Subject:  
DORNIER
Do-24 Flying Boat
Kit Used: Italieri 1/72

Model & Review by:
Paul Romans
Pictures:   R. Forys





[This kit has been around awhile, and has been issued under more than one company's banner but it's the same kit inside, vintage Italieri from the 1970's. ]





Specifications:
 Engines:   3X 1000hp BMW 323-R
 Max Speed:    206 mph
 Range:  137 statute miles
 Service Ceiling:   24,600 ft.
 Crew:   6 men



THE KIT: I picked this kit up at one of the SEMMEX meets a few years ago, as I was going thru a seaplane phase, and the price was right.   This kit has been around awhile, and has been issued under more than one company's banner but it's the same kit inside, vintage Italieri from the 1970's.





While not a very well known WWII aircraft, the Dornier Do-24 was perhaps the most successful flying boat of the war, and certainly the best one produced by the Germans.   Originally designed by Dornier for a Dutch requirement in 1937, the Luftwaffe later adopted it for search and rescue duties, and one source claims that 12,000 people were saved by this aircraft.   Dornier ended up building 279 examples that were simultaneously odd-looking and yet graceful, and its parasol wing, flattened fuselage and 3-engine layout all came together to create a very effective flying boat.





[Surface detail is adequate if under whelming, but at least it's all recessed.]



Due to the history of this aircraft, extra decals are included for Dutch and Swedish versions, but both of those schemes were monochromatic gray finishes, and I wanted to use the more sinister Luftwaffe splinter camo on mine.   Surface detail is adequate if under whelming, but at least it's all recessed.   The overall fit was fair and the kit assembly straightforward, with two big pieces for the fuselage halves, then the wing being built up from six pieces, upper and lower halves for the center, left and right.   The center contains the three engines and all the supports connecting to the fuselage.   Smaller pieces for the sponsons, tail plane and misc. details finish things up.   Interior detail is sparse, but the heavily framed canopy doesn't allow too much to be seen anyway, so I didn't worry much about it.




[Interior detail is sparse, but the heavily framed canopy doesn't allow too much to be seen anyway, so I didn't worry much about it.]



Test fitting the canopy, I found it was too wide by about a millimeter, not much but enough to be noticeable.   What to do?   If you look carefully at the photos, there's a razor-saw slice along the right side where I was able to remove enough plastic to narrow the canopy and improve the fit.   The fuselage was assembled and the large wing finished without any major problems, until I went to mate them together.   There are two centerline pylons, and four diagonal side braces supporting the wing, and lining them all up was tricky.   I got it all put together after a few tries, and then realized I couldn't paint the beast this way.   I'd never get the camo done right with it put together, so it had to come apart again.   Oh well...




[I used Polly-Scale acrylics - Dark Green, Field Green, and Light Blue for the undersides.]



Carefully removing the wing, I masked everything off and shot the paint.   Italieri's instructions call for a Dark Green (FS34079) and Field Green (FS34097) splinter pattern, and Light Blue (RLM76) undersides.   The greens seemed too light to me, being used to the dark and black green standard Luftwaffe camo, but I found enough evidence on the web to support the lighter colors at least being possible.   I used Polly-Scale acrylics for everything, finding these to be very good performers, non-smelly, and easy to clean up.   I once thought I'd never shift away from enamels, but these paints are pretty good.   I tried to mask the clear parts, but the framing pattern was too complex, so I wound up painting them by my shaky old hand.





[On the large wing area, several panels were masked off, and lighter shades of green and gray were very lightly sprayed for a dissimilar panel effect.]



Ok, the paint was finished, and I re-glued everything back together.   Kit decals were used over a Future floor polish gloss coat and these went down without trouble, and once dry a flat overcoat was applied.   I wanted to weather this thing pretty heavily, so I started with a dissimilar panel effect.   The large wing area was the obvious starting point, so several panels were masked off, and lighter shades of green and gray were very lightly sprayed.   All control surfaces, being fabric covered, would have faded more than the metal body, so these got extra attention.   I also used a lot of pastel powders to accent different areas.   The engines received a lot of oil and exhaust streaking, and small touched of aluminum metalizer paint were used to simulate paint chips along the leading edges.   Working on the underside of the wing, I almost wished I'd left it disassembled, as that would have made it easier to work on.   A thin wash of acrylic black was used to accent panel lines.




[The weathering phase took me longer than anything else, as I never could quite get the effect I wanted.]



The fuselage got a different treatment.   As the wing would be faded by the sun and stained by the engines, the fuselage got a lot of exposure to the sea.   Salt water eats up anything over time, even duralumin, so the underside was streaked with a wash of rust, and the water line was masked off and pastels used to accent it.   Some more rust was streaked down along the sides of the body, and high-erosion areas, such as the leading edges of the sponsons, were dry-brushed with silver to simulate worn-away paint.   To be honest, the weathering phase of this kit took me longer than anything else, and it was done over several months, as I never could quite get the effect I wanted.   I worked on it at different times, sitting the kit aside for a few weeks while I spent time on some other project.   I finally decided to stop and just be happy with what I had.




[The mooring handles and rope tie-offs were scratch-built.] [The canopy was too wide by about a millimeter - Note the razor-saw slice on the right side used to narrow it to fit.]
[The engines received a lot of oil and exhaust streaking.] [Tiny little windshield wipers were added to the canopy.]



Final details were added, such as the gun turrets, antenna wires from nylon thread, and a few scratch-built details for mooring handles and rope tie-offs.   Tiny little windshield wipers were added to the canopy, and I called it finished.




[The gun turrets were installed last.] [Kit decals were used over a Future floor polish gloss coat and these went down without trouble.]



Overall, the thing is nearly OOB, and was more a weathering exercise than anything else.   It's a cool-looking flying boat, and after I'd built it, I realized it was the first Luftwaffe plane I'd built in decades.   Go figure.




[It's a cool-looking flying boat, and it was the first Luftwaffe plane I'd built in decades. ]



On a tragic note, I was re-arranging some things in my model room the other day, and the Dornier slipped out of my hand, fell to the carpeted floor and broke into a dozen different pieces.   I did manage to recover everything, but I don't know if or when I put it all back together.   Can't even blame it on the cat, as I don't have one.   Rats.   Well, at least I have Rick's fine photos.




[Overall, the thing is nearly OOB, and was more a weathering exercise than anything else. ]