Well after some heavy contemplation I’ve decided on my next build. Today I went to my local Hobby Shop and surprisingly I found exactly what I was looking for, and on top of that they also had the Edwards PE kit for this model. JACKPOT!!!:wav:
This thing reminds me of a prehistoric A-10 Warthog.
As of this moment I don’t know the exact desert paint scheme I will be using. It will have to wait till I get my reference book.
Scale: 1/72 Manufacturer: Italeri Model Type: Henschel HS-129 b-2 Details:To be determined Extras:Eduard PE Kit 72 174
The History:
The Henschel Hs-129 was developed by engineer Friedrich Nicholaus in response to a 1937 request by the German Air Ministry for a small, heavily armored ground attack/support aircraft equipped with a minimum of two 20 mm cannon and two rifle caliber machine guns.
Nicholaus’ design stressed pilot survivability. The cockpit was surrounded by an armor plated “bathtub” of triangular shape, resulting in the fuselage’s distinctive appearance, and bullet resistant window panels of nearly three inch thickness.
The need for an effective airborne tank destroyer became painfully evident following the Red Army’s overwhelming winter counteroffensive of 1941-42. With massed formations of Soviet armor penetrating deep behind German lines, urgent priority was given to the Hs-129’s production.
In addition to the standard fixed armament of paired 20 mm cannon and 7.92 mm machine guns, the B1/R2 variant featured a MK 101 30 mm automatic cannon housed in a ventrally mounted external weapons pod. Production of the B1/R2 version began in January of 1942, with the first units being delivered to the Eastern Front in April.
Research Material:
The Model:
This model is Italeri’s No: 073 1/72 scale
I’ve been holding off starting this build until I get my book from Squadron. As of yesterday I still haven’t received it. In my preparation for getting started I went to my LHS and picked up some of the RLM paint I will need to complete this build. To my surprise they had the very book I’ve been waiting for. I thumbed through it and feel confident that I can go ahead and start this bad (!) bird without it.
So here it goes fellas, the MTO HS 129 Tank Buster build is underway. \:D/
First started off with the fuselage. As I’ve come to expect from Italeri it has some nice detail as you can see. These pictures were taken under normal lighting without a flash. When I used the flash it washed out the details.
The first thing I wanted to do was open the access panels to the radio compartment and transmitter.
I started by using a pin vise to make holes at the corners and then using a sharp knife I scribed between them. I then used some small files to get them to the proper shape and size. After some Patience I have two respectable openings. They need to be cleaned up a bit with sand paper but so far so good.
I’d like to take a moment to introduce to all you guys over seas to 'Ole Abe Lincoln . He was our 16th President here in the United States. He’s going to be joining us for this build to emphasize scale. It seems rather funny to be using an American coin but I don’t have anything German ones so as I so often say, “It is what it is”
The next step I needed to do was make some room for the new cockpit that I will be building from PE. As you can see in the pictures the gun wells extend pretty far into the cockpit area. Being in such a tight area I decided to use a course grit sand paper to do this. I could have used the ole Dermal but was afraid I would take off too much to fast and break through the side of the fuselage.
I hope this is enough because the walls are pretty thin now.
Next I broke out the air brush and painted the cockpit walls, the interiors of the wheel wells and landing gear doors. According to the research I’ve done German aircraft used RLM 66 after 1941. It looks a little dark to me but I’m sure I can lighten it up with some dry brushing.
Instead of waisting paint I gave the wheels, props and engines a coat too.
Tonight I have some clients to go see and have to take the boy to Cub Scouts so I’m not sure if I’ll make any progress so till next time…
Looks great so far. Can’t wait to see how the cockpit comes out with the PE parts. I’ve thought about doing some 1/72 scale subjects since PE and kits are more readily available than in my favorite 1/48 scale. My eyes are not getting any younger. I just did some PE work in 1/144 scale and It was very delicate work.
Wow!! Great-looking build so far, Dirk. I built the Revell of Germany (nee Hasegawa) 1/48th kit about five years ago (maybe six), and I loved it. The plane itself just looks mean. I might have to build another one now that I’ve seen this thread. Keep up the great work!
Working with PE can be a challenge to say the least but in 1/72 it can be even worse. This cockpit has 12 levers and knobs that need to be attached. YEAH RIGHT! I was able to get two attached and they promptly broke off when I moved on to the next step. It was driving me nuts but then I realized that no one will ever see it so why worry about it. My next investment will be small set of tweezers and a neutron microscope. Ok, 'll settle for a magnifying glass.
