New Releases are up

[Sudwind]

The T-64BM looks sweet! Something for the Ukrainians....The Ariete is also a very nice casting.

Looking forward to pics of the Zil-157 Katyusha, the CVE Taiyo and the Goliath.

[dragon6]

The Duke class looks very nice. I wish there was a picture of Taiyo up but I can wait

Of course I pretty much have to wait

[bishnak]

They look nice

I like the T-64BM and the Ariete.

[Donald M. Scheef]

Now that a photo is available, I can provide some more information about GHQ's AC110, Dornier 17:
The thin aft fuselage, bulbous crew section, and radial engines identify this as a Do 17Z. About 500 Do 17Z-1 and Do 17Z-2 bomber types were built (essentially identical in appearance, differing mostly in more powerful engine type in the Z-2) along with 22 very similar Do 17Z-3 reconnaissance bombers. These were all built between mid-1938 and mid-1940.
GHQ's on-line catalog describes this as "Common fighter. Over 2100 made!" None of this is really accurate. Working backwards:
- The "Over 2100 made!" applies to total production of Do 17 types, including earlier Do 17E, Do 17F, Do 17K, Do 17M, & Do 17P types (all of which had a visibly smaller crew compartment) and Do 17S & Do 17U reconnaissance types that had the same crew section but in-line engines. As listed above, GHQ's model covers only about 520 of this.
- The only Do 17 "fighters" were ten Do 17Z-6 and Do 17Z-10. These had a smooth solid nose rather than the faceted glass nose of GHQ's model.
- "Common" is relative. GHQ's model represents only about 520 aircraft. Compare this to over 1600 earlier-model Do 17s, over 2100 of the larger Do 217, over 3600 of the Ju 88, and over 7000 of the He 111.

Don S.

[Mk 1]

Now that a photo is available, I can provide some more information about GHQ's AC110, Dornier 17:
The thin aft fuselage, bulbous crew section, and radial engines identify this as a Do 17Z.

Agreed. Looks like a Z model to my eye as well.

- "Common" is relative. GHQ's model represents only about 520 aircraft.

Not quite sure about that.

The Z2 was the most produced variant of the Do-17. It was used extensively by the Luftwaffe during the Polish and French campaigns, the Battle of Britain, and Operation Barbarossa on the Eastern Front. It was also operated by Finland. So "common" might be a reasonable term for the Z2 sub-variant, at least for post- Spanish Civil War through winter of 1941 combat.

My information on the Z models puts the total at more than 700 units. I believe the Z production numbers went about like this:
- Dornier factory at Oberpfaffenhofen: about 420 aircraft
(Outside Munich. I saw it in 1979, again in about 1992. I believe the factory is no longer producing aircraft, but the village is the center of German aerospace research.)
- Henschel (all factories): about 320 aircraft (Some at Hamburg, not sure about the rest)

Compare this to over 1600 earlier-model Do 17s, over 2100 of the larger Do 217, over 3600 of the Ju 88, and over 7000 of the He 111.

Regarding the earlier models of the Do-17, the next most common, the -17E, only saw about 325 built. So the -17Z was the most common variant.

As to the Do-217, the Ju-88 and the He-111, you are of course quite correct. They were in production longer, and had higher total numbers. Do-17 production terminated by the end of 1940. It was a prominent bomber in the Luftwaffe up through about the end of 1941. From that point on it was not particularly common.

Or so I understand. Could be mistaken. Not exactly my area of expertise.

-Mark