Henschel Hs126B-1trop ICM 1/48
Another desert rat. I wouldn't call this kit terrible but it does have it's downsides, worst of which are a somewhat rough surface which lacks a lot of detail, some pretty poor engineering especially where attachment points and smaller parts are concerned and decals that were truly awful.
On the positive however, the separate control surfaces and realistic mounting of same are really nice and the cockpit has a good bit of detail though some of it is a bit soft. Adding an Eduard P-E set really helped out with the cockpit and exterior details. The thought of mating the wing to fuselage had me shaking in my boots, but it turned out that the struts did fit well after drilling out the cabane attachment points in the wing.
Doing the trop version necessitated scratch building the very boxy sand filter housing. It looks clumsy as heck to me, but from the few odd angle photos of the real thing available, it's my best approximation. Paint was painful- Masking another 70/71 splinter and then covering most of it up, trying to get proper soft edges in the sand color on wing and tail feathers was trying. Recreating the chaotic sprayed slashes on the fuse did not turn out as well as I wanted.
So thanks for looking- Hope you enjoy!
superb job on a pig of a kit stan!
Very nice though now you both have me scared as I have this in the stash
Hi George. If you ever get the urge to do yours, contact me for a 'what not to do' list! 😉
Nice. Like it.
Unusual subject, well presented.
Excellent result(s) on what appears to be a not-so-easy build. Great job!
10/10 for perseverance, Stan, I'm sure I would have ditched it. That canopy looks particularly neat.
Thanks George. Perseverance award accepted... it was a slough. And every time I thought I was finished, something else broke!
Very nice, Stan. I like the desert scheme, and very excellent finish work. Am I the only one to notice the tiny hooks/rings on the landing gear ?
Hi Terry. Those rings are grabs to pull down the steps which retract into the gear struts. The nose of this bugger is up there- no need for a ladder to replace ammo, add oil, change the sand filter, etc.
Thanks to all for the kind comments. Cheers!
A fine job sir.
Stan, this is the only one I've seen built, ever. I have one, and it scares me. Did you have any problem finding a glue that worked? One of the things I heard that scared me, mind.
I like the tropical filter, it's almost as pretty as the Vokes.
First rate job, great work.
Vokes?... Not sure what you refer to... would welcome elaboration. There are pics of several builds of the offending kit on the inter-web/google thing. The kit material seems to be +/- conventional styrene, so Tamiya Extra-Thin/Tenax/whatever, or your preferred mix of toluene/MEK/favorite volatile carcinogen suits yer fancy, will stick the bits together. CA works also for the quick/desperate/faint of heart as well.
Great model Stan. Again this is the only one I have seen built.
You did a fantastic job.
California Steve
Thanks much Steve. I'm somewhat proud that I've manage to finish the bugge, but hanging me head (Tom Dooley) about my airbrushing skills (or lack thereof). I now renounce MM enamels and rely on GS Mr. Color acrylic lacquers to supply better results.
Rats.. that would be bugger...
Thou dost protest way TOO much. A model that can bear such close-ups is just fine if not superb. Alignment, and finish -superb.
Another too much German jab also...EVERYBODY who knows WW2 aircraft knows what a Vokes filter is.
My favorite part-the letters in the code. You did notice right?
Why do you think I chose that one? 😉
Excellent work. Nice painting and weathering.
Excellent!
Very nice painting,excellent.
You have done an amazing job with this one ! I really like it... Like several others have mentioned above, I also have this kit but have not started it though. It looks like the strut alignment may need special attention during the build.
I remember building a smaller 1/72 version as a child. Cool plane indeed.
Nice
The Vokes filter is the one on the Hurricane and the Spit in the desert that looks like a goiter under the nose. It wasn't real pretty, but it kept the Merlin from seizing from all the sand dust.
There were two 1/72nd kits, the Italeri and the Airfix. I favor the Airfix 'cause it has an observer hanging over the side using a camera. Neat little figure, classic pose for an observation aircraft. The role went away with high performance fighters, shifted to L-5s, Austers, Cubs, Storches.
🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
Nice camouflage painting Stan, very outstanding model .
Superb build and thanks for pointing out the flaws of this kit.
Stan veri nice and clean build for a very original subject. Excellent camouflage.
Stan - painful or not, she turned out beautiful! I'd be proud to have taken credit for it! Also an unusual subject - I need one in 1/72 for my stash...
It has all been said, but that's very impressive - a very high level - brilliant. Thanks for sharing! The scratch build is really convincing and the paint job looks straight out of the desert!
A triumph of stubbornness and talent over plastic.
I love this aircraft reminds me of the Lysander, and I was going to buy it for a long time, but read a couple of reviews of the Italeri re-box and changed my mind !
Outstanding workmanship, Stan.