The Dornier Do217 K-2 was developed from the K-1 model designed to carry the Fritz-X gliding bomb. Its wingspan was extended by 25 meters or 82 feet to carry the extra load of the Fritz-X bombs which weighed 1570 kg or 3461 lbs each. They also added an additional 1160 liter/306 gal. in the bomb bay. There were special bomb racks on the inner wings, between the nacelle and fuselage, designed to carry the massive bombs. The most famous use of the Fritz-X was the sinking of the Italian battleship Roma on September 9, 1943 by Major Bernhard Jope of III./KG100

Included in the kit is:

• Ten grey sprues

Three clear sprues

• One set of decals
• One instruction booklet

The instructions are pretty straight forward and the kit seems well detailed with fine panel lines and other fuselage detail.

As with most kits the building starts with the cockpit area. There is a lot of detail in the cockpit with four different seats, one for the Pilot and the other three for the crew and top turret gunner. There are cockpit side walls that are attached to the fuselage sides and have some detail, buttons, radios, etc. The pilots floor has rudder pedals, the control column and instrument panel. The instrument panel has a decal for the instrument faces.

The fuselage halves are then assembled with a couple bulkheads, one in front and back of the Bombay area and a section of the tail gear. The seat for the top turret gunner is installed at this point, but the instructions are not clear as to where the seat actually is attached. There needs to be clearer drawings for that.

Once the fuselage halves are together the instructions want you to install the front nose glass, but I waited until later to do that.

The bottom gunner glass and gun I installed along with the tail cone. I did not install the tail wheel and gear for fear of breaking it off in handling.

The next step is the Bombay and if you want it open or closed. I decided to have it open to see the extra fuel tanks and detail. The Bombay doors are nicely detailed and go together well, seeing as they are somewhat complex. I did not install them at this time again for fear of breaking off in handling and ease of painting.

The next few steps are the wing and tail assemblies. The top center wing section is installed first, which fits nicely. The outer wing panels are two-piece with a nice stiffening spar inside to keep the wings from bending. The tail feathers and ailerons are all two piece design and go together well. The ailerons, horizontals, verticals, rudders and elevators all attach well to the fuselage with a minor amount of filler on some seams.

Next on the agenda are the engine cowls and engines. The engine cowls are well detailed and have three sections with three exhaust parts attached inside. The engine consists of five sections with four pieces on the front of the engines. The engines are basic looking but once put into the engine nacelle with the front cowls you can’t even see the engines anymore. The main landing gear nacelles consist of two halves and two bulkheads each with interior detail. Everything goes together well. The engines are to be installed at this point but I left them off for painting and installation later.

The main landing gear and tires are assembled at this point, but I did not install them again for fear of breaking in handling and painting. The gear are well detailed but look fragile, but once together they seem sturdy enough.

The nacelles are now attached to the bottom of the wing along with the hard points for the Fritz-X bombs. Everything went together nicely with no gaps. The instructions want you to install all the gear doors, but again I waited to install later.

The next few steps are installing the top canopy for the cockpit area, assembling the Fritz-X bombs, and propellers. I waited for final assembly to install the bombs and propellers.

I installed the front cockpit nose glass in preparation of painting. I bought an aftermarket paint mask set for all the nose and canopy glass. The Germans sure did like lots of panes of glass on their early aircraft. I painted the inside of the canopy and nose glass before assembly.

I chose the aircraft of III./KG100 operating in the Mediterranean and Major Bernhard Jopes squadron with the standard RLM 72/73 splinter camouflage on top and RLM 65 on the bottom.

When the paint was dry I started on the decals. They are of good register and are fairly thin but not opaque. They went on fairly easily but were sometimes hard to adjust in place. I used Micro set and Micro sol to get the decals to soften and settle into place. Once dry I shot the aircraft with semi-gloss lacquer to even out the sheen.

I installed all the parts that were not installed prior to paint, gear doors, landing gear, tail gear, bomb doors, top turret, pitot tube, propellers, and added the antenna mast and wire.

In conclusion this is the fifth ICM kit I’ve done and once again they have put out a very nice kit of a subject that is not very well known. Overall it was very nicely detailed went together easily especially all that glass that is on the front. As always this kit can be enhanced with aftermarket parts that are available for it now.

Pros

• Interesting subject
• Nicely detailed
• Good fit
• Good decals
• Great clear parts and fit

Cons

• Instructions not clear in some areas
• Some smaller parts could be molded as one not multiple parts

I would like to thank ICM Models for providing the kit and to IPMS USA for the opportunity to review this item.