Dornier Do 17 Z-2 #4 / Canopy & Landing Gear /

Dornier Do - 17 z has got rather large canopy, glazed nose & rear gunner's section. Masking off of all this parts took me long hours... Result is not the best, but not the worst, at least for first time. Spaces to be masked off were tiny, tricky to be covered equally. At some places where tape was not secured well enough, paint has gotten in. Not as big problem as I thought, was able to scrape extent off without scratching the canopy. Securing previous coat with varnish prior to next one, would be a good idea also, I didn't do it this time, in result paint was very easily peeled off..

When planning sequence of building this model, two options were considered - first to paint crew & cockpit, then glue together fuselage panels, close the crew section off, fill drafts & mask everything off, second to do all sub-assemblies separately what I have done. I focused on masking canopy off, not it's exact fitting. When it was finished I found out a gap on each side where canopy meets edge of cockpit.  I didn't really know how to mask the canopy off at the beginning, so decided to leave it and carry on with painting camouflage first not to stall this project. This sequence of "one job" on the model at a time does not allow to fix any gaps or drafts without them being visible, because of paint itself (if mixed two different lots) and it's distribution. In the result canopy drafts could not be properly fixed at this stage. I left it as it is, otherwise will spend another 2 weeks fixing it with very doubtful result. Also added "stings", 6 x MG 15, 7.92 mm Machine Guns. Landing gear is very simple, only few parts painted with Bolgun Metal, wheels with Charadon Granite and wash of Devlan Mud. When building planes previously (card or plastic) I did not bother with landing gear, for most of my models were hung from the celling. This model has got suspension extended, with flaps open. 

 

Propellers were painted with Charadon Granite and Blood Red. Here I had little trouble with small amounts of paint for my airbrush. Either too little or too watery. I suppose there is less problems like that with top feed airbrushes. Big jar I have is too large for this kind small jobs. When paint dried out, propellers were attached to engine panel, rear of axle was melted down to a cap, next each of completed engine panels were fixed on. Mounting an antenna on top of canopy finished assembly of Dornier Do 17 Z-2. 

Set of decals provided by the kit is rather extensive, at some point this model may look like pile of brand new scrap (suspect majority of Luftwaffe machines were like that...) or a Xmass tree. With application of decals build of Dornier Do 17 Z - 2 is finished. Conclusion for this kit, despite couple surprises, is positive. Even for small scale, 1:72, this is rather large model, maybe containing not too many parts, what does not mean it's simple. I could use some better flash cleaning and gap filling next time, as turns out how paint shows all imperfections and connection lines.