Battle over Bedfordshire or the demise of a Dornier.

[lasermonkey]

On 24th October 1940, Dornier Do 215B-4 Wr Nr. 0060/L2+KS of 3 Staffel Aufklarugs Gruppe Ober der Luft was tasked with a reconnaissance mission to Coventry and Birmingham. It departed Orly at 11.00 hrs and was spotted and engaged by three Hurricanes from No. 1 Squadron at 12.35 over Bedfordshire. Despite taking advantage of the low cloud at 2000ft, The Dornier's pilot, Leutnant Erwin Meyer, was unable to evade the Hurricanes, which pressed home their attack. The Hurricanes, flown by Flt Lt M.H Brown, P/O A.V Clowes and P/O A. Kershaw attacked from astern, scoring many hits on the tail area. The second pass sealed the Dornier's fate, causing the crew to abandon the aircraft. Three of the crew, including the pilot, the observer (Uffz. Erhardt Hoffman) and the radio op (Uffz. Helmut Bröning) baled out too low for their parachutes to deploy fully and were killed, the only survivor being the flight engineer, Gefreiter Max Dorr, who was badly injured. The dead are buried at the Soldatedfriedhof at Cannock Chase, Shropshire.

 

During the attack, burning pieces of the stricken aircraft fell on the roof of a thatched cottage in the village of Bolnhurst, setting it ablaze. The Dornier finally crashed in a shallow dive, "at considerable speed" into the ground behind the Bell public house in Eaton Socon, scattering wreckage across a wide area. The Bell no longer exists, being demolished to make way for a KFC drive-through (such is progress!) and much of the crash site is now covered by industrial buildings, but the A1 cuts across part of the crash site and I suspect many of you will have unknowingly driven over it.

 

 

 

 

My first job was in a nearby industrial estate, just a few hundred yards away from the crash site and on a few occasions I had a lunchtime tipple at The Bell. I learned of the battle whilst I was working there though it was only recently that I discovered the full details of the battle, just after the groupbuild was announced!

 

 

 

The kits.

 

 

 

 

For the Hurricane, I decided to go with the superb Arma kit, in this case the Expert boxing. Although I searched for information on the other two Hurricane pilots (I originally hoped to model all the aircraft involved in the battle) I wasn't able to obtain anything on the airframes used. P/O Clowes, on the other hand, is well known, as is his P3395. I'll be using some of the old Airfix decals (just the  squadron codes and serial numbers) and either the Airfix or Hasegawa wasp motifs, along with the kit decals for everything else. Don't count on me using any of the etched brass, as I absolutely despise the stuff!

 

 

 

IMO Arma's Hurricane is the finest in the gentleman's scale by far, though I did have a few fit issues with the first one I built. Now I am aware of what to look out for, my second should be a lot easier.

 

 

I didn't have a great deal of choice regarding the Do 215. As far as I know, ICM's kit is the only option here. It looks quite nice in the box, but I have heard some horror stories about the fit. I guess I'll find out soon enough! The transparencies are quite poor, as they aren't particularly transparent (you had one job!) and are somewhat cloudy. I'll try to do something about that if possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought a set of Pmasks for the Dornier's transparencies as I really didn't fancy doing that by hand! Decals will possibly come from the kit for the insignia and for the codes I'll have to print my own. Luckily, the unit codes were all black according to the crash report, so that *should* be straightforward enough.

 

Hopefully I'll be able to make a start this evening.

 

 

Thanks for looking and best regards,

Mark.

 

 

[Ozzy]

They both luck fantastic kits to go with a fantastic story.

[lasermonkey]

I managed to make a start on the Hurricane this afternoon. I removed the first few parts from the sprues and gave them a bit of a clean up. Having looked at the photos, I think I may have to spend a bit more time on them!

I did pare down the trailing edges of the wings with a one-sided razor blade. Although the fit was actually quite reasonable to begin with (and certainly much better than some mainstream manufacturers I could mention), a couple of minutes spent removing slivers of plastic resulted in a nice, thin edge.

