Aufklarer, a 1/48 Henschel Hs-126 in Winter.

[modelling minion]

This is one of those extremely rare occasions that I have known what I want to build for a GB since before it got through the bunfight, I usually end up building something completely different from what I intended after going through several changes of mind. Right from the start the Henschel Hs-126 was the front runner in the stash and the colour scheme was going to be either from a land of snow or sand, and snow has won.

ICM first released their very nice 1/48 Hs-126 in 2010 and It was released in boxings for the A and B versions, then about a year or so later it was released by Italeri with the options of both A and B from the same box (at least that is what it claims) and with a very nice decal sheet for 7 versions which actually made it quite difficult for me to decide what to build as I like a few of them, especially the Condor Legion and Greek ones, fortunately I think I have another one in the stash somewhere. Anyway lets start with the usual box top and whats in it shots shall we;

 

Rather nice box art actually.

The as yet untouched parts still in their plastic bag;

 

And the 6 other schemes offered by Italeri other than the option on the box top;

 

And the very nice looking decal sheet that comes with the kit;

 

I have a couple of references that I shall be using for this build;

 

 

 

Now those of you that know me or pop into my builds will know that I have a liking for a temporary Winter camouflage scheme and the Luftwaffe were kind enough to oblige by painting a fair few of these in such schemes from their service on the Russian front, such as the one on the front of the Aufklarer book on the right. And that aircraft is shown in the book with a nice clear picture to back up the profile;

 

 

So that is the one I am going to try to reproduce, assuming I can find the correct size and style of code letters in the decal stash.

 

I have a Helldiver to get either finished or very close to finishing before I can make a start on this one which will prove difficult as I really want to get started on this as I have been looking forward to it for a long time. Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

[CliffB]

Welcome to the Group Build Craig and I am impressed that you've stuck so unerringly to your original selection 

Your temporary winter schemes are always beautifully done and this one could become very appropriate, given that the GB runs until the end of November!

 

Cheers

[modelling minion]

2 hours ago, CliffB said:

Welcome to the Group Build Craig and I am impressed that you've stuck so unerringly to your original selection 

Your temporary winter schemes are always beautifully done and this one could become very appropriate, given that the GB runs until the end of November!

 

Cheers

Thanks Cliff, I can assure you that nobody is more surprised that I have stuck with my original choice than me, it just never happens!

Your vote of confidence is much appreciated mate, I just hope that this isn't the one occasion that it goes spectacularly wrong. 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Welcome aboard Craig, think Id do the greek on myself ?

[franky boy]

More winter camo Craig!

 

Your on a role. 
 

James

[modelling minion]

12 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Welcome aboard Craig, think Id do the greek on myself ?

Thanks Dennis, yes I was tempted by the Greek one but I have fancied a messy winter schemed one for a while.

12 hours ago, franky boy said:

More winter camo Craig!

 

Your on a role. 
 

James

I know James but its one I have wanted to do for a while, just a coincidence that I will be doing it so soon after the Hungarian 109. It was always going to be either winter or desert schemed so it would be similar to one of my 109's whichever I chose!

[Greg Law]

Good choice.  I will watch this one.

[modelling minion]

10 hours ago, Greg Law said:

Good choice.  I will watch this one.

Cheers Greg.

I am giving some consideration to doing one of the kit scheme rather than the winter one, yes I know but it wouldn't be one of my builds if I didn't at least think of changing my mind.

[PeterB]

On 8/3/2021 at 9:39 PM, modelling minion said:

This is one of those extremely rare occasions that I have known what I want to build for a GB since before it got through the bunfight, I usually end up building something completely different from what I intended after going through several changes of mind.

 

Hi Craig,

 

Same with me - a year or so back I swapped some bits and pieces with Pat @JOCKNEY and he sent me the Airfix 1/72 version of this plane and since then it has been my intention to build it in this GB - so I have started on my TSR-2 instead! I should still have time to build the Hs 126 as well, and maybe even my Roden Fokker DVIII.

 

Good luck with the build.

 

Pete

[modelling minion]

1 hour ago, PeterB said:

he sent me the Airfix 1/72 version of this plane

Thanks Pete,

 

I have built the Airfix one a couple of times and if I remember right it is quite nicely detailed too. It would be great if you built yours too, a nice trip down memory lane.

[Marklo]

I’m partial to the odd bit of distemper too, I did this a few years ago btw it’s deliberately er distressed, done with maskol and poster paint.

[modelling minion]

1 hour ago, Marklo said:

I did this a few years ago

And very nice it looks too. I understand about giving the white a roughly applied look as that is what they got a lot of the time.

[Hewy]

A grest choice , I'm  looking forward to this one, a winter white wash will look good craig 👍

[modelling minion]

9 minutes ago, Hewy said:

A grest choice , I'm  looking forward to this one, a winter white wash will look good craig 👍

Thanks mate, I am looking forward to getting started on it when I have got my Helldiver out of the way.

[modelling minion]

Well here we are almost exactly a month since my last post and I can actually report some progress, well quite a bit actually as I have been slowly plugging away at her since I got my Helldiver finished although I have had a fair amount of time where felling ill or apathetic has meant that progress has not been what it should have been.

 

The interior of the Hs-126 is entirely RLM-02 so that is what she got and then these parts were given a wash and some highlighting, here are pics of either side of the fuselage after they had been built up and and given the paint treatment;

 

 

The pilots area of the cockpit was given the same treatment, this includes some instrumentation on the back face of the bulkhead which faces the observers area;

 

 

Followed by the instrument panel;

 

The camera that fits in the fuselage and the observers floor;

 

And the stbd side of the fuselage with most things fitted in place except the observers floor;

 

With that done I have now started to join the fuselage halves together and I have to say that they are not a particularly good fit, I see some filler in my not to distant future.

 

The two parts of the wing have been joined together and these went together with no problems at all with just a couple of spots of filler needed where the sprue attachment points were;

 

Hopefully the next update will be in less than a months time, thanks for looking and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

[CliffB]

That's all looking very nice Craig and I do hope that you're feeling a bit better now.

 

Cheers

[modelling minion]

8 hours ago, CliffB said:

That's all looking very nice Craig and I do hope that you're feeling a bit better now.

 

Cheers

Thanks Cliff, perked up a bit the past couple of days and hopefully it will last.