1/48 Hobbycraft Dornier Do 17Z and ICM Do 215 B-4

[Ohm-men]

Hi All,
It's been a while since I last posted here. But I'm back at it.
I decided to start building the Hobbycraft Dornier Do 17Z because I could'nt bare to see this box any longer at my shelves. It has been sitting there since 1999!!! When I recently picked up a ICM Do 215 B-4, I blew the dust off the old HC box and started the kit. I'm using the ICM Do 215 as a guide to build the HC kit.
I started with building both cockpits. Scratched the Do 17Z cockpit and build the ICM cockpit out of the box. The ICM kit is really good, nice details and pretty accurate. The Hobbycraft kit on the other hand is...uh...not really worth mentioning...
I hope to build the ICM kit pretty straight from the box and make something acceptable from the Hobbycraft kit.
I won't be doing Luftwaffe models this time. I decided to build the Hobbycraft kit a Do 17 Z-3 as used by the F.A.F. (Finnish Air Force) in Post War livery as the last Do 17Z used and the ICM kit will be build as a Royal Hungarian Air Force model as used on the eastern front circa 1942.

 

[Wurger]

 

[fubar57]

Nice start. As a builder of Hobbycraft kits it doesn't look right unless there is more filler than plastic

 

[Capt. Vick]

I have heard that the fuselage in that kit has more in common with a banana than a pencil.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Nice work.
I have the Hobbycraft kit, and the ICM 17Z kit, and they're like chalk and cheese.
Yes, the nose shape and canopy profile are incorrect on the HC kit, and I got the vac-formed Squadron set to correct it - needs quite a lot of work and cutting to get it right.
I'll be watching this. I was going to do the ICM kit for the current GB, but I have enough with three Mosquitoes at the moment !

 

[Gnomey]

Good work so far!

 

[Crimea_River]

Nice to see you back Jerry. I'll be watching with interest.

 

[Tony Hill]

Nice start!

 

[Ohm-men]

Nice work.
I have the Hobbycraft kit, and the ICM 17Z kit, and they're like chalk and cheese.
Yes, the nose shape and canopy profile are incorrect on the HC kit, and I got the vac-formed Squadron set to correct it - needs quite a lot of work and cutting to get it right.
I'll be watching this. I was going to do the ICM kit for the current GB, but I have enough with three Mosquitoes at the moment !

Thanks! I got both Squadron and Falcon canopy sets for the HC Do 17Z (I think they are the same, just different packages) but these will become of good use.
I also have the Airwaves etchings, though little of this will be used. I'll use the instrument pannel and the belts and perhaps the radio faces.
The rest of the set does not apply to the later Z-3 airframe.
I managed to get the fuselage straight by using "Old Dog's" "straightening the banana fuselage" article he did on his site.
So I'm currently rescribing the HC Do 17Z using the ICM kit as a guide. Pretty pleased with the Trumpeter scriber which is much better then the old Olfa P-Cutter I used for these kind of jobs. I'm almost done with detailing the landing gear bays and next will be trying to spruce up the HC kits engines as these more or less represent the older Do 17M/P engines and not the BMW/Fafnir 323. But I also saved a copy of modelling magazine from 2000, which has a great article on detailing the HC kit. (though not without faults I hope rectify in my build.)

If it weren't for the ICM kit (and the fact a friend of donated me extra HC Do 17Z parts), I've probably binned the Hobbycraft kit. But since the HC kit is pretty accurate in outline and matches the ICM kit by almost 90% means I can transpose the details to the HC kit. Without the ICM kit as a guide, The HC kit would be much more difficult to build.

 

[at6]

Nice work. Swanny's models has an article for correcting the bow by cutting aft of the wing root on the lower half of the fuselage. How did Old dog do it?

 

[Capt. Vick]

Yes, Falcon makes the Vacu-formed canopies sold under the Squadron name.

 

[Ohm-men]

Nice work. Swanny's models has an article for correcting the bow by cutting aft of the wing root on the lower half of the fuselage. How did Old dog do it?

Swanny's article is a repost of Old Dog. I think that's where I got it from.

Yes, Falcon makes the Vacu-formed canopies sold under the Squadron name.

Thanks! I didn't know that. Good to know. Makes sense as Falcon makes the sets for multiple aircraft, where Squadron are for individual aircraft. Anyway the Do17Z transparancies are indeed from the same mould.

Looking at the HC engines again and it's a bit more work then I initially thought. The engines sit not deep enough in their nacelles. So some hacking needs to be done...
But I will buy a ICM Do 17Z-2 at the next modeling show I'll attend as my grandfather worked as a civilian at the airfield where these were stationed during the Battle of Britain. But that's gonna be another build...

 

[T Bolt]

I've had this kit in the stash for 20 years and made a very small start on it a wile back which stalled right away. Maybe watching your build will encourage me to start up on it again. That or toss it and buy the ICM kit.

 

[at6]

I can't afford the ICM kit so I have to use the Hobby Craft kit. I have the DO-17 E/F, DO-17 M/P, and the DO-17Z from HC. Bought them years ago and still haven't even broken the shrink wrap.

 

[Ohm-men]

Sorry for the delay, have been busy with non modelling related thingies. But this week I have some time on my hands and hope to post an update.
So far the HC kits wings have been fully rescibed and I'm rather pkeased with the result. I'm currently painting the cockpits of both aircraft and i've done some detailing of the HC's landing gear bays. I also hope to fine a remedy to cut the too long landing gear of the HC Do 17 Z as this is way too long and will make the model sit too high if not dealth with.

I was fortunate to buy the ICM kit at a model show a year ago for € 25,- (About the same price I payed for the HC 17Z, 17 years ago....) If the HC 17Z wasn't one of the very first 1/48th scale kits I ever bought, I would of ditched it a long time ago. But due to sentimental reasons, I just have to build this kit. Compared to the newer ICM offering, the HC kit is very, very poor. Outlines are good however. And Hobbycraft is the only one who seam to got the "bump" in the tail correct. Something both Classic Airframes and ICM missed... Though on all kits the tail is still incorrect...

A while back I saw a sealed HC 17Z for € 5,- at another model show...I wasn't even tempted...

 

[Crimea_River]

Looking forward to seeing what you've done with this.

 

[Ohm-men]

Ok, here aree pics at last.
First up the Do 17Z from Hobbycraft. I added the camera bulged door from the ICM Do 215 to this model as the Finish version was equiped with this. Since both models seam to have simelar sized parts, it wasn't difficult to integrate the ICM part to the HC kit.
Next I painted the interior RLM 66 en weathered it. Cockpit isn't complete as I still have to add a few details like the pilots seat and floor, but due to split down of the HC parts, It will be easier to add once the fuselage is glued together.
I also scribbed the wings, using the ICM wing as a guide. As you can see it still needs some cleanup. I also detailed and put a black base on the landing gear bays. These had to be scratchbuild as Hobbycraft has oversimplified these parts. Next they will be painted in RLM 02.

 

[Ohm-men]

Where the ICM is far more detailed then the HC kit, it's a breeze to build and paint. I only added a scratch build seat from soldered brass with some diy seat belts from foil as I found the kit part to be underscale. The seat I made is about 15 to20% larger and it seams more to size now when compared to the other seats. Cockpit is more or less complete and painted. I used RLM 02 on this one as it is possible that is was painted this way. The machine could be of the batch originally destined for Sweden.

I also started on the rather nice ICM Daimler Benz engines that come with the kit. I will close the engine nacelles, so these won't be visible on the model. Though, they are a good base for the superdetailer.

 

[fubar57]

Very nice work