 

There was one casualty, that being the (for want of a better word) floor, and I broke off a bit whilst cutting it off the sprue when the scalpel slipped and I had to re-glue it.

 

 

On my last Arma Hurricane I noticed that some of the smaller parts had quite a pronounced mould mismatch. I had hoped that it might have been an unlucky example, but the part indicated, which is from the undercarriage bay assembly, also had the same issue. On my last kit the same part was way too long and I seem to remember having to remove around 2mm from the length to get it to fit. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn't thread the gear retraction jack through the gap Procopius-style, which caused the air to turn blue for a few minutes. I'll have to pay more attention to that part of the build this time. Another thing that wouldn't fit was the triangular shaped cross-member that is part of the cockpit assembly. Despite having got the fuselage framework as snugly fitted as I could, the part was just too wide to fit and I ended up omitting it in the end. I'll have another play around with the parts this time, but I'm intrigued that some people didn't seem to have any issues at all here.

 

Whilst I am critical of some aspects of this kit, I have to keep reminding myself that Arma is a tiny operation and they really have pulled off something remarkable with this model.

 

Right, now to remind myself of the cockpit and u/c bay colours!

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[Blitz23]

I shall follow this build keenly as I live close to Eaton Socon myself!

[MattG]

Hi Mark,

 

Great start with your builds!

 

I happen to have 1 Squadron's Operations  Record Book so looked up 24th October.  The other two aircraft were P3169 and V7379.

 

 

There may be more information in the "Summary" ORB for October 1940 (the above is the "Details" ORB) but you can download this from the National Archives. 

 

I know you have info on P3395, but a quick search on Google for information on the other two aircraft reveals that P3169 is "JX-T", and was also flown by P/O Clowes on 16/8/1940 when he shot down a He111. The wingtip of this Heinkel is now in the Tangmere Military Aviation Museum. There's nothing on V7379 (apart from one profile claiming this is also "JX-B" - I know sometimes squadron codes were changed but given P3395 is also "JX-B" I think we can safely say this is incorrect).

 

Flt Lt M. H. "Hilly" Brown and P/O A. V. "Taffy" Clowes were both Battle of France and Battle of Britain aces, there's heaps of information on both if you Google either of these pilots.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Matt

[Greg Law]

Good luck with the build.  Just be grateful you are not doing the 1/48 Do 215. The cowlings had nine parts each which you had to wrap around an engine. 

[stevehnz]

Definitely one to watch, I do enjoy a good build with a thoroughly interesting back story, this one ticks a lot of boxes.

Steve.

[Tim Moff]

Great stuff, gotta love a good backstory!

[lasermonkey]

Many thanks for the comments. The information supplied by @MattG will come in very useful, as I will likely add the other Hurricanes at a later date. I appreciate the help, Matt!

 

I have progressed a bit with the Hurricane, combining the build with two other Hurricanes from a separate entry for speed. Despite my better judgement, I decided to use a few of the etched brass parts:

 

 

I found Arma's brass a bit easier to use, the cockpit sidewall conforming perfectly with no fuss. That's a first for me!

 

I also managed to get a bit of painting done:

 

 

I began removing some of the Do 215 parts from their sprues and immediately noticed a horrible, oily residue which will have to be thoroughly cleaned off. There's quite a lot of detail in the cockpit, but it all looks very fragile and I can't imagine me not breaking something. Interestingly, the crew seats (minus the pilot) are all moulded flat, the instructions suggesting that the seat backs are bent into shape. Yeah, that'll work, he said, sarcastically. I think I'll carefully cut the seat backs off and glue them,

 

Having looked at the fuselage parts and how they go together, I suspect that will be an experience I won't forget in a hurry. It's definitely got that 3D puzzle vibe about it. This won't be a kit that goes together quickly, I'm sure of that!

