Italeri 1/72
Do 217E-3/E-4/E-5

Background

Dornier's Do 217 was an incremental improvement over the basic Do 17 design. First flown in 1938, the Luftwaffe evaluated the Do 217A and Do 217C versions with limited interest, but the Do 217E entered mass production in 1940. The main differences of the Do 217E over the earlier Do 17 were its deeper fuselage and enlarged bomb bay capacity.

The Do 217E was one of the more mission-adaptable platforms in the Luftwaffe's inventory. In addition to conventional bombing, the aircraft was also used as a mine layer and an anti-ship missile launcher.

The Kit

Italeri has re-released their 1/72 Do 217 kit. This has been previously released in a number of versions and this release covers the more common Do 217E series. Molded in light gray styrene, the kit is presented on three parts trees, plus a tree of clear transparencies.

The cockpit is a rather simple representation and you might want to use a little bit of styrene strips to busy up the interior to provide some visible detail when looking through that greenhouse canopy. It won't take much work to achieve that look, and while you're at it, add some photo-etched seatbelts and harnesses as well.

Assembly of the exterior is straightforward, with the only options being the underwing external fuel tank and guided missile for the Do 217E-5 versions.

One of the nice touches of this kit are the separate elevators, rudders, and ailerons You can add some droop to the elevators to represent the aircraft parked while adding aileron and rudder to get a more realistic pose.

Assembly of the rest of the aircraft is identical for all versions according to the instructions.

Markings

This kit provides markings for four different aircraft. The subjects are:

• Do 217E-5, II/KG 100, 6N+NP, 1944
• Do 217E-5, 4./KG 100, 6N+KM, 1944
• Do 217E-4, 4./KG 40, F8+DM, 1942
• Do 217E, 3./KG 2, U5+KL

Conclusion

This is a nice kit that is nice to see back on the shelves again. If you're a Luftwaffe medium bomber fan, 1/72 is the better scale if you're limited on shelf space and this kit should be an enjoyable build.

Definitely recommended!

My sincere thanks to Testors and the DLV Company for this review sample!