Henschel Hs 129B-2: DONE!!! (Now with more pics!)

[mywifehatesmodels]

Thanks for the input, guys.

 

Harvey,

 

The photos I've been finding from this Tunisian airfield are a diorama builder's paradise! My goal for this build, however, is to put one of these planes "back in action", as it may have looked just before it was damaged. Weathering is going to be a little more on the extreme side from what I normally do, however.

 

I've been thinking some more on this and have decided that I'm going to go back to doing "Red/Purple X". Here are is one photo of it.

 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hs_129B_wreck_at_Tunis_1943.jpg

 

There is another photo of it in the Panzerjager book, taken from the 10/11 o'clock position that shows a little more detail. However, it's very grainy and still gives the impression of a slightly softer mottled camo scheme. This profile by Tom Tullis is probably the most popular (scroll about 1/3 the way down the page):

 

http://ww2artgallery.e-monsite.com/pages/tom-tullis.html

 

But, this is the photo that got my attention. When you get closer, the paint scheme is not what it looks like from afar. It's a mottled paint scheme, but this machine appears to have been repainted at least a couple times and the weathering is heavy, too (this one is big if you view it. Probably the best painting reference I have to go from).

 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hs129B_wreck_El_Aouiana_May_1943.jpg

 

So, while I was initially intimidated by this paint scheme, I'm kind of embracing the idea of accepting the challenge, now. I've also been picking away at some details. I made a master for a new crankcase front that, while not perfect, will hopefully be a little bit better representation of the engine and give a better mounting point for the pushrods. I have already made a mold and now I just have to make a couple in resin.

 

 

I also finished riveting the fuselage. Then I added the screws/raised rivet and weld detail. These photos were before everything was in place, but you get the idea. For all the screws (two sizes and both flathead/Phillips heads), I had to drill a countersink hole for the PE head. I attached them with CA glue, then sanded the area after it was cured.

 

 

 

Now I'm prepping the wings and have come up with a support. I'll have to get more pictures up tomorrow. My phone/camera needs a charge.

 

Thanks for following along!

 

john

 

[Guest]

Man, thats cool ! I like all of them. Probably an expensive junk pile.....Harv

[mywifehatesmodels]

I shot some Metalizer stainless steel on the nose, just to seal it and give an idea of how it's going to look. With this paint, even the smallest inconsistency can be seen between the resin and the CA, but the final  paint scheme should hide it.

 

 

The rivet pattern isn't exactly correct, but there seems to have been variations and it's close enough to make it look right, in my opinion.

 

John

Edited May 14, 2014 by mywifehatesmodels

[Guest]

Yep, needs to be darn perfect. But if its going to be wrecked, what does it matter ?.....Harv

[mywifehatesmodels]

I've made some more progress. I got the wings riveted using the jeweler's punch. I decided to do just the main lines, since I'm freehanding them, one at a time and my hand is already in cramps! Here's a before/after of what the bottom of the wing looks like:

 

 

 

I also did some work with the wheel wells/nacelles. The wells are a little sparse on detail, but I can understand why. There's not really much for references on this area. So, I decided to "busy it up" a little bit and added a few things that I thought looked the part, using some wire and copper tubing.

 

 

After this was done, I attached the wing bottoms. I had already attached the top halves to the fuselage in an attempt to align everything the best I could. Also, I thought I had taken a picture of my wing spars/reinforcements. However, I can't seem to find it, now. I used some aluminum tubing that I ran through the fuselage. Then, I keyed them to the wing tops, wrapped the tube ends in cotton gun cleaning patches and used CA glue to bond it all together. The cotton patches helped provide some more "hold" to the aluminum tubing, assuring that they won't slip/crack quite so easily. After all this, the wing halves are together, but there is a LOT of seam work to do. In the following pics you can see some of the shims I've already installed. It's going to take a lot of sculpting to get this into shape, then I'll have to go back and fix the panel lines/rivets. However, I keep telling myself that I'm getting closer to my favorite part....paint!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for following along,

 

John

Edited May 20, 2014 by mywifehatesmodels

[Out2gtcha]

NICE!  I LOVE the look of the metalilzer w/the raised weld beads.....................AWESOME!!!

[mywifehatesmodels]

Thanks, Brian. Almost a shame that they'll be painted over. LOL

 

John

[LSP_Kevin]

Looking very cool John.

 

Kev

[EmperorKai]

Just found this.  I have one of these in the stash too.  Your build is very eye opening as there is a bit more involved with the kit than I thought.  You're doing it justice though and I totally dig the paint scheme you chose.  