 

Cheers,

Mark.

 

[vppelt68]

Great story and an interesting build 👍. I believe that's the first attempt at 1:72 Dornier 215:s ICM did in 2007. They themselves acknowledged their mistakes by releasing all new kits only a decade later. Having built the later Do kit I can only say it's definitely the one to get and one of the best kits in the market! V-P

[lasermonkey]

6 hours ago, vppelt68 said:

Great story and an interesting build 👍. I believe that's the first attempt at 1:72 Dornier 215:s ICM did in 2007. They themselves acknowledged their mistakes by releasing all new kits only a decade later. Having built the later Do kit I can only say it's definitely the one to get and one of the best kits in the market! V-P

Now, that's interesting! Do they do the B-4 in the new range? If so, I may just get one and use that instead!

 

Edit: I bought one. Life's too short! I'll get cracking on with it as soon as it arrives. It does look much better, at least on the sprues and the transparencies are clearly (groan!) a step up from the original release. I think the original one will be going back in the box for now.....

 

Cheers,

Mark.

Edited July 18, 2020 by lasermonkey

[vppelt68]

I was very very close to buying the new tool B-4 kit to be built in the BoB GB too, but "my" hobby shop said they could get it for me only by late July. I needed a build I can finish before the He 111 STGB starts, next weekend, so I skipped buying the Dornier... only temporarily, though . V-P

[lasermonkey]

This arrived today!

 

It is packaged in a very sturdy box that protects the contents well. Even through the cellophane I could see that the newer kit was markedly different to the old one.

 

The instructions are much clearer too. No folding seat backs into place!

 

 

My biggest issue with the old kit was the awful transparencies. These are so much better.

 

 

There's two of these sprues. The moulding is much sharper than the older kit. On first glance it looked very nice indeed.

 

Glad to see the fuselage halves are full length. No trying to align a separate nose section here.

 

 

Yup. Sharper detail throughout. A few ejector pin marks to get rid of, but I'm not complaining.

 

 

The panel lines are nicely defined too. It's hard to believe that just ten years separates the two kits.

 

 

I'm actually looking forward to this one! I'll make a start on it tonight, with any luck.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[Ozzy]

Looks a really nice kit Mark.

[vppelt68]

A lot of same sprues with their Do 17 Z kit. I very much liked the Finnish one I built in the Nordic GB. I will get one of these to build in an appropriate GB 2021 or later. First I'll have a lot of 🍿 watching you enjoy your build! V-P

[Greg Law]

This is just a scaled down version of my 1/48 kit. I noticed it went together a lot easier than my bigger one so you shouldn't have to much of a problem with it. 

I think there is the same problem in the instructions of where to fit the pilots platform.  Be careful when you get to it. 

[lasermonkey]

Hi all,

I managed to make a bit more progress over the past few days, though nothing like what some people have managed. Still, this is a speed-build for me!

 

The wing halves were joined. A little fettling was required to get them to fit around the gear bay area.

 

The fuselage halves were prepped ready for joining.

 

I prefer to add the bulkhead assembly after the fuselage halves are joined. To do that, the little locating nubbins are removed as shown.

 

 

Once the fuselage halves are joined and the glue set, the bulkhead assy. can be offered up and the cross members adjusted to fit. I can now add the bulkhead and seat assy. at my leisure, after the filling and sanding has been done.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking and cheers,

Mark.

[Greg Law]

Just a note on the Do 215. Be careful of the glue you use to fix the engine brackets. Tamiya extra thin can easily melt the thin parts. I experienced this when I made my Heinkel. I now use CA for that. 

Looks like your instructions have been corrected.  On mine I only had one arrow pointing the bottom of the part to join higher up. Yours look better.

[lasermonkey]

I made a start on the Dornier last night, filling the ejector pin marks and cutting the cockpit parts off the sprue and cleaning them up. Today I sanded the filler and did a bit of assembly. I thought the plastic seemed slightly odd, feeling a bit "chewy" under the knife, not that I tried eating any! Still, it sanded just fine and glues ok, so nothing to worry about.

 

The detail in the cockpit is rather nice and fits perfectly. So far I'm impressed.

 

 

 

The instructions could have been a little clearer regarding the "high chair", but like the infamous Ikea instructions, a later picture showed the positioning of the cross braces.

 

 

I'll do a last check and cleanup tomorrow and then start spraying. Am I right in thinking that the cockpit should be RLM 66 and not RLM 02, as the instructions state?

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[Stew Dapple]

Looks like the chair attachment points are better than the Airfix Do17Z, should get a nice stable base for them.

 

Regarding the interior colour, RLM02 was advised for the contemporary Do17Z (and given the detail Airfix went into with the interior following their inspection of the wreck that was raised off the Goodwin Sands, I was inclined to take their word for it) but I can't say for certain this would be the case for the Do215 - however if ICM say RLM02 it does give you a get-out-of-jail-free-card if questioned unless you have a belief that it should be RLM66, in which case, fill your boots  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[lasermonkey]

@Stew Dapple that's intriguing! I did a bit of a search last night and most of what I found suggested that Luftwaffle bombers, even early in the war, had 66 cockpits. However, if 02 has been found on Do 17Z wreckage, that does kinda clinch it for me and to be honest, I think I prefer 02 on an aesthetic level!

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[Greg Law]

It is definitely RLM02 on the do 17z during the Battle of Britain. I'm sure I did my Do 215 with it. 

[elger]

FWIW I painted the cockpit of my Dornier 215 RLM 66. A maintenance manual from 1937 already refers to 66 for the cockpit interior. Discovered and discussed by Lynn Ritger on Hyperscale back in 2010. The conclusion:

 

Quote

Ok, for those keeping score with the home version of our game, what did we just learn here?  1. Go back and look at what color the cockpit is painted... Ton (shade or tone) 66. And what, dear reader, is 66? That's right... Schwartzgrau. Not RLM 02, but Schwartzgrau. And when was this document printed? 1937. This should put to rest any questions about whether 66 was used on prewar aircraft, the answer is a most emphatic YES. Or "JA!", if you prefer.

 

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/hyperscale/viewtopic.php?p=1281653#p1281653

 

 

[lasermonkey]

The discussion that @elger referred to is probably the one that triggered the memory. I just spent a good half an hour scouring the Internet for photos of Do 17Z and 215 cockpits and, inevitably, some pics looked too dark for 02 and some too light for 66. In the  end, I found one pic of a Do 17Z instrument panel that looked like it must have been 02, so I think that's what I'll go with. Unless, of course, someone shows up with a better photo!

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[lasermonkey]

I managed to get a bit more done on the Dornier, despite having been rushed off my feet with work. I have to say, I'm really quite impressed with the kit so far. Some painting has been done in the cockpit, with most of the assembly in that area completed. I found the remnants from a part-used Eduard etched brass set for the Frog/Revell Do 17Z that had some seatbelts, so I nicked those.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the paints I am using. Dear reader, I wish there was some way to share with you the smell of that old Humbrol Authentic. It takes one right back to the time when a painting session came with a free psychedelic experience. It is to heady aromas what Vinnie Jones is to footballers.

 

 

Anyway, the fit thus far has been pretty good, considering the complexity of the cockpit assembly. One can only imagine what fun it must have been to clamber around there in flight, even if no one was shooting at you. I had to cut the centre leg of the frame that the wheel thingy attaches to and re-attach it once I'd trimmed the other two legs to get a good fit. It certainly didn't want to go in as it was. With around thirty parts in the cockpit area alone, there's an impressive amount of detail straight out of the box.

 

I hope to be able to get some more work done over the weekend. There's the boring job of sanding to be done on the Hurricane that I've been putting off for a couple of days......

 

Cheers,

Mark.