1:48 Dornier Do-17 Z-2 3D Full colour Instrument Panels (for ICM kits)

The cockpit of the flying pencil

Its slender fuselage earned the Dornier Do 17 the nickname flying pencil, under which the machine entered the general memory during the Battle of Britain. The Z series gave up liquid-cooled engines and received Bramo 323 radials, with which it managed a higher takeoff weight. The Z-2 subversion had strengthened defensive armament and a larger bomb load and became the most widespread variant of the whole family.

This full-color equipment is aimed at the glazed greenhouse nose where the crew sat together. It replaces the main panel and the auxiliary panels with print in which the scales are legible and the individual items stand above the surface, so the interior does not look like paint on paper.

More than fifteen hundred Dorniers of the Z series were built and they also served with Germany's allies, so a modeler can choose from a varied range of liveries. The inside of the cockpit, meanwhile, stays essentially the same in all these machines, which does not limit the choice of subject in any way.

A practical note. German cockpits of this period had a dark shade, on which light scales stand out nicely. Seat the panels onto a finished paint surface and then pick the joints out lightly with a dark wash; the transition between the print and the plastic disappears with that. Apply the wash only after it has cured completely.

The artwork allows for 1:48 scale and for the layout of the cockpit according to the ICM kit. The extensive glazing of the nose means that anyone who picks the model up will look inside, so a full-color interior is certainly no needless luxury here.