August's Pencil

[K5083]

I have an old 1968-issue Monogram Do 17Z. The ebay seller kindly included an Eduard color etch cockpit and Squadron vac transparencies.



What I don't have are suitable decals. Even if the kit ones aren't junk by now, they're only for Eastern Front birds. I will have to cobble together something for a BoB machine.

August

[jssel]

Now that is a U.S. classic for sure.

[DazDaMan]

Looking forward to seeing that!

[TobyC]

Suitable decals here for a lot of BoB Luftwaffe aircraft
http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/X72118;

[Old_Tonto]

Fantastic choice August.

[K5083]

I am jazzed about it and ready to go tomorrow morning. I will be building this plane blitz style because my family is out of town until Aug. 19 and I want to get it as far along as I can during those 4 days. Look for frequent updates over the weekend, possibly with music. My goal is to have major assembly done by Sunday night and main painting done by Tuesday night.

I am glad siimple classic kits like this still exist. I'm not a big fan of Dorniers or a big builder of German aircraft generally. This will likely be the only Do 17 I ever build. I'm sure that the NT Airfix kit is great but I just wouldn't care to invest the necessary effort in this subject.


August

[jamesaw]

At least you don't have to source the swastikas! The fact that they're on the sheet attests to the vintage.

[K5083]

I didn't get to do any update posts over the weekend, but the building pretty much went to plan. I have only very rarely used extensive photoetch cockpit sets, and they really make a kit in themselves. I committed to using as many of the etch parts as I could, although I thought that the replacement crew seats looked spindly and two-dimensional, so I stuck with the kit ones. Here they were late Saturday, with the cockpit just about done and the relief-highlighting dark wash on.







That was about all the needed to be done before closing up the fuselage, which occurred without too much interference from the cockpit. Then the wings and tail went on, and I have to say the fit was amazing, especially the complex wing-fuselage shoulder join. Monogram by the 1960s had learned how to make plastic parts that fit together, probably better than any other manufacturer at that time, and the fit of major components on this kit would be exemplary for the best modern kits today. So that was a nice surprise and made up for any lost time fiddling with the photo etch.



The major step remaining before painting is trimming and fitting the vac canopy. We'll see how that goes.

August

[airjim]

Nice progress.

Jim

[SteveC]

That is looking really good so far.

Good luck with the canopy.

Regards,

Steve

[K5083]

When I went to cut out the canopies, I saw that the set supplied with my kit was intended for the Frog/Revell/Matchbox kit. That kit must seriously disagree with Monogram over the shape and size of the transparencies because there is no way the vac canopies can be made to fit. The kit canopies are thin and clear and fit perfectly anyway, so I'm using them. Canopy framing will be painted decal strip, so having attached the canopies there is little to do before painting except slop some Maskol all over them.



This is no blitz, but I am still enjoying my kpop and it is still summer, so here's another track to share with you. This one has a 50's feel and even as bubblegum as it is, it really swings. They probably should have used some classic car in the video rather than the Mini Cooper. Other than that, I have not detected any visual faults, and not for any lack of looking.



August

[K5083]

Shot the underside color this evening ...



August

[Molly-new]

Coming together nicely.

[SteveC]

That looks really smart.

How old is the original kit?

Regards,

Steve

[K5083]

I haven't been paying this kit enough attention, being distracted with RC and non-model projects. However, I have found time to mask and shoot the other main colors and the paint job isn't too bad.



I left a lot of detail work until after painting, so there is no more than an outside chance that this will be finished on time, but it won't lag too far behind.

Steve, this is a 1968 issue.