Dornier Do17Z-10 'Kauz' Nightfighter -ICM -1/48

[andyh59]

After tackling ICM's 1/48 Dornier Do215 (see my other RFI) I decided to jump in to my second ICM build the Do17Z-10, from ICM's1/48 Dornier family.

The kit has all the same mouldings as the 215, except of course engines/cowlings and nose, a lot of these required injection pin marks to be removed(seems to be a hallmark of ICM kits).

 

I used the Eduard p/e sets for the interior and exterior, also a set of masks. The interior had a little extra detail added to it including the MG151 cannon which can now hardly be seen. I closed up the bomb bay and added the fairing to the top of the rear fuselage, hollowed out the tail wheel fairing for a more authentic look.

Wing and cowling fitting was excellent compared to the 215,even using the Eduard p/e in the u/c bays. the kit went together quite quickly and easily. One thing I did to get a decent wing to fuselage join was to leave out the three bulkheads in the bomb bay as they sat too high impairing a good join. I therefore suggest dry fitting and trimming of these bulkheads to get a good result, I will certainly be doing this with my next Do17Z build (yes I have another one 😱 ).

 

The remainder of the build was pretty straightforward, I used gun barrels from the Eduard 109/190 kits that I had spare, as they have hollowed out tips.

 

I decided looking at a couple of photos of the prototype that all the glazing at the nose, bar one on the port side, were plated over so I puttied over the glazing to give this appearance (rightly or wrongly ???). I also tried to duplicate the extra recognition lights these machines had, 2 above the tail and 2 below the cockpit, I drilled shallow indents painted them silver then filled them with clear ultra-violet glue, not brilliant but acceptable to me!!

For the glazing that housed the infra-red search light I painted the rear with Tamiya clear red paint, then coated the top of that with black, trying to achieve a dark red finish - not very successful!

 

I finished the kit with AK True Colours NATO Black, which is actually an extremely dark grey, possibly one step lighter than pure black. This gave to my mind a much better finish than black, please be your own judge as to the result! Panel lines were highlighted with medium grey which gave a pleasing but not very accurate result.

 

I finished the kit as R4+GK of 2/NJG.2 based in Holland ( this machine was shot down in May 1941 by a 25 Sqdn. Beaufighter). The letter 'G' may have been red but having no photographic proof decided to have it grey.

 

I used the kit decals for the national markings with some trepidation, having read some bad criticism of ICM's decals but to my delight they went on perfectly. The code letters were from the Xtradecal Do215 sheet and were not as good as ICM's!!!!!

 

I really like the look of this particular if unsuccessful member of the Do17 family.

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                         Cheers Andy

[Angell328]

I like that, like that a lot!

You have done a cracking job there, like the 'black' finish, hard to do convincingly.

Matt

[Mig88]

Fantastic! Great job! Yes the paint gives a good tone.

 

Miguel

[VolkerR.]

Well done!

The clear parts of ICM kits are among the best.

 

Volker

[TonyOD]

Now there's a plane that looks like it means business. Great work.

[Vinnie]

Another good one, Andy. Nicely done.👍

[SAT69]

Very well done. Like the setting and the photography.

[Duncan B]

The paint colour looks perfect, I use NATO Black for my Luftwaffe night fighters too for the same reason. That's another fine example you have produced and I look forward to seeing your next one in due course.

 

Duncan B

[RMCS]

Lovley 

[exdraken]

Fantastic and sinister!

[BKirwan]

Great finish on that Do17 Kauz. Love the tonal variation of the black. Photos of  these a/c showed plenty of wear and tear and that means tonal difference. 

Appreciate the work in the photo scene. Must get me one of those in 1:48. 

[Booty003]

Wow, absolutely stunning.  Nightfighters are terrifying looking machines, especially in their all black finish.  Superb paintwork and the grey panel line detail works for me.  Cracking stuff.

[Walter]

Very nice build, yeah black is a tough colour to paint if you don't want it looking like a toy. My trick is never to use black unless absolutely necessary. 

[Wulfman]

Lovely build and presentation , great stuff !

 

Wulfman