The Dornier Do17Z twin engined bomber was the pinnacle of the development of the “Flying Pencil”.  While overshadowed by the He111 and Ju88, at its peak the Do17Z equipped 12 staffeln of 4 Kampfgeschwader and 1 KampfGruppe, and was an important part of the Luftwaffe’s bomber strength from the invasion of Poland through Operation Barbarossa.

 This set is one of two that SuperScale produced for the Do17Z several years ago and provides three options.  All are in the standard RLM70/71/65 scheme.  Some of the references they used are older ones, so I have pointed put a few things that you may want to change 

 The first option is Do17Z-2 3Z + red GS of 8. /KG77 in the summer of 1940, as it may have looked during the attack on the West or the Battle of Britain.

 The second option is a Do17Z-2 of Stab/KG3 in the summer of 1940. The unit code is incorrect; it should be 5K + red BA (not HK+red BA); fortunately this can easily  be corrected as there is a 5 code on the sheet for the KG2 Do17.  The choice of red for the aircraft letter B is questionable.  The standard color for the Stabskette of a Geschwader is blue, and while there were exceptions, most Luftwaffe units followed the standard.  My references don’t include any color photos of this Do17Z, so it will be your choice as to whether to change this.  And I definitely would not paint the underside of the wingtips yellow as shown on the plan view, as this is an Eastern front marking based on all the photographic evidence I’ve seen.

 The third option is Do17Z-2 U5 + Red GA of Stab/KG2 in the winter of 1941 (more correctly, winter 1940/41).  The blue Holzhammer unit badge is correct, as KG2 was one of the units that used Stab and Geschwader background colors on its unit badges. Again, the choice of red for the aircraft letter G is questionable, as blue would have been the standard. Lacking color photos, I can’t verify this, so it will again be your choice.  This scheme would be correct for the periods from 1939 through February 1941 when Stab KG2 was based in Germany and France from the invasion of Poland through the Battle of Britain & winter Blitz campaigns. The Stab KG2 operated in the Balkans and Greece from March through May 1941 where it would have carried Balkan theatre yellow markings, refitted in Germany during most of June, and participated in Operation Barbarossa until the end of October 1941 where it would have carried Eastern Front yellow identification markings, at which time it returned to Germany to convert to the Do217.  The modeler could apply typical theatre markings to cover either of these periods.

 The sheet includes a full set of national markings and basic stencils that allow you to do any one of the three versions.  Since it is SuperScale, you know the decals will perform well.  The only available kit in 1/48 is the Hobbycraft Do17Z; while the recent reissued boxing has nice quality decals, the decals in the original boxing are poor, so this set is a perfect way to improve the look of your Do17Z.  Though the set is out of print it can sometimes be found at model shows or online for a reasonable sum.  Even with the “glitches” mentioned, definitely recommended!

 Review copy courtesy of my wallet!

July 2006

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly by a site that has over 300,000 visits a month, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.