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ITALERI 1:72 DORNIER DO 217K-2/M-11 |
Reviewer:
Kevin Ronayne (kevin.ronayne@nuigalway.ie)
Kit Review submitted:
11 March 2006
Date: March 4th, 2006
Despite being built in relatively small numbers (1,730 units in total), the Do 217 was produced in a plethora of variants and sub-variants, so much so that there is confusion over some designations. Like the Do 17 from which it was developed, the Do 217 was primarily a bomber, but also produced as a night fighter. The night fighter variants of the Do 217 were not as capable as the Bf 110 or Ju 88 - or the He 219 for that matter. As a bomber, the Do 217 was somewhat more successful, but in terms of numbers produced it was far behind the He 111 (more than 7,000 built) and the Ju 88 (more than 15,000 built, of which about 9,000 were bombers). If the Do 217 is famous for anything (apart from just being German), it is for the sinking of the Italian battleship Roma in September 1943, when the Italian fleet was trying to join up with the Allies. The Roma was sunk using Fritz-X glider bombs launched by Do 217's, making this the first successful use of a long-range aerial stand-off weapon against a major naval target.
Compared to many other WW II bombers, the Do 217 had quite a high wing loading, and the requirement to carry ever heavier weapons (and worse, externally), eventually resulted in a stretched-wing version. In these versions, the wingspan was increased from 19.0 metres to 24.8 metres. It is this stretched wing configuration that is the subject of this kit.
This basic Do 217 tooling has been much exploited by Italeri - in a good way of course. The regular K-1 version (as reboxed by Revell) has already been reviewed here on SMAKR, as has the substantially different N-series night fighter version, which has a completely different nose and inline Daimler-Benz engine. Both full-build reviews were written by Dave Godden. As I write this review, I am waiting to receive the new E-3/4/5 missile carrier kit, with the stepped and glazed bomber nose. This makes at least four different boxings of the basic tooling. The basic tooling dates (I think) from the early 1980's, and has no realistic competition to speak of - the much older Airfix kit doesn't really cut it. I can say that here and now, as I built the Airfix kit in the early 1980's, followed by both the N and K-1 Italeri kits not long after.
This kit is basically the old K-1 tooling, with a very generous set of extra sprues. Along with the two main and one transparent sprues, the four extra mini-sprues contain about 56 extra parts, bringing the total count up to about 150. Two of the new sprues contain the new stretched outer wing sections, as well as exhaust flame dampers and couple of other items. The third sprue contains the parts for a pair of Fritz-X glider bombs, pylons and crutches. The 'official' designation is SD 1400 X, but Fritz-X is much more widely recognized. The fourth sprue has a single Hs 293 missile and pylon, plus an under wing fuel tank which also acted as a counterweight to the missile. The new outer wing parts used the same raised detailing as in the original kit, but the Hs 293 parts have some recessed panel detail.
Before I continue, it is time to talk versions. The kit is nominally a K-2 - actually, Italeri refers to it as a 'K2', but Italeri has never been the best when it comes to using the correct notation. According to some references, K-2 is the correct designation for a long-span missile carrier with BMW engines and a bulbous nose. According to other references, the long-span version was designated the M-11. These references are more likely to say that the K-2 could only carry the Fritz-X, and it was the K-3 that was able to carry either the Fritz-X or Hs 293. Both of these variants would have been regular span. Because of this uncertainty, I have included both variant designations in the review title. Usually, I only uncover these facts when I go to build a kit, but this confusion is something I have been aware of for over 20 years, since around the time I built the original batch of Do 217 kits. If the long-span aircraft is the M-11, then neither of the two kit subjects can have been involved in the Roma sinking, as references invariably refer to the K-2 as being the variant used. The background text supplied by Italeri does not refer to the Roma at all. Both subjects are listed simply as 'KG 100, Mediterranean Theatre, 1943', which is not very helpful. Both have the standard RLM 70/RLM 71 upper splinter camouflage; for one subject, this goes right down the fuselage sides, where it meets the RLM 65 pale blue undersides. The other subject has black undersides which extend up to cover almost all of the fuselage, nacelle and fin/rudder units.
This version of the kit is currently out of production, but you might be lucky to pick it up second hand. I bought my kit in late 1999, and as I recall it cost slightly more than a 'regular' Do 217 boxing. This was actually good value considering how much extra is in the kit.
An Italeri kit of a German WW II subject? This means we need to talk paints. The instructions refer only to Model Master (MM) and FS codes. The actual RLM codes can be inferred if you have any experience with this sort of thing, and you will also be aware of common Italeri mistakes. The classic mistake is to have all interior surfaces and undercarriage struts painted the grey-green RLM 02 Grau (which Italeri always maps to FS34227/MM 1716). This is fine for an early-war subject, but cockpits were painted RLM 66 Schwarzgrau from 1942 onwards, and these subjects definitely fall on the later side of this divide. Another common Italeri faux pas is to re-use FS34227/MM 1716 as the lighter green colour in the standard two-tone green splinter camouflage. This would suggest a scheme of RLM 70/02, which is wrong, and since I have discussed this before, I will not do so again here. The correct splinter scheme is (of course) RLM 70/71 (Schwarzgrun/Dunkelgrun), which for me is Humbrol 91/30 - some source suggest Hu 116 as an alternative for RLM 71. I was modelling the night bomber version with the black undersides, but I still needed RLM 65 Hellblau (Hu 65) for the Fritz-X bombs. According to the instructions, the Fritz-X bombs can only be used with this subject, and the Hs 293/fuel tank configuration can only be used with the day bomber version. RLM 02 is Hu 31, and RLM 66 is Hu 92. That only leaves minor colour issues, which can be dealt with as they arise. Now - finally - on to business!
The cockpit is predictably quite sparse. There is the mounted pilot instrumental panel, the control stick, a small amount of sidewall detail on either side ... and not much more. The pilots' seat seems to have an armoured head plate mounted on to it. I had to cut this down before I was able to position the cockpit roof transparency. The mount for the instrument panel (for which a small decal is provided) was also an awkward fit. I can't say I remember either of these problems coming to light when I first built the kit way back when. One thing I did remember is that the top of the dorsal gunners seat had to be cut off, or else the turret wouldn't fit. This was also the case again here. I did not use the pilot figures - each comes in four parts - and in this I was following the instructions.
Moving right along, the fit of the fuselage halves was excellent. The tail plane/twin rudder assembly also went together very easily, with only minor attention required to get the unit absolutely level when fitted to the fuselage. Before I could get to work on the wings, I had to fit the main undercarriage bay roofs. As with many Italeri kits, you have to take care to ensure that the roof parts are set in the correct position and orientation. The holes for the Fritz-X pylons were also drilled out at this stage. For the Hs 293 option, the drill-out holes for the missile and fuel tank pylons are on the new outer wing sections. The new E-series kit has this armament option but normal wings, so (without seeing the kit), I must assume that the regular wings now have drill-out holes for the Hs 293 configuration.
For the main wings themselves, the first item on the agenda was to cut the old wings along the lines scribed along the inner wing surfaces. Perhaps 'gouged' would be a better term, as the cuts are very, very deep. However, the plastic is so thick that this does not compromise the strength of the wing for those versions that still use the normal wing. Once the outer portions were removed and the joins cleaned up, the new stretched outer sections were attached. Despite my best efforts, I still had to apply quite a bit of filler around some of the joins. Once complete and painted, the joins were all but invisible. Better still, they do not constitute a structural weakness. This is because Italeri staggered the cut-off points - the lower wing is cut a good inch further outboard than the upper wing. The finished result is a very rigid wing structure. It's also worth noting that Italeri have dropped the separate aileron parts: the new outer wings have the ailerons molded in place.
Once the wings were complete, I could attach them - one at a time, letting each wing set for some hours in an upright position. The angle of attachment is easy to get right - the wings have only a slight anhedral measured along the leading edge, but are completely flat along the top surface. Once this stage is complete, the basic body of the aircraft is ready. Now come all the tricky bits: cockpit transparencies, engine, undercarriage units and Fritz-X bombs.
The new kit with the Hs 293/fuel tank fit, which comes on one of the extra sprues supplied in the kit under review. As if the confusion about versions and sub-versions is not bad enough, there is at least one plate that shows a Hs 293 under the port wing, and not the starboard. It seems to confirm that some versions carried two Hs 293 missiles. I won't even discuss those versions that carried a Hs 293 internally...
Finishing off the cockpit involved fitting the nose, upper and ventral transparencies, along with their guns which had already been painted and fitted. The fit of the nose transparency to the front of the fuselage and main upper transparency was less than perfect - I suspect this may have been partially due to warping, but not completely. Cleaning up the gaps involved the usual routine of Humbrol Clearfix to seal the gaps, followed by the cockpit interior colour, followed by filler. This was still trivial compared to the amount of time expended on painting the framing detail. Every bit of framing was given two coats of the interior colour, followed by one or two coats of the camouflage colour, depending on the area being painted. All of this was done by hand. The framing detail is applied in the form of lightly raised lines, which is the normal method used by Italeri. This at least makes it easy to apply the paint accurately, but it doesn't really reduce the time required.
One of the extra parts provided in this kit is a rear-view gun sight mounted above the pilot station. I should have slightly altered the base of this part to get a better fit to the cockpit roof. The gun sight is presumably for the pair of rearwards-facing twin 'stinger' MG mounts on the tail. The new sprues also include these parts. The 'stinger' installation was a field modification - a Rüstsatz, and a Do 217 with this feature should have has the sub-designation R-19 tagged on to the end (e.g., K-2/R-19). The installation was apparently also fitted to the K-1. I wonder why Italeri did not include this in the original K-1 kit, since Italeri kits of German aircraft have traditionally tended to include all sorts of extra gun armament options.
There are 16 parts in total for each engine assembly, but the number of parts is not really a problem. For some reason, one of the spinners would not mate with the propeller unit until I wielded the knife and made some alterations. The exhaust pipe units (three per engine) were a real conundrum. Most pictures, plates and even the illustrations in the instructions show only last section of exhaust tube protruding out from underneath the rear section of each nacelle. The way the exhaust parts are shaped seems to suggest that they can be fitted in underneath the nacelle leaving just a small section showing, but that does not work in practice. You have to leave each exhaust part fully exposed. Perhaps I should have cut off the front 2/3 of each exhaust unit. The flame dampers (which are optional) were another problem. The instructions are not the best in showing where exactly the side damper units are to be fitted. Indeed, it's not obvious at first which way the side units face - i.e., which is the front and which is the rear. Anyway, I eventually got it right. I thought I could hide the problem with the exhaust pipes by simply covering them up with the dampers, but it seems that I did not position the damper units far enough forward.
After the exhaust and damper problems, the undercarriage assembly was a cakewalk. There are 7 parts in each undercarriage unit, including the mudguard and it's attaching strut. For some strange reason, the instructions depict the main legs slanting forward in the attachment step, but this is nonsense. The legs are of course straight, and only slant forward on the ground because the aircraft is a tail-sitter. I attached the undercarriage doors with superglue, having first altered the upper edge of each door part to increase the area over which the two surfaces would bond.
© Kevin Ronayne 2006
Last of all came the Fritz-X glider bombs, although they had already been assembled and painted as I was completing the undercarriage. An important point to note about the 'X' fins as that they do not attach at a 90-degree angle to each other. All references, pictures, and the fit of the parts themselves suggest that the fins are set slightly 'flat', so the only work required is to make sure that the fins are set at precisely the correct angle. There are no attachment points indicated on the bombs, so you have to experiment to find the points where the bomb crutches fit to the bombs. Actually, this is quite easy, assuming you fit the crutch units properly to the pylons. Lastly, it looks as if the pylons are canted very slightly outwards. I can't comment on whether this is correct or not.
The painting hardly seems worth mentioning, the only quandary being the demarcation line between upper and lower colours on the fuselage - the elevation and plan views on the paint and decal guide are not quite consistent when it comes to the night bomber version. I did not have a suitable colour translation for the bright green on the spinner tips, so I used Hu 2 Emerald green with a matt varnish.
The decal sheet was quite minimal - the decal sheet in the new E-series kit is much better in terms of stencil and other minor detail. The only problem with the decals was a hint of silvering on some of the crosses. I fixed this by simply overpainting the centre of each cross with the camouflage colour. There were (of course) no Swastikas supplied, and I did not have any to hand. I will apply them at some point in the future. On the Do 217, Swastikas would normally have been positioned on the fins, but since the night bomber subject has a serial number on each fin, the Swastikas would have to move to the rudder, and be reduced in size as well.
© Kevin Ronayne 2006
The only major grumbling I can recall reading about this kit relates to the profile of the BMW 801 radial engine cowlings. The 'new tool' Revell Fw 190 series of this kits also apparently suffers from this problem - what is it about the BMW 801 installation that makes it so difficulty to get the cowling right? Apart from this, there doesn't seem to be much else wrong with the kit. The instructions quote a stretched wingspan of 24.0 metres, compared with the 'official' figure of 24.8 metres. That is not a trivial difference - over a centimetre in 1/72 scale. However, I was unable to check the actual wingspan of the kit. I built this kit as a Christmas holiday project, without all my normal references and specialist tools. The Fritz-X bombs are not quite as good as those supplied with the Revell He 177, but that is to be expected. Nor does it mean that the bombs are of a poor quality - they are actually very good. There are one or two other oddities, such as the framing detail differing between the port and starboard sides of the ventral transparency.
An oldie but definitely a goodie, in all of it's various incarnations. I expect that there are a lot of modellers such as myself who have bought most or all of the different versions, and Italeri has probably made a tidy (and well-deserved) profit on this series over the years. That said, there is certainly room in the market for a new 'state-of-the-art' tooling, but it would have to be a multipurpose tooling to match the Italeri series. Hasegawa might do it - it has recently done so with the B-25 and He 111, and both of these were Italeri mainstays. However, the Do 217 may not be quite mainstream enough in terms of subject matter for Hasegawa. Revell might like to do it, but not as long as the company has any access to the Italeri mold.
Not too many references here - just a few standard printed texts and journals, and some online pages.
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