Dornier Do-24 - by Testors/Itaelieri

Kelly Wellington
First time juggling three turrets and a cockpit in joining fuselage halves.

It will be the first time I've weighted a kit. I thought the tail might be heavy in the Do-24, and it is. I could've weighted the nose, but it's past that now. I can still, and will, weight the engine nacelles. It's high and not far forward enough, but it'll help...and give the craft some 'heft'.

First time in a long, long time joining a wing to fuselage with just struts. I did not follow the instructions. Consequently, I had one strut that was too short (and got a 'lift') and the strut positioning is not perfect.

Am still dithering on the color blue, but have made two choices. I think I'm going to go with the Master Modeler 'Dunkelblau' for the top color and 'Light Grey' for the the bottom color. Dutch Decals 'Orange Triangle' decals have been ordered and on their way from Aviation Megastore.

I'm pleased with my usage of the 'Burnt Metal' covering here on the 'Steel' engine pistons and the 'Copper' exhaust pipes and engine nacelle rings.

I have since placed the 'lifted' strut and it fits fine. A picky builder would notice it, but probably not before noticing the 'off' placement of another strut end. I just added the spinner covers and am ready to add the props to the engines. I think I'll lave the engine off until the second upper coat.

I put Tamiya primer coat down on the undersurfaces. I can say I'm not pleased. Lots of schmootz. It'll take some delicate fabric sanding.

Dave Flitton
Looking good so far

Holger Kranich
A lot of great work! Head on!

Philip De Keyser
I like what I see so far, it is a big beautifull plane, keep the pix comming Kelly😉
Greetz Phil

Kelly Wellington
Heh...misplaced the tiny circlets which were to be glued to the propeller shaft backs. So, I sliced off cross-sections of one of the larger sprues and then put a dab of glue on the tip end of the shaft and attached the sprue cross-section disks. It seems to work fine. I started adding in the weights...now, those engines have some pretty sizeable ball bearings. " 8^O}

Aghis Barberopoulos
Beautiful aircraft. Interesting project to see.

Kelly Wellington
Yeah...I bought the kit on the basis of the interest in the craft construction. I thought it a very interesting craft. It was only once I'd pulled it out to start, and began looking around at the information on it that I was even more impressed. First, although it is usually shown in Third Reich colors, it was actually commissioned by the MDL (the Netherlands Naval Aviation Service) as a replacement for their earlier Dornier seaplane. The design and production was done for MDL and they took possession of them after the inception of the war and divided them between home country stations and Netherlands East Indies assignments. The Wermacht was not particularly interested at the time, as they had committed to the BV-138 as the primary seaplane for the Wermacht. The subsequent history generated a goodly number of possible liveries...The Dutch rigs were inducted into the Wermacht after the 1940 invasion of the Netherlands and subsequently served in every theater of the war. One was sequestered in Sweden and reassigned to the Swedish air force. The rigs assigned to the Dutch East Indies were either destroyed by the Japanese advance, or retreated to Australia, where they were either repatriated to the Aussies or served as a Dutch air force in exile. Evidently, in 1944, the Germans gifted twelve to the Spanish government for the explicit use as search and rescue aircraft in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterrenean Sea around Spain. Then, after the war, the French Navy used them.

Not only that, but the grandson of the founder of Dornier has renovated one with entirely new engines and regularly provides it for UNICEF work in the South China Sea area.

A really cool rig with a fascinating history and many good works to its name.