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Dornier 217 K1***FINISHED***


PeterB

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15 hours ago, Andwil said:

I admire your patience!

 

AW

They say "patience is a virtue" and to be honest I don't have very many of those so maybe I am just stubborn!😆

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I will get that tidied up and then mask it ready for the black.

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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So, having touched up the squiggles, I masked and painted on the black - I used Xtracrylic "Night" which has a hint of blue.

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Fair bit of touching up to do but you will get the idea. It looks a bit better than I expected.

 

Pete

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Thanks Alistair,

 

One slight oddity is that if the painting instructions are to be believed, whilst the squiggles on the wings formed a sort of joined up crazy paving effect, from the trailing edge back they were separate a bit like larger versions of the Italian "smoke ring" camo. I have done it that way though it may be wrong - photos taken from above are few and far between.

 

Pete

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20 minutes ago, JOCKNEY said:

Looks the business Pete

Did the squiggles extend across the canopy framing ?

Cheers Pat

Thanks Pat,

 

Yes, apparently they did.

 

Pete

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4 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

Hi Pete

Any idea what humbrol colour I can use for the interior  ?

Cheers Pat

Hi Pat,

 

Almost certainly RLM 66 so IPMS Stockholm suggest Hu 92 Iron Grey (no longer available?) or as an alternative Hu 32 Dark Grey. Rightly or wrongly I have used RLM 02 on the legs and inside the wheel bays. As I could not find my RLM66 I actually used a version of Panzer Grey!

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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Bit more progress - I have put the decs on.

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Italeri say it is a plane from KG 66 and the codes are correct for that but I am not sure about the style. The only illustration I could find is of a 217M and the paint scheme was similar. However the codes were much reduced in size and in a narrow band near the top of the vertical tail, whilst the fuselage cross was a very thin one like the swastika I have used - all of which would make sense on a plane flown at night. KG 66 are a bit unusual as far as I can discover. They were formed as an offshoot of KG 6 in around April 1943, with just the one staffel it seems , but another 2 were added later that year, followed by a 4th bringing I Gruppe up to strength. Based  in France, they originally flew the Do-217 and Ju 88, but gradually switched to a combination of the Ju 188 and Ju 88. They were definitely involved in the night bombing of the UK, possible as pathfinders, but probably only used a mixed bag of Do 217E/K/and M for about a year. Other Gruppen were eventually formed and they ended up flying Mistels it would appear.

 

So, a bit more touching up and then it will be time to put all the remaining bits on. One thing I have found is that the front fuselage around the cockpit has "spread" a bit as it lacks any support at the top, so I dipped in in hot water and squashed it in a bit so the canopy should fit.

 

The first kit of an aircraft in this family that I built was the old Airfix 217E when it came out in the early 1960's and I thought it was rather a “heavy” looking plane. That impression was reinforced when I built their later 17E and then the Frog 17Z. In his book “Wings of the Luftwaffe” Eric Brown compares the 217 M-1 he flew to the earlier Do 17 saying “ The girlish slenderness of line had translated over the intervening years to that of matronly corpulence, indeed the deepening of the fuselage introduced with the (217) E-series of this aeroplane was suggestive of a fairly advanced stage in pregnancy. It still looked good, however with an aura of stolid efficiency not dissimilar to that which emanated from the Junkers Ju 88.” He reports that it was “very stable about all three axes and that the controls were well harmonised and effective, and not unduly heavy for a bomber” but says it was underpowered with a long take off run and poor rate of climb, but then he seemed to find that with most bombers he flew, perhaps due to his being a fighter pilot at heart.

 

In fact, compared with the Do 17E, the basic 217 without the extended wings for carrying Fritz X and Hs 293 was only around 3ft longer in both fuselage and wingspan but the empty weight had doubled. It was about comparable in size to the B-25 Mitchell and smaller than the B-26 Marauder, but could carry a bigger bomb load or 5500lb internally and up to 8800lb in total albeit with a reduction in range, and was significantly faster with speeds up to 348mph at 18700ft according to Green. Range seems to have been similar though as ever it depends on the combination of bombs/fuel. In spite of that it remains something of a forgotten machine and Brown's comment that it was a ”moderate aircraft which established an undistinguished but honourable record” seems fair. When production ended in 1943 around 1360 bomber versions had been built together with around 360 night fighter versions.

 

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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According to the saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and I guess that is true in the case of the Dornier 217K and M! When Heinkel switched from a “normal” stepped windscreen to the all glazed asymmetrical nose on the He 111 it was radical but did not look that bad – though I gather there were major problems with reflections inside the cockpit and visibility apparently was not brilliant in heavy rain. Likewise, the Ju 188 was not exactly pretty but neither was it ugly – at least to my eye. However, whilst the Do 217E version was rather less dainty that the Do 17E etc, it was a darned sight better looking than the K and M to my mind. I think the problem is the depth of the fuselage coupled with the rather blunt curved glazing. What do you think?

 

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The kit version comes with an MG81Z twin 7.92mm mg in the nose, but some replaced that with a single13mm MG131, as in the dorsal turret and ventral position. There are two single 7.92mm MG15 in the rear of the canopy as well, though I doubt they were of much practical value unless the turret packed up, and with only 4 crew including the pilot for 5 guns it must have been rather hectic in the slightly cramped cockpit.

 

Quite a bit of touching up to do, then I will put the props on and it is done. The nose glazing was a bit problematic as the fuselage had spread a bit again, so I repeated the treatment with hot water and clamped it, and after a few hours used normal plastic cement together with a smear of CA at the front, and that seems to have held it so far!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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It's looking good, Pete. I know what you mean about the K & M variants, I really didn't like them when I first saw them, but I have to admit that having watched a couple taking shape here I'm slightly tempted...

 

James

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3 hours ago, 81-er said:

It's looking good, Pete. I know what you mean about the K & M variants, I really didn't like them when I first saw them, but I have to admit that having watched a couple taking shape here I'm slightly tempted...

 

James

The best versions to buy if you can find them would seem to be either the Italeri K2 which came out in about 1996, has the extended wings and a choice of either Fritz X or Hs293, or maybe the 2011 Italeri release of the 217M 1 which has far more choices of colour schemes and markings and also is better documented than the less common radial engined K version. Plenty of K1 and K2 about but starting to get a bit pricey, but unlike the real thing the more common M seems non existent second hand as Italeri probably did not make as many.

 

Pete

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14 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

Great stuff Pete, inspirational for my own build of the same aircraft.  :thumbsup:

 

cheers Pat 

Hi Pat,

 

I don't know how you will find time what with hosting GB and also refugees - are any of them interested in modelling?😄 If I were to build it again I would perhaps go for a 72/73/65 version, maybe then overpainted with black and a bit of 76 for night operations. It is a fairly easy kit to build except for the rather vague location of the engine cylinders and the problem I had with the nose "spreading".

 

Pete

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  • PeterB changed the title to Dornier 217 K1***FINISHED***

Well, to avoid the heat causing possible problems when airbrushing the varnish I got up rather earlier than normal, and here is the result.

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For comparison I have shown it with my refurbished ancient Airfix 217E in maritime colours. The basic airframes are pretty much identical except for the front section from the turret forwards.

 

So, that is now finished and I will put some pics in the gallery. It has not been a bad build, in fact I suspect the ruddy paintwork was the hardest part.

 

Pete

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