Henschel Hs-129B-2/RIII - Finished

[Dpgsbody55]

Thanks for that, Brian.  I wasn't aware of such laws as I don't pay too much attention to the activities of politicians.  It's too depressing.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Out2gtcha]

7 hours ago, Dpgsbody55 said:

Thanks for that, Brian.  I wasn't aware of such laws as I don't pay too much attention to the activities of politicians.  It's too depressing.

 

Indeed.  IIRC, any modelers who display models in a contest/magazine/public space of any kind in Germany have to put a sticker over it, or at least over the connecting center part. 

[MikeMaben]

The unassembled kit and the decals are inside a box. Who's gonna see that ?? 

[Dpgsbody55]

On 8/12/2021 at 3:43 PM, MikeMaben said:

The unassembled kit and the decals are inside a box. Who's gonna see that ?? 

 

Offensive, antisocial, antediluvial throwbacks like me who try to build accurate scale replicas, that's who.  And then I have the temerity to display pictures of them on a public forum like this.  I'm worried now, in case I get us banned in Germany.... 

 

Obviously, I need to be protected from myself. 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Dpgsbody55]

Last update on this model.  It's done.

 

My first job was to add the external instruments.  This plane's cockpit was so cramped, these instruments had to go outside.  The kit provides a clear piece to go int the top half of each nacelle, and you later put decals in place to simulate the gauges.  I filed all this off and glued them in place as I was planning to use the Eduard etch pieces, which have the gauges printed onto the inner piece, and the gauge bezels on the outer.  These need some bending and twisting to get them to sit down, and I did the inner, then manipulated the bezel piece to sit down tight on top of that, then glued the whole into place.  Here's the right side set, before I've dropped some MicroKlear on top.

 

 

And the left side, after application of MicroKlear, which seems to give it a bit more depth.

 

 

Next, I turned the model over, and completed all the remaining parts that go on the undersides.  These are the 30mm cannon, undercarriage wheel well doors, and the bomb racks that go on the outer wings.  I started in the middle and worked out, starting with the gun.  The gun cover must go over the barrel before placing the gun itself.  This is held in place with a pin through each of four mounting points on the gun bay.  This is an earlier picture which I hope illustrates that.

 

 

So the gun cover has to go over the barrel first, before the pins are inserted retaining the gun, then the cover can be glued down over the top.  Thankfully, the cover can be moved out of the way during this, but I found the cover needed some adjustment to the barrel aperture and the forward edge before it would sit down in place.  I glued it down via the pin holes and at the rear edge.  Here's the gun inside the cover before gluing, and at this point, I feel I should apologise profusely to any governments which might be upset by the picture of my plastic gun.

 

 

And in place, together with the wheel well doors and bomb racks.  While it was upside down, I also added the wheels, which I had previously flatted and dirtied, together with the tail wheel.

 

 

 

I might add at this point, that the kit also provides an alternate to the gun, in the form of a centre mounted bomb rack which has one large centrally mounted bomb, surrounded by four smaller bombs.  Unfortunately, the kit instructions make no mention of them.  For another yet to be released kit??

 

 

No further mention of those Who Must Be Seen To Be Doing Something here.  You may also note here that I have not included any bombs on my model, or indeed any other model presented here, as I prefer to display my models depicting the plane itself.

 

Next, I fitted the externally mounted gunsight, which comprises three parts, and made two restraining cables for the pilot's head armour, which has to fold rearwards in order for the pilot to get into the cockpit.  This picture also shows the two fuselage gun bays and the ladder at the rear of the wings.

 

 

 

As you can see, the right side engine cowling has bee fitted, as has the propeller not visible in the above shot.  Here's the left side engine, with the prop fitted also.  On this side, I've not glued the prop into place, so that I can remove that cowl if I want to.  The right side prop has been glued in place as it was a little loose on the prop shaft. 

 

 

I've also made the cover over the fuselage fuel tank removable.  On the subject of removable panels, you may recall that I have built the model with all the fuselage insides painted, with the view that I'd keep the covers removable.  Unfortunately, some of the smaller panels just kept falling off, so these were glued in place before painting.  The larger panels are held in place with wire clips, but these are so tight, it's hard to get them off so no pics of these, alas.

 

 

As you can see, the model was already weathered when I took these pictures this afternoon, so here is the model in it's entireity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So another model in my stash done.  My wife will be pleased .  Unless I go buying more.....   This was a very enjoyable kit to build, and my first ZM kit.  It won't be my last.

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[chrish]

Whoooo Niiice!

[MikeMaben]

Nice Mike , another one on the shelf of done 

[BradG]

Looks damn good mate. I will add you to the gallery.

[Dpgsbody55]

On 8/16/2021 at 4:06 PM, MikeMaben said:

Nice Mike , another one on the shelf of done 

 

Yeah, but soon I'll have to buy more shelves... 

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Out2gtcha]

Lovely, lovely work!   I really have always like the HS-129, and cant wait for the B-3 to (eventually) come out. Well done! 

[dennismcc]

What a great build, certainly complex but the end result looks really worth it.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Dpgsbody55]

On 8/20/2021 at 12:20 AM, Out2gtcha said:

Lovely, lovely work!   I really have always like the HS-129, and cant wait for the B-3 to (eventually) come out. Well done! 

 

Yeah, that might be a good excuse to have another go at this.  There's a lot of alternate parts for this in the box, so clearly ZM have more subjects waiting in the wings.

 

On 8/20/2021 at 2:22 AM, dennismcc said:

What a great build, certainly complex but the end result looks really worth it.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Actually, Dennis, I don't see this as that complex a build. Everything went together very well making it really quite easy as long as you pay attention to what comes next.  The most critical part is the fitment of the cockpit to the fuselage which affects the alignment of the front fuselage panels.

 

I have a ZM Dornier 335 in my stash too and am now really looking forward to building that.  I have one more model I want to build after my present project, then maybe the Dornier??

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Nighthawk Calling 1]

Fantastic build of a lovely areoplane. Well done 

[TimW]

Nice!  I really like the weathering--not overstated, but enough to show this aircraft has "been around."

 

Excellent work!

 

Tim W.

[Dpgsbody55]

On 9/10/2021 at 2:47 AM, Nighthawk Calling 1 said:

Fantastic build of a lovely areoplane. Well done 

 

Thank you.  It was an enjoyable build, and my first ZM kit, so looking forward to doing more.

 

On 9/22/2021 at 9:51 PM, TimW said:

Nice!  I really like the weathering--not overstated, but enough to show this aircraft has "been around."

 

Excellent work!

 

Tim W.

 

Thanks Tim.  I always agonise over the weathering as I don't feel at all confident with it.  Factory fresh is so much easier!!

 

 

Cheers,

Michael