Historic Commercial Vehicle Club Display (Yarra Glen)

Unfortunately this years event was marred by some unseasonably wet weather and although the larger commercial vehicles still turned out in good numbers, it was very noticeable that the smaller vehicles and cars were few in number. Nevertheless it was still a great show and there were plenty of new and interesting vehicles to wander around, admire and photograph. Here's hoping for better weather and an even bigger turnout in 2017.

ICM 1/48 Dornier Do 215B-4

Up until now I'd never built an ICM kit before but was asked to do the Dornier as a review article for a magazine and due to the time constraints involved it was done as an out of the box model with minimal weathering.

Starting with cockpit I found the instructions to be quite vague when it came to the location of some of the parts and this led to a lot of head scratching and a search on the internet to find the answers. Once satisfied that all parts were in their correct location the cockpit was painted with Gunze RLM02 Gray (H70) and the details picked out with Vallejo's. The only other items added were a set Eduard seat-belts as the cockpit is very visible through the large glazing and these helped to enhance the overall appearance.

With the cockpit finished the fuselage was assembled and the bomb-bay doors fitted in the closed position, after which all the seams were cleaned up without the need for any filler. The wings, tailplanes, undercarriage legs, main wheels, propellers and engine nacelles were then assembled and the forward sections of the latter - the engine cowls - were left unglued. This enabled the nacelles to be fitted to the wings without any gaps and once dry the forward sections - the engine cowls - were then glued.

When fitting the wing to the fuselage I found it necessary to remove the upper portions of the bomb-bay bulkheads, which enabled me to get a flush, gap free fit without the need for any filler. With the major structure assembled the undercarriage legs were then fitted and although these are beautifully detailed I found them to be a little frail. I therefore opted to drill out the axles and replace them with brass rod and once fitted along with the wheels it made them a lot more rigid.

All but the upper glazing were then installed and masked, with the upper one being left off to make it easier to fit the machine guns at the very end and therefore avoid any breakage. With the model masked it was then given a wipe down with methylated spirits to remove any residues and the canopy frames sprayed with Gunze RLM66 Black Gray (H412). The model was then primed with Tamiya Gray Fine Surface Primer (L) and checked for any imperfections.

Satisfied that all was in order I then applied the main colours of Gunze RLM65 Light Blue (H67), RLM71 Dark Green (H71) and RLM70 Black Green (H65) as per the instructions. Once dried a coat of Future was applied and when this had hardened it was then onto the decals. Although these looked good on paper they did appear to have a matt finish to them and when it came to apply them in the usual manner they began to break up. I therefore applied coat of Microscale Decal Film over the remainder and this seemed to work with mixed results. As a consequence I would NOT recommend using the kit supplied decals and to source replacements if at all possible, especially as no swastikas are supplied on the sheet and their locations are not shown on the instruction sheet.

With all the decals in place the model was then given a light sanding with a Micromesh cloth to remove any ridges followed by a coat of Future. Once this had dried a wash was applied to the panel lines - Mig PLW Green Brown for the upper surface and PLW Sky Grey for the underside - after which the model then over-sprayed with several coats of Vallejo Satin Acrylic Varnish. It was then just a matter of fitting the propellers, machine guns, upper canopy, aerial mast and aerial wires and the model was finally finished.

Despite some frustrations along the way this was quite an enjoyable build and I'd have no hesitations in recommending this model, however some alternative decal are a must as these are the kits one major flaw.