#do17

Dornier do 17

This plane. This diorama. This dog.

This is a model of a Dornier Do-17p that served with the German Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. But to me, it's so much more than that.

This was the first model I built after moving into my girlfriend's house. That woman is no longer my girlfriend, she's my fiancée! And in less than a year she'll be my wife. But us being together, me moving in and me putting that ring on her finger would not have happened if I hadn't passed the test over two years ago. That “test” was ensuring I met the standards of my fiancée's 126lb German Shepherd, Gunter. Gunter had been known to growl and bark and snarl at other men that my wonderful woman had gone out with before she met me. Hell, Gunter even put on such a show of force that one man was literally denied entry into the house. But the first time I met Gunter, he was absolutely cool with me. He not only welcomed me into the house, but didn't leave my side the whole time I was there. As the relationship between his human and myself blossomed, Gunter was there every step of the way. After over two years of being with my bride-to-be, I'm proud to say that Gunter is my dog as well!

So after about a month of living with the woman who changed my life forever, I decided to make use of the all but abandoned workshop in the basement. One of the many former homeowners was a carpenter, and I found that this was the perfect place to build models! I chose to build one of the toughest kits in my stash: an RS Models 1:72 scale Do-17p. This kit fought me nearly every step of the way. Large gaps that seemed to eat filler putty, vague instructions, and decals that disintegrated when they were submerged in water all tried my patience. But I persevered. I went from being frustrated to being determined. It was also the first kit I ever built that utilized resin parts and photo-etched metal parts. Before I knew it, I had a wonderful model airplane on the workbench in front of me!

Simply building it wasn't enough. I was proud of overcoming the kit's shortcomings, and I wanted to show it off in the new home I was living in. I decided to build a diorama for it. I had a small jar of sand from Spain that my friend Bergo had brought back from her semester abroad, and I decided to use that as a dirt road for the diorama. I went a bit insane with my dremel, and drilled a ton of bullet holes in the top of one of the engines. Smoke streaks and battle damage were added to the aircraft during the weathering process. I purposely left one of the landing gear doors off so I could make it look as though it was ripped off when the plane crashed through the wooden fence I made out of toothpicks. I sanded one of the tires down and drilled a hole through it to make it look flat, and it did a great job making the plane sag to one side. Luftwaffe ground crewmen and a pilot were glued to the top of the model railroad grass I sprinkled onto the board.

The diorama needed something else though. It needed Gunter.

As I rummaged through a box of 1:72 scale farm animals, I was delighted to find what looked like a small German Shepherd. I immediately started painting it, using my pooch as a reference. I then painted up some sheep to give Gunter something to chase after, and attached them all to my diorama.

Painting l did in 2020.

Oct 10, 1940. Spitfires of 92 Sqd attacked a lone Dornier Do-17 of KG-2. The Dornier was badly damaged and the pilot mortally injured but it made it back to base. One Spitfire was damaged & crash-landed, two more collided with the loss of both pilots.

Gunner of a German Dornier Do-17E bomber with a 7.92 mm MG-15 machine gun in the nose mount. The aircraft is part of the KG77 bomber squadron

Painting l did in 2011.

Curtiss Hawk 75 of the French Air Force, Phoney War 1939.

This painting was destroyed. I mailed it to a buyer in the States but by the time it arrived, the package had somehow gotten soaked, ruining the painting.

15 September 1940. Flight Lieutenant John C. Dundas and Pilot Officer Eugene "Red" Tobin of 609 Squadron pursue a Dornier 17Z of 8/KG76 down the Darent Valley, Kent.

Wreckage of a Do 17 aircraft in Britain, 18 Aug 1940