Military Illustrated Modeller - September 2019
KIT PREVIEWÊ
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HEAVYWEIGHT
The Editor takes a look at the newest in ICM’s
growing family of Luftwaffe twins, their 1:
scale Dornier Do 217 N-1 Night Fighter.
U
ntil now, there has never been a Dornier Do
217 night fighter offered straight-from-the-box
in 1:48 scale. ICM has filled this gap in the
market with their new 1:48 scale Dornier Do
217 N-1.
ICM's 1:48 scale Dornier Do 217 N-1 comprises
230 parts in grey plastic, seven parts in clear and
a decal sheet with four marking options.
Quality of moulding is excellent. I could not find
any imperfections on my sample. Surface detail
is by way of very fine and crisply recessed panel
lines. These are impressive. If there is any problem
it is that they are so fine that a heavy coat of paint
might obscure them.
Sprue attachments are fairly narrow, but some
do attach to highly visible areas such as the wing
leading edges, so some care will be needed when
cleaning up those parts.
The fuselage is broken down into two full-length
halves including a long open lower-mid bomb bay.
Four separate parts are supplied for the open bomb
bay doors in addition to interior ceiling and detail
parts. If the bomb bay is closed, a long single part
is supplied to close the gap.
The fuselage wing root features a stout spar
attached to the bomb bay forward bulkhead. This
should ensure a solid fit for the wings.
Cockpit detail looks pretty good straight from the
box although sidewall detail looks a bit shallow.
The plastic instrument panel features raised
circles as instrument bezels and dial decals on the
kit decal sheet. There are a few other decals for the
cockpit too, including the compass.
The FuG 202 Lichtenstein radar array is supplied
in plastic. Although the antennae are reasonably
thin, the limitations of injection moulded technology
mean that they are still over scale. These should
ideally be replaced with photo-etched parts.The wings are broken down simply as full
span upper half with a saddle mount onto the
mid fuselage, and separate parts for the port and
starboard lower wing halves.
Elevators, rudders and ailerons are separate
parts and may be posed to taste. The flaps are
moulded shut.
The undercarriage looks stout. It is designed to
be assembled and fitted to the lower wings after
the engine nacelles are complete. You will easily be
able to delay installing the legs until the model is
otherwise built and painted.
The engine nacelles incorporate full main wheel
bay detail. These are simply slotted into an opening
in the bottom of the wing when the nacelles are
complete.
Two full DB605A engines are included. These
are nicely detailed and may be partially or fully
displayed. The good news with this model is that
if you do not want to display the engines, you
may assemble the nacelles without them. This will
considerably simplify the build for anyone not
wanting to show the engines off.
The clear parts are thin and free from distortion.
The sections of the canopy that are not meant
to be clear are slightly frosted, which should avoid
any confusion when masking.
It is great to see ICM working their way through
important and interesting variants in their 1:
scale Dornier Do 17 and 217 families.
Surface textures, detail and moulding are all
delivered to a very high standard, and the parts
breakdown (in particular the ability to build the
engine nacelles without the engines) should make
this an easier build compared to some of their
earlier releases.
The model looks great in the box. Now the only
remaining question is, how does it build? UThe kit features crisp and very finely recessed panel lines.This is a big model!Nice detail on the gun nose.Control surfaces are separate and may be posed to taste.The Lichtenstein radar is a bit chunky in plastic.The clear parts are impressively thin and free from distortion.The kit decal sheet.Two engines are included but they do not have to be used if
the engine cowlings are built closed.