Henschel HS-123A-1

[Dukie99]

Time for an update. As Mozart anticipated, mating the top wing to the lower wing and fuselage was no walk in the park and I got very close to give up before finding a solution. The problem was that although so far the fit of this kit had been nearly perfect, when it came to glueing the top wing none of the pegs of the cabane strut and wing struts seem to work. I initially thought about gluing only the wing struts using the pegs but this would have resulted in the top wing sitting too high (by about 0.5 cm). I don't know what went wrong here, I initially thought that maybe the dehydral of the top wing was not pronounced enough but I had followed the kit instructions scrupulously on that and after checking with the plans in my reference book it looks like I dot the dehydral right. So the lack of fit remains a mystery. I thought then about gluing the cabane struts first and mating the top wing but then these struts are so flimsy and the top wing being solid resin so heavy that it did not turn out well and I broke one of the cabane struts.

 

I finally worked in steps. I measured the angle of the wing struts with the top wing and made two jigs that would maintain the struts at the correct angle while epoxy was curing:

I then let it cure for a day so the bond was quite strong. I then glued the wing struts to the lower wing using cyano and using my mk.1 eyeball to get the wing centered and aligned, I then filled the gap between the struts and the wing with 5 minutes epoxy to get a strong bond and once this had cured I repeated the process with the cabane struts and this is the result:

Not perfect by any means but it looks right and after I touch up the paint around the wing struts and cabane struts, it should look OK.

Once the touch-ups are done and the cowlings are assembled and painted, it is a go for final assembly as most of the other elements (wheels, bomb racks, bombs, tail wheel) are ready to go.

 

Thanks for watching.

 

David

[dodgem37]

Smart problem-solving.  Looks real good.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Guest Clunkmeister]

Amazing job, David.  I like your squadron choice. The Eastern front is where the 123 made it's name, so there was no other logical choice of venue, was there.

 

I'm not sure how I'll approach the top wing mounting on my copy, but I believe I'll assemble the model unpainted, permanently mount the struts to the top wing to get the alignment right, paint, decal, and weather the model, then assuming I don't jack anything up, glue the top wing and struts to the fuselage and bottom wing.

 

No matter which way you do it, resin is heavy, vague in mounting points, and you did an awesome job getting it right.

With these, the end result tells the story, and yours just wrote a new chapter.

 

Awesome job!

[dmthamade]

Great problem solving on the upper wing install, i have much respect for biplane builders!! Alignment looks right on. 

 

Don

[LSP_Kevin]

Nicely solved, David. It's really looking fantastic, now, and must be close to the finish line.

 

Kev

[Azgaron]

Very nice work with the upper wing and struts!

 

HÃ¥kan

[Dukie99]

Small update today. I managed to glue the main landing gear, tail struts, bomb racks, 50kg bombs and the stirrups. I still need to install the tailwheel, windshield, the engine et various bits and bobs but I am getting there. What strikes me is that this is not a small airplane, I had it next to a Bf-109E and the Henschel is actually the larger airframe. I hope you enjoy the pictures:

Thank you for your interest. Cheers,

 

David

[Kagemusha]

Looks terrific.

[BloorwestSiR]

Looks great David and great problem solving with the struts. I'm still too wary of tackling a biplane because of those. And the rigging.

 

Carl

[Guest Clunkmeister]

Carl, it's a piece of cake compared to what you've dealt with...

 

Try a Wingnut kit first, to get an idea on biplanes.

 

But Carl, the Hs.123 is pretty much "required building" for any serious LW collector. Especially eastern Front...

[Dukie99]

Thank you all for the kinds words. I have managed to put the finishing touches to my HS-123. It was my first full resin kit and it will not be my last but I will go for plastic on my next build. I have three resin kits in the stash, the HPH Me-410, the the RB Arado Blitz and the HS-129 B3 but I may want to tackle easier resin kits before doing these. We'll see. This is also my first attempt at taking pictures using something else than my iphone and I have to admit this is not completely straightforward to me. I think my light source is too weak as the pictures seem quite dark. I will do better next time but she looks great in person. I heartily recommend the kit, I can say that the few reviews you can find on the net (all very positive) are correct, this is IMO a great first resin kit and the only true difficulty was mating the top wing to the rest of the airframe, but it is really worth the effort. I hope you enjoy the pictures:

Cheers,

 

David

[BradG]

Looks fantastic, well done mate.

[Azgaron]

Very nice work! Looks great!

 

HÃ¥kan

[mozart]

That's a lovely build David with a really high quality finish, I especially like the grubby appearance of the engine cowling on your last but one picture, first class!

Max

Edited May 30, 2016 by mozart

[Dukie99]

Thank you Max. The engine cowling was first primed in Alclad Gloss black, then I airburshed Alclad Dull Aluminum and then sealed with a gloss coat. After that I applied AK worn effect. Once this was dry to the touch, I airbrushed Mr. Color and then after 30 minutes applied water and started making scratches with a stiff brush. I then sealed it with a gloss coat, applied Flory Sand washes and then applied Alclad flat varnish to finish it off. I am still learning how to use these chipping fluids and I am not yet able to obtain a consistent finish but hopefully I will get there.

 

David