if it turns out as well as the cad looks, it should sell very well, will keep an eye on this. paul

The subject is rare enough any scale considered, but will it be an affordable one? The hard to get CA Do17 had a price tag that put me off, and Dornier's flying pencil family realy is overlooked by the quarter scale market till now

Yeah, I want one!

Oh great there's another Recce plane I'll need to add to my build pile. Although not a favourite of mine it's still one that's been badly lacking in 1/48 amongst a host of others.

Great to see a large twin engine for a change (along with that great-looking Il-4!), but here it is hard to imagine a type that would be less on people's minds... I hardly knew this variant even existed... A Do-217K would have been more popular, with its different nose to the Pro-Modeller... As for prices, ICM is usually reasonable and nothing to worry about. Gaston

There was this absolutely crucial Battle in 1940 when Britain stood alone, no American involvement in taking on the Luftwaffe, USA didnt want to get involved (they only got involved when they were attacked) and we had to win or that was it, game over for us and everyone else. No platform to launch D-Day. BoB in the UK is a big interest. In that Battle flew the Do215, DB601 version of the Do17Z Bramo Fafnir engined aircraft. It flew as a bomber and recce aircraft. Oct 20th East Soton for example was one that came down. The nose is in fact an important and invaluable part of this release, as at last it also enables us get a correct looking and accurate Do17Z which was its 'brother' in the Battle and which flew in greater numbers. There has never been an accurate Do17Z. The Hobbycraft banana fuselage was the first, then came Classic Airframes who managed to get the entire nose area wrong, as well as the tailplane. They made the nose symmetrical, same shape and glazing port and stbd . It is wider at stbd, with a different set of glazing panels below centreline for the front glazing. Also a different shaped canopy there. ICM have used their eyes. WELL DONE ! I am glad they didnt use plans I saw recently in a mag as they have also got that area wrong ! Why people cant look at photos beats me. I also see Airfix and their new 1/72 have got it wrong now. Strewth, there are loads of pics in books, and fairly decent plans apart from those seen recently. Monogram kit is correct there, I shall maybe mate its cockpit to the Airfix, but then the problem of Airfix trench lines killing any chance of a realistic look, might as well stay with Monogram 100% . Come on Airfix, if Japan can manage it, why cant you,,,another issue that)...anyhow I digress. A correction resin set came out for the Classic Airframes tailplane but the nose was too much to tackle. We can now either use their engines on this kit and ditch the underwing rads or slice the entire nose and glazing off and marry that to Classic Airframes. I shall study the underside aft gun position before deciding what to do as the fuselage shape just aft was a mystery area, after much scouring of pics I found a shot of a 215 showing this. I hope ICM sussed it. Surface scale detail, finesse and overall accuracy will finally decide. The tailplane was moveable, its large fairing onto the fuselage moving with it, exposing different coloured paint etc, any photo shows this, though ICM havent modelled this, thats a shame, maybe they didnt use their eyes as much as I hoped, just so glad they remedied the Do17Z situation though. Decades of models have seen Japanese manufacturers not bother much with the Battle of Britain or Bomber Command, likewise USA manufacturers. They weren't involved in that conflict and that seems to be the reason, twice over, so more than just coincidence. We have seen subject matter that is really obscure, extremely rare types get kitted, yet BoB aircraft and Bomber Command, Whitleys, Hampdens, Wellingtons, Stirlings, Halifaxes, Defiants, Blenheims, Do17Z, Ju88, He111 in 1/48 scale let alone 1/72 have not happened much, until of late, some still yet to happen. A 1/48 Stirling is an awesome aircraft. If it had red spots or white stars it would have existed by now. I shall be buying two 215's one to make a Do17Z. Maybe though ICM will treat us to a correct Do17Z well, they are well placed to, for so little extra effort they can 'clean up' ! They need to address the tail unit situation though. The upper glazing would need the earlier loop aerial as well. DBenz

Hi Bob Yep - the tail is the one point that has caught my eye staright away. Ironically, the otherwise dreadful Hobbycraft kit is the only 1:48 kit to have captured this aspect for the early versions. Interestingly, I've just been re-reading Bob Standord Tuck's biography, and the Do 215 crops up a lot. All the best Rowan