Dornier Do 17 P

RS Models, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Brett Green

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Although Dornier Do 17 bombers were withdrawn from front line service by the close of the Battle of Britain, the fast reconnaissance version, the Dornier Do 17 P, soldiered on for a number of years. Despite their length of service, the Dornier Do 17 P (and, indeed, its bomber counterpart the Dornier Do 17 M) have never been available as 1/72 scale kits.

RS Models from the Czech Republic has now redressed this sad situation with a new series of early Dornier Do 17s in 1/72 scale.

One of these releases is their Dornier Do 17 P "Ost Front".

RS Models' new kit permits the modeller to build one of these Eastern Front reconnaissance aircraft as they appeared between 1941 and 1943.

RS Models' Dornier Do 17 P comprises 84 parts in tan coloured plastic; 16 resin parts; 11 parts in clear; colour photo-etched fret; markings for three aircraft.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

The plastic parts are produced to a very high standard. The plastic is satin in texture, with very crisp, consistent and finely recessed panel lines. Fabric texture is subtle and, where appropriate, raised panel details lend some variety to the surface of the model. Sprue attachment points are fine too. There are no moulding imperfections that will be visible on the finished model, but some raised ejector pins on the inside of parts (notably the wings) will have to be sliced off before assembly to avoid interfering with fit. The only other tiny issue is a single missing spoke from one wheel, and I only noticed this after viewing a greatly enlarged photo!

My overall impression is that these plastic parts are on par with the best that we have seen from Czech limited run companies in the MPM camp. Of course, this is still a limited run kit so there is a bit of flash to clean up and there are no locating pins, so a little extra time for cleanup and alignment will be required.

The plastic is supplemented with 16 resin parts. These cover the seats, horn intakes and machine gun ammunition. There are a few air bubbles that have nibbled away small section of two resin parts, but these will be easily repaired with putty.

An Eduard colour photo etched fret is also provided. This contains a beautifully details instrument panel, colour harnesses, plus DF loop, actuators, ignition harnesses, landing gear details, rudder pedals and colour seat belts.

The clear parts are another highlight. They positively sparkle and are free of any distortion, with crisply defined canopy frames

Markings for three aircraft are provided. The decals are nicely in register and the colours look good.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

RS Models' 1/72 scale Dornier Do 17 P was a very pleasant surprise to me. I had not seen any of their kits before, but now that I have I am mightily impressed.

Please note that this release shares nothing in common with ICM's recent and forthcoming 1/72 scale Do 17 / 215 family.

The quality of moulding, consistency of surface detail, the clear parts and the decals in the RS kits are vastly superior to the ICM Dornier 215 that I have seen. The inclusion of resin and colour photo etch are the icing on this attractive plastic cake.

Being a limited run kit, RS Models' Dornier Do 17 P will take a little extra work in preparation and test fitting, but this kit should not be beyond any modeller who has previously worked with resin and photo-etch.

I look forward to seeing what else RS Models has in store for us.

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to RS Models for the sample

Review Text Copyright © 2007 by Brett Green
Page Created 17 August, 2007
Last updated 24 December, 2007

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