[mywifehatesmodels]

Just found this.  I have one of these in the stash too.  Your build is very eye opening as there is a bit more involved with the kit than I thought.  You're doing it justice though and I totally dig the paint scheme you chose.  

Thanks for dropping in, Kai. Not sure if you read the whole thread, or not, because I keep changing my mind about what paint/markings I'm going to do. I have settled on "Purple X" (Wk. Nr. 0278), however. So, that's the direction I'm heading.

 

I hope to be able to post more pics in the next day or so, before the holiday weekend. As it sits today, I was able to get the seams on the wings worked, which went MUCH better than I had anticipated and I rescribed lines and replaced rivets where I had sanded them away. Then, I made stubs for the horizontal stabs to insert into the tail and got those on. They look really good, except for one seam on the underside of the starboard stab. No big deal, though. I shouldn't have any trouble smoothing it out. Next up will be the vertical stab/rudder, then I have to get the details for the 30mm MK 101 cannon, as well as a few other things set up before painting. My goal is to have it ready for primer, or maybe even the base coat, by Friday afternoon. Not sure if that will happen, though. In any case I'll post pics before then.

 

This kit certainly isn't for beginners, but if you're patient and check/double-check everything ahead of time, it's certainly doable.

 

John

[CATCplSlade]

Yesterday one of my students was asking if I had heard about this plane as he knows I'm into WWII military hardware. Apparently they've added the 75mm gun version to the online combat flight sim War Thunder and it is proving popular with the players.

 

They refer to it as the "dong" plane. 

[mywifehatesmodels]

Some more progress. I'll do two posts on this one because of the number of pictures.

 

I got the stabilizers keyed and attached. I just marked my attachment points, drilled some holes and inserted some aluminum tubing with CA glue. The seams have been worked over since these pics were taken and I have a complete airframe now, almost ready for paint:

 

 

If this thing were any bigger, I would be forced to clean up my workbench. Thank goodness it's not that big!

 

 

John

[mywifehatesmodels]

As anxious as I am to get some paint on this baby, I had to address a couple of other things, first. I wanted to have the cannon and it's fairing all ready to go so that I could paint the fairing at the same time as the undersides, hopefully having it in place at that time. We'll see if that's possible, shortly. However, I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to attach the cannon, so that will be a factor. Let's start with the fairing....

 

The piece in the kit is designed for the MK 103. Since I will be doing a MK 101, there are a couple of small differences. The piece, itself, is pretty much the same. However, the part that protrudes from it is specific to the MK 103, so it will have to be removed. In addition to that, I will have to drill/cut the front to accept the new cannon. Not wanting to risk screwing up the one and only fairing in the kit, I decided the best option would be to make a resin copy of it, so if I mess it up I can just grab/cast another one.  Here is the kit part, which is hollow on the inside, but has fairly thick walls.

 

 

I used putty to secure this to an old clipboard that I use for mold making/casting, then surrounded it with Legos to make a mold box. After everything was in position, I mixed up some mold rubber and poured it in.

 

 

I did the same thing for my crankcase master, as well as a couple of parts I'll be using for the cannon. I also cast copies of the kit's spinners. The prop collars on the kit spinners protrude from the spinner. They should be inside the spinner, so I'll have to drill/sand them off. Again, not wanting to chance wrecking the kit parts, I made copies as backups. Here are some of the parts I casted.

 

 

The crankcase faces that I made suffer from a lot of air bubbles where the hex nuts are. I am currently making a different mold of that part that will hopefully allow the air to escape a little better.

 

Next up is the cannon, itself. As I posted in the first post of this thread, I'm using a 1/48 armor barrel set that is close in profile to the 1/32 MK 101, but will have to make some mods and additions, of course. Here's what I have, so far.

 

 

So, once I get the cannon parts together and figure out how/where I'm going to attach them, then I can go ahead and start painting.

 

Thanks for following along,

 

John

[lawman56]

I'm glad to see you return to this. I built a 1/72 version of this ugly little bugger as a teenager. I fell in love with it immediately. If you ask me, I think the Hs129 concept is what caused me to fall in love with the A-10, as well! Something about the graceful, yet ugly look of them both. Not to mention the massive cannons both pack up front!

[Out2gtcha]

Yesterday one of my students was asking if I had heard about this plane as he knows I'm into WWII military hardware. Apparently they've added the 75mm gun version to the online combat flight sim War Thunder and it is proving popular with the players.

 

They refer to it as the "dong" plane. 

 

lolz    that would be the Hs-199 "B3" that I have in my stash w/the 75mm Bordkanone canon:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stellar progress John!

 

I have HS 129-B3 / "Dong plane" in the stash yet to do................will be looking to this thread when it comes time to get my B3 rolling!