History

The Dornier D0 215 first started out as a light bomber or reconnaissance aircraft originally designed for export although all but two served with the Luftwaffe.
Series production of the Do 215 A-1 began in 1939 the order intended for export, but was stopped in August 1939 due to the political situation. The aircraft were embargoed and pressed into Luftwaffe service at the out break of world war 2.
Powered by a 1,175PS (1,159hp) Daimler-Benz DB 601Ba inline engines which gave it further improvement over the DB 600 power plants used in the Do17L and the first variations of the Dornier Do 215.
The Do 215 B-5 Night fighter version called Kauz III. 20 aircraft converted from B-1 and B-4 versions nose equipped with IR searchlight for the Spanner infrared detection system. Do 215 B-5s were armed with four 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns grouped above the IR light and two 20 mm MG FF cannons in the lower nose. The Spanner system proved to be useless and the Lichtenstein 202 B/C radar was installed on some aircraft starting from the middle of 1942.
Of the versions of the Do 215 that existed, the A-1 bomber with DB 601 engines, and the B-0 and B-1 export machines both re-equipped with FuG 10 navigation device for the Luftwaffe. The Do 215 B-5 was the first night fighter to be equipped with the FuG 202 Lichenstein B/C navigation device. These aircraft saw action from January 1941 to May 1944 with I. and IV./NJG 1 and II./NJG 2.

Contents

The model kit comes in one bag which could cause damage although the clear sprue was sealed in a separate bag. Revell are slowly improving there boxes, though the box size seemed a little over the top as the kit it self is about just over half the size.
Inside the box you will find,
5 Grey moulded sprues
1 Clear
1 Decal sheet
1 Instruction book

The review

First impressions when I saw the size of the box was wow, and the art work itself on the box I have to say I liked very much indeed, but then I opened the box and was like ok a huge box with a kit that only covered half the space?
The first thing I noticed when I took out the sprues from the bag and looking closely at them was the ICM logo at the top of the sprue, this kit is a rebox of the ICM Dornier Do 215B-5, and not a new tooled kit from Revell.
Having said that the kit, looking at the sprues I have to say looks excellent, great panel line detail was the first thing that caught my eye with some great detail like inspection holes being what you would expect detail wise in new kits that are making the way from various manufacturers in today's ever competitive market. There is a slight amount of flash on the wings but nothing to drastic, I also noticed some slight sink marks but again nothing really to worry about here as they should be easily fixed. Engine detail is very nice and I can see an opportunity here to scratch build some extras to the engine and add in some wires for the control surfaces. The propeller is nice and crisp as is the exhausts, nice mud guards are also included and it would not take an expert to file down the wheels and add some green stuff or milliput to make some load weighted wheels. Some of the cockpit details really is excellent from the seats to the control panel. The nose of the aircraft with cut out window gives scope for further figures to be added, and I have to be honest I am seeing various different dios with this kit, with the engine detail it really does lend to a repair scene with reloading going on. Looking all around the sprues I really can see very little to be discouraged about.
The fuselage of the plane has good panel lines and as a test dry fits perfectly.
The clear sprue has some crisp lines and offers you different arrangement which is nice.
The suspension legs look robust and offer you the chance to be able to put in wires and break pipes adding some extra realism to the final build.
The moulds are a satin finish.
I have heard the ICM kit did have some parts missing, well it does look at least this has been rectified in the Revell version.
The radar array on the front of the Dornier I have to say look a little out of scale but I am sure by now that there will be plenty of after market alternatives in the shops by now.

Decals and instructions

The decals look really good and sharp, offering two different markings the first,
Dornier Do 215 B-5, Stab II. NJG2 Leeuwarden Spring 1942. Camo marking.
The second one,
Dornier Do 215 B-5 NJG2 Giltze- Rijen, 1941. All black night fighting version.
The instruction book I am very pleased with what Revell have done here, it is colourful and certainly a lot easier to follow then what some of there older instructions used to be like. From page 1 to 20 it is all colour with clear boxes giving part numbers and sprue letters to identify them, by then you have a very clear picture on how it all goes together. This is really a great up grade from the old style instructions. The build itself does not start till page 8 and finishes on page 18, pages 19 and 20 are for the two different Dornier's as night fighters.
Page five contains the different paints that you require, and I believe these to be based on the Revell paints.
09 Anthracite Matt
05 White matt
39 Dark green matt
40 Blackish green matt
47 Mouse grey matt
49 Light blue matt
77 Dusty grey matt
45 Light olive matt
90 Silver metallic
91 Iron metallic
08 Black matt
83 Rust matt
330 Firey red silk matt
89 Beige matt
364 Leaf green silk matt

Now I understand that the ICM one is a nice kit but having never seen the box and instructions I can only go via this re box.