discussion 1/48 ESCI Henschel hs 129

[yak face]

Heres one I picked up off ebay , the ESCI Henschel hs129 . It dates from 1977 and is of the time , featuring raised panel lines and a quite basic cockpit . Its an aircraft that has always interested me though so I had to get it . I started with the cockpit , which has a decal for the instrument panel , a seat and stick and not much else . The cannon bulges on the sidewalls stopped halfway so had to be extended and I made some basic sidewalls as there was nothing either side of the seat . P.E. Belts were added after I had cut two slots in the seat back and fastened to the rear bulkhead . Its very basic but luckily the canopy is closed and has very little glazing so not much will be seen anyway .

 

[Steven000]

Nice one Tony
This is the only 1/48th I made as a kid, I remember it felt very sturdy and had a stronger landing gear the my 1/72th fleet lol.
Have fun, looking forward to your paintwork.

 

[HAWKERHUNTER]

An interesting model Tony, looks a little like a Beaufighter. Great start so far.

 

[yak face]

Cheers guys. Not decided yet if I’m doing the B1,B2 or B3 option , I like the big gun on the B3 but it wasnt really used operationally much and if I do then the bottom gun troughs need fairing over so it might be the B2 , I can decide later after ive got the airframe all together

 

[Neil]

I imagine that having that big gun shooting was probably jarring to say the least, so not surprised it wasn’t used much - but it does look kind of scary up there. Good luck with it, 1977 and looking at the cockpit decals makes me glad things have improved.

 

[yak face]

I imagine that having that big gun shooting was probably jarring to say the least, so not surprised it wasn’t used much - but it does look kind of scary up there. Good luck with it, 1977 and looking at the cockpit decals makes me glad things have improved.

Yes they're very cartoon like arent they ! Luckily they sit well under the coaming so cant really be seen once the canopy is on . The gun would be a real speed killer with the recoil , I dont think these were the fastest aircraft to start with !

 

[Jim R]

Certainly a kit with a few shortcomings. No doubt you'll continue with your improvements and end up with a great model. Not a subject I remember seeing modelled before.

 

[flyjoe180]

Off to a good start Tony. Half the cockpit instrument detail sits on the inside of each cowl.

 

[Geoffers]

The office is looking good Tony

It’s an interesting aircraft, the versions with the big gun are a similar concept to the Dh Mosquito “Tetse” idea but a bit less elegant.

 

[yak face]

The office is looking good Tony

It’s an interesting aircraft, the versions with the big gun are a similar concept to the Dh Mosquito “Tetse” idea but a bit less elegant.

Yes the tsetse was a rather more integrated design although slightly smaller at 57 mm but I think more successful than the Henschel . I built the Airfix mosquito tsetse a bit back but in 1/72 . Ive made up my mind and I’m going to do the b-3 with the 75mm gun , as they say ‘go big or go home!’

 

[yak face]

Got the wings and tail fitted and the fit wasnt exactly Tamiya style ! All the seams and joints needed filler of some type and there were quite a few sink marks to sort too. The engines have been fitted in the cowlings and the joints sorted but looking at reference pics there are two strange lumps on the underside of the kit cowling that just arent there on any photos ive found . So , out with the razor saw and lop them off . Speaking of the cowlings , there arent any locating lugs or any sort of solid contact to glue anything to ! How ESCI expected you to fit them is anybodys guess . I ended up gluing 4 mm blocks of styrene strip to the nacelle front and fixing the back of the engine to these . It makes a good solid joint .
The canopy has now been fitted , masked up and painted RLM 02 so the next step is a coat of primer then I can see if it needs any remedial work ( which I’m sure it will)

 

[Steven000]

Nice progress Tony, a lot of extra work but looks like you're on top of it.

Those inlet-boxes under the cowlings seem to vary a lot indeed, round, boxy... Probably based on the type of engine used or something.

 

[yak face]

Nice progress Tony, a lot of extra work but looks like you're on top of it.

Those inlet-boxes under the cowlings seem to vary a lot indeed, round, boxy... Probably based on the type of engine used or something.
View attachment 1284112View attachment 1284113View attachment 1284114

Yes the inlet on the early marks was the round type but on the b2 and b3 variants its the square one . The two round lumps either side of it on the kit cowling though arent really visible in any pics of the b3 so off they came !

 

[Steven000]

Misunderstoot you refered to the 2 lumbs further to the back indeed, well done cutting them off then cheers