1/350 Z-17 Dieter Von Roeder (Zvezda)

The Zvezda Z-17 Dieter Von Roeder brings modelers the first injection molded Type 1936 German Zerstörer in 1/350 scale. Unfortunately, the kit is slightly under scale and soft on details, with Aztec stairs and over scale portholes being a particular disappointment. Additionally, the kit comes with no photo-etch. Nor, almost three years after it's release, has anyone done a dedicated set for this model.

I used Flyhawk 1/350 railings and Lion Roar 1/350 water tight doors and ladders to dress up the kit. I removed the Aztec stairs and covered the bland, engraved oval W/T doors with the Lion Roar photo-etch doors. I also adapted the funnel caps from a Trumpeter Z-25 to fit Z-17. I also used Northstar figures to populate a 1/350 model for the first time. They are a pain to remove from the wafer (I cut the legs off many a poor sailor), but look decent when finished. The model was painted with Colourcoats Hellgrau 50 and Dunkelgrau 51 for the superstructure and deck, respectively, and Colourcoats RLM 7016 for the decks. Pennant numbers decals were from the kit, the flag from the spares box. The model was weathered with oils.

For the most part, the fit isn't too bad, and overall I enjoyed building the model, even if the gestation period was prolonged by some self inflicted mishaps with the seascape and frosting with the initial flat coating. Overall Zvezda's German Zerstörer (now being released by Revell) is a good starting point to build a Type 1936 Zerstörer in injection molded plastic.

You can find a review of the kit here.
and a work in progress thread here.

Gallery updated 1/4/2017

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