The following is already weeks old, waiting for a good "stopping point" for this summary, as progress keeps inching forward:


Adding up to quite a difference since last seen, including the last major structural work:


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FULL RESInstalling the belly well - a feature of later Do217k2s and subsequent models, to accommodate the fins of a centerline-mounted FX-1400 "Fritz-X" - could only be cut into the fuselage once closed-up - itself waiting, in turn, on completion of the cockpit detailing. Now protected (top-left) by the OOB canopies, temporarily attached and clad with tough, aluminum tape. The well was cut out and its interior made with plasticard (top-right), "fishing-in" the plates with plastic dowel "handles", attached perpendicularly to better indicate the orientation of each. When secure, the dowels were then cut off flush, and the entire area painted with ("gunmetal") silver (bottom), to best evaluate and adjust contours, after glazing/filling with a heavy coating of (talcom powder-) thickened superglue putty (not shown).

Meantime, continuing research brought me back to the subject of the machine guns:


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----FULL RES-----FULL RES---FULL RES--Finally I concluded that the smaller-caliber (7.62mm) MGs were in fact the heavier-looking, square-backed ones from the kit (left, at top-left), the kit's more gracile ones being the actually heavier-caliber 13mms (and each type fitting into the mountings for the other, but not itself(!)) - nevertheless I popped out the installed guns and modied all of them as needed to fit their correct canopy- and belly window sockets (left, bottom), and dorsal turret fork (not shown). The former mod used CA-putty collars encircling their bases, later sculpted into enlarged ferrules, to make each fit snuggly, while the latter simply widened the gun block with plasticard (white), sufficent to engage the pins of the turret mount (not shown).

Additionally - though none of my reference pics clearly show it - the literature convinced me that the later-model Do217k2, such as in this build (with advanced belly well) also had a quartet of tail "stinger" MGs - depicted most simply by chopping the handles off of 4 additional castings (center, at top), bundling and then mounting them with barrels extending back from the tail (center, at middle and bottom). However I subsequently decided only the muzzles must have protruded, so, after lopping off the cluster of barrels (right, at top), the tail cone was restored - the stem of a 430-scale (Revell Arizona) lifeboat serving nicely as the replacement (right, at middle) - and the muzzles of yet more spare MG castings (purple) inserted through it. (Oiy Vey! )

Also completed - and of course, improved somewhat - were the engines:


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--FULL RES---------------FULL RES----------------The engine "detail" parts (left) are perhaps the worst feature of this kit - including flat, half-relief plates for the (front row only of) cylinders - though, in fairness these are largely obscured by large inlet fans (left, at bottom). Still, the latter attempt to exploit this with a fault of their own: inaccurately wedge-shaped blades (left, at middle-right), which additionally reduce visibility, further hiding shortcomings of the former - which I found particularly offensive, and so accurized the fan blades by simply by shaving them down into the thin, turbine-like affairs that they surely were. Likewise the cylinders, after the blank areas between them were cut open (left, at upper-middle) were backed by a second row, cut from some Hercules engine spares (left, at top left) conveniently provided by my doctored Airfix Halifax build. When fully assembled (left, at bottom), the improvements to the fan blades were very noticeable, though for the engine enhancements much less so (if not still completely irrelevant).

Definitely-noticeable improvement was obtained by the exhaust stacks (right), immediately on drilling open their ends - all 26 of them, total - so that they no longer looked like (solid) spare-ribs (or banannas )!

Over the weeks, the build also sustained some damage, needing repair:


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--FULL RES-------------------------First, I stupidly (for some reason - other than that I'm just stupid ) used the upper surfaces as a testbed to experiment with masking-cutting, which accordingly left them deeply scratched (left), and refinishing involved tedious protection of the (remaining) panel-line detail aluminum tape - though in the process I learned this can be done much more quickly around panel lines if they are simply restored/extended periodically during the resurfacing.

A casualty, in turn, of all this elbow grease was the tail wheel (right) which, twice broken, was finally repaired with the brass reinforcing shown.

Everything then got a coat of silver:


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-FULL RES-------------FULL RES----Missing or dimmed panel lines (particularly on the wings) were then re-scribed, and contours of the belly well now more clearly seen (left) - showing some considerable errors, now largely corrected (right).

Note also the round hole in the underside of the port wing: the location of a landing light, whose OOB clear part could never have come unscathed through all the CA-filling and grinding in that area. Instead, a reflector was scratchbuilt and installed both in the same steps (right): first, by hollowing-out a cone and "fishing" it in (right, bottom-left), using a thin plastic dowel mounted through its center. Once hardened, the surrounding glue/filler was smoothed/resurfaced (right, bottom-center), and the rod cut down to just a tiny stub, with glue droplet added to its tip, to make it into the light bulb! Sprayed silver (right, bottom-right), the reflector will be filled with white glue, drying clear and shiny, to make the lens. Easy - and better than the kit part - this light should be (yet) one more little gem of detail, on the finished build...

And that pretty much brings you up to date on this build - already seeing yet more progress even this weekend - and will be ready to get the main camo/paint job pretty soon, now.

Cheers,

-Matty