Ok guy’s, Now that I’ve cleared my workbench of a few projects I’ve found myself drawn back to the Hs 129 and just in time to maybe even finish it on time.
Last we left off we had started the cockpit and finished it with a rather shinny thrown for a seat. :lol: Since then I painted the seat and the side walls RLM66, weathered them a bit and painted the seat belts. installed the instrument panel and control stick. Just for laughs i placed the new and improved cockpit next to Italeri’s idea of a cockpit.
After dry fitting the cockpit I found that some trimming was in order to make the fuselage fit together properly.
After the cockpit is sealed away it resembles the real deal in the way that not much is visible even to the pilot.
Well I’ve finally found time to work on the Hs 129. The more I work on this little plane the more I like it but for some reason the build just isn’t flowing for me. I find myself all over the place. I’m not sure if its me or the kit. My money is on me as the problem. Regardless I am making some headway.
History
The Hs 129 was by far a perfect aircraft for close-support duty. It was relatively underpowered - even with the twin Gnome-Rhone radial engines - and the cockpit small enough to cram just one person. Visibility was reported to be far from superior though something about the overall design likened the Reichsluftahrtministerium to it. Armament consisted of two nose-mounted MG FF 20mm cannons and two MG 17 7.92mm machine guns. The Hs 129V-1 prototypes gave birth to ten Hs 129B-0 developmental models which, in turn, produced the initial Hs 129B-1 production series. The Hs 129 was immediately fielded to the Eastern Front to take on the divisions of Russian armor in force.
The Hs 129 was fielded in the East against the might of the Soviet Union by design, though later they were consequently fielded throughout North Africa and Europe (post D-Day) by necessity. By all accounts, performance results of the system proved sublime, with the Hs 129 accounting for the destruction of hundreds of Soviet tanks, particularly at the Battle of Kursk in 1943. The Hs 129 proved to be a viable asset in the close-support role, capable of engaging even the most stubborn of Allied armor with an array of cannons, machine guns and bombs.
On to the model
Like I said my flow is all off on this build so bear with me, it could get rough.
I started by building the PE radio equipment
With a little bend here and a little bend there
Here a bend there a bend
Everywhere a bend, and Herr McDonald had a radio and support brace
These were painted and installed prior to closing up the fuselage.
Next I connected the wings to the fuselage
I will continue later I have a meeting I’m late for
Ok I’m back. Sorry for the interruption in my post. The next thing I moved on to was the Landing gear wells and the engine and cowling.
The gear bays were two pieces plus a PE bulkhead.
Here we are with the PE bulkhead in place
The engines for this are not much but I will paint and detail them more later on in the build.
If you look here you will notice that this kit comes with two different bottom cowlings. When I was assembling I wasn’t paying close attention and used the wrong cowl (as pictured on the box art). I didn’t catch the mistake until after I filled and sanded the pieces together.
The Cylindrical air intakes of the cowl on the left is from the Hs 129 B/0 B/1 Models. When Henschel made the B/2 variant there were many problems, some of which were that the Gnome & Rhone 14M engine was still under power and prone to seizure. They also had little tolerance for dust, sand and battle damage. The Henschel design team set to work on improving the Hs 129 in order to correct the problems. These improvements included modifying the lower engine cowling (better filters were added) and later even shortening the exhaust pipes. It was believed that by shortening the exhaust it would help reduce engine over heating.
The Hs129 that I am building falls between the times of these improvements so it will have the better filtered lower cowlings but not the shortened exhaust pipes. Approximately 90% of the Hs 129 B/2 had this configuration.
Next I taped up the cockpit, and the rear access doors and applied paint to the bottom of the fuselage, cowls and gear bays. Plumber puddy works great for holding the small pieces in place durring spray sessions
Next up will be the landing gear.
Stay tuned, and most of all thanks for taking the time to look at my work
Hello again and welcome to the next installment of the Hs129 build. Lets start off with a little more information on this exciting plane. Since this is a MTO build its only reasonable to get a little history of how this aircraft fit into the MTO puzzle.
History
In the fall of 1942, Britian was sending the Afrika Korps and their Italian allies in a full westward retreat. The British triumph was due in good part to their growing superiority in armor and other ground forces. In October of that same year the Luftwaffe decided to deploy a squadron of Hs 129B’s to the theater. This squadron was commanded by Hauptmann (Capt) Bruno Meyer a veteran ground attack pilot and holder of the Knights cross.
Back to the table and the Hs 129
Next i decided to attack the aircraft’s landing gear. As you can see there really isn’t much to see here. It kinda looks like something my girlfriends cat hacked up. :lol:
Not really a whole lot that will be done. The majority of the gear will be hidden in the gear well. so I started by sanding the injection holes and removing the plastic that was suppose to be the scissor assembly.
Next I broke out the PE and went to work. If only all PE was as easy at this one was. :lol:
Before
After
Here you can see how the PE scissors fit to the strut. It looks a lot better IMHO
Next I sanded some more and added some paint and vola! completed strut. Well almost. I of course still have the tires to add and I’m hoping to add some break lines but I’m not sure I have anything small enough at this time. I think stripped CAT5 wire I usually use will be too big for this application.
The last thing I did tonight was to drill out and add the two 7.92mm MG 17 machine guns to the lower fuselage sides.
Here is the 7.92mm MG 17 machine gun muzzel pre-install [/IMG]
Well that all for now. Thanks for taking the time from your day to look at my stuff.
Most of the Hs 129’s that found there way to Africa were transfered from the Eastern front. The aircraft’s dark green and black green upper surfaces were mostly over painted with RLM79 (sand yellow)with RLM 80 (Olive green) patches. Others were painted sand brown with reddish brown patches and at least one had sand yellow upper structure with dark green and dark brown mottling. It was believed that Italian paints were used on some of the aircraft sent to North Africa. The under surfaces were finished in RLM 65 or RLM 78 (Light blues). Most had white nose bands, Under surface wingtips, and aft fuselage bands. Theses aircraft also had individual colored numbers placed in front of the fuselage Balkenkreuz.
On to the model
The next step was adding some paint. I started by applying the light blue to the underside of the aircraft.
After some drying time on went the RLM 79
After a few more days of drying I dove into the mottling. This is a first for me. I have to admit I’m happy with the results.
After the mottling dries I will soften them up with some dry brushing with more RLM 79.
Till next time. Thanks for looking.
PS, here is a photo of another Hs 129 from Tunisia
Here is some progress on my Hs 129. The end of the tunnel is near.
History
The Staffel’s 12 Hs 129B-2/Trop. (tropicalized) aircraft were sent from Germany to El Adem, Libya, via the Balkans and Crete in early November. On 17 November the Hs 129’s flew their first mission in North Africa against a British armored column. The German attack destroyed two British armored cars and caused panic among the British troops seeing the new Luftwaffe aircraft for the first time.
On to the Model
To pickup where we left off I added the white tips to the underside of the wings and the white band around the fuselage.
Next I installed the Gnome & Rhone engines and mounted the engine instruments on the inboard nacelle surfaces of each engine. Each engine had the following gauges; RPM, Fuel indicator, Oil Temp, Oil/Fuel Pressure and Oil system pressure gauges. Because of the lack of space inside the cockpit these were mounted on the exterior of the aircraft.
The Gnome & Rhone engines were an upgrade to the 465 hp Argus As 410A-1 engines but were still underpowered for this aircraft.
I made a little more progress last night. nothing to spectacular. As usual lets start off with a little more history of the Hs 129 while in the MTO.
History
While the 30mm MK 101 cannon proved to be an effective weapon against the British armor; the desert sand proved to be harmful to the Gnome & Rhone engines. The sand filters installed on the Hs 129Bs while in Germany proved to be effective in North Africa. The Sand and the heat soon took its toll on the Hs 129Bs air cooled engines, resulting in 4 of the Sch G, 2 being withdrawn after only one week of operation. The squadron was down to 7 aircraft as of the end of December 1942. and this total was cut to 1 within one month due to Allied air attacks and the lack of spare parts.
The Model
I started this session by applying the kit decals. The kit didn’t have the swastika for the tail but luckily I had some from a spair decal sheet.
Next I assembled, painted and weathered the short exhaust stacks which were used to reduce the over heating of the engines. The Exhaust stacks were in two parts each.
Here you can see where the Revi C/12C Gunsight was attached to the exterior of the aircraft again because of the small size of the cockpit. In the foreground you can also get another view of the exhaust stacks
In the upcoming final stretch I have some small details to assemble on the underside of the aircraft such and the bomb racks, the linkage for the flaps, the access panel doors on the fuselage, and the props and spinners.
Of all things to hold me up its the prop spinners. They are suppose to be painted with white tips and black rear. I can’t seem to mask the spinners to apply the second color. Any suggestions welcome.
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