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Colin Latta
46 articles

Classic Airframes 1/48 Do17Z-2

December 31, 2018 · in Aviation · · 15 · 3.3K

With ICM's 17z having been out for a while, I thought I'd revisit Do17Z-2.

It's completed as a machine belonging to 9/KG 76, Corneilles-en-Vexin, France, July 1940 using Techmod sheet 48009 (great decals!). It required lots of detailing, and scratchbuilding, and the fit was sometimes a bit of an issue, but overall it was worth the effort. It's painted using an Aztec airbrush with Tamiya acrylics, weathered with pastels and oils, and sealed with Tamiya's “Flat clear”. Aftermarket used were Lion Roar belts, Quickboost gun barrels, Tally Ho gunsights, brass rod and tubing, and lots of milliput.

There were several areas that needed either detailing, modification or complete scratchbuilding,

  • The cockpit, even with the resin, needed more detail, stringers and frames were added with plastic strip, an inner sidewall was added to hide an impossible to fill gap, a throttle quadrant, small details and bombsight were scratchbuilt, the guns were heavily modified to look more like MG17's, the cockpit panel was wired in back, as it was quite visible, and photo etch belts and rudder pedals added.

  • The ailerons were represented by an engraved line, while on the real aircraft , they were “frise” type ailerons. They were separated, rebuilt with sprue and brass wire, trim tabs added, the wing cutout radiused down, and reattached. The missing landing light (from clear acrylic rod), nav lights (from clear tinted bingo chips), and pitot were added, as were the missing “towel rack” antennae, and the HF antennae on the belly.

  • The tail required major surgery. The Dornier had a trimable stab that was completely missing, so the stab, elevators, and portions of the fuselage were removed, pivots made of brass wire, sideplates of plastic sheet, trim tabs and actuators added and repositioned, and reassembled as seen in period photo's.

  • The engines received ignition wiring, an new ignition loom, and the cowl bracing and brackets that were completely missing (made from lead solder, brass wire, and plastic) Each engine required 15 brass rod pieces, 18 copper wire pieces, 1 aluminum tube, 10 plastic pieces and the drilling of 38 holes!

  • The Pilots gunsight , the air deflector plate, and the 3 gun position safety bars were added to the canopy from brass sheet and brass wire solder together, and finally, the landing gear and well were extensively detailed and brake lines added.

Reader reactions:
8  Awesome

18 additional images. Click to enlarge.


15 responses

  1. Its perfect ! congratulations . Classic airframes are said to be difficult models did you encounter any issues ? The cockpit has very nice details...
    and happy new year !

    • Thanks! There were some fit issues, but as the plastic was very thick, I could file and sand and fill without going through. You can see how thick the transparencies were, but with Future, they came out surprisingly clear. The major inaccuracies (engine cowl braces and trimable horizontal stabilizer) are just as inaccurate (or more so - elevator span is to short on the ICM kit, making the "beaver tail" to wide ) on the ICM kit so the same amount of work would be required there. The only other mistake on the Classics kit was the ailerons - which should have been separate "frise"type.

      3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

  2. That's a very, very impressive build.

  3. Simply superb Colin, a most excellent build.

  4. Colin,

    Some strong work on a Classic kit. Lots of elbow grease, determination and time went into this kit and it shows. Especially with the tail stabs and how they meet with the fuselage. Definitely a strong candidate for model of the month in my opinion.
    Looking forward to seeing more of your work and inspirations.

  5. Collin, your Do.17 Z is a stunning model! The best CA kit I’ve seen built by far. I will take some of your scratchwork details as hints to better customise my future to be built Dornier from ICM. Thanks for posting and a happy 2019!

  6. you do pretty work brother...you've got the Midas touch...gold

  7. I love your "Flying Pencil !" Build & paint are excellent.

    Bravo!

  8. I like how you added the little details that set it apart from the others. I plan on getting busy with my ICM kit and will be using the information you provided on the kit review I posted earlier this year.

    You did a great job with yours !

    "liked"

    Have a Safe and Happy New Year.

  9. Excellent work Collin.

  10. Great looking model! Well done.

  11. Sorry if I'm a bit late to the party, but had to comment on this- Really lovely build & finish! I have one of these in the stash and have been dreading it. Yours is marvelous and I thank you for the multiple 'heads up' warnings.

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