-E/F kit, and mounted the radio mast out on the Port wing root instead of on the centreline as Airfix would have it. I have also fashioned the thick whip aerial on the port fuselage side from wire – can't remember if Airfix included one or not - they do in the Ju 88. I have also fitted the “drooping” pitot tube on the Port wing and painted in the landing light.

 

So now all I need to do is carefully mask the transparencies and give it a coat or two of matt(ish) varnish. Like RAF planes later in the war, Luftwaffe machines were reported to have had a slight sheen on them.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[modelling minion]

Looks great Pete, she will be in the gallery before you know it.

[PeterB]

I am calling this one done.

Typically, the "flat" varnish I use almost always dries with a sheen, which would be appropriate for Luftwaffe planes, but just to be awkward it has dried almost matt this time!

 

This has been quite an amusing build and the end result is a lot better than I originally expected - not quite a "silk purse of a sow's ear" or however the old saying goes, but the mishap that left me with most of an Italeri Do 217 K-1 kit available has been a great help in the end. As you can see, even in daylight the contrast between RLM 72 and 73 is not very great, at least from this angle.

 

At the beginning of the build I was hoping to use some colourful unit markings but it seems that by 1943 the Luftwaffe had pretty well stopped using them, at least on bombers. Pity, but there we are - KG100's Viking Ship would have looked nice!

 

So, I will post it in the Gallery and press on with my Wellington and SM 79. Thanks for your interest and input.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited August 2, 2020 by PeterB

[Jinxman]

Very nice - it has captured the pugnacious look of the original very well. I like the subtle difference between the 72 & 73 as well.

[modelling minion]

Good job Pete.

Great to see such a successful restoration/re-build as this one, gives hope to the rest of us.

Another fine result mate, very well done.

[Madalo]

Hey Pete, would you mind reposting the photos? Would be inspiring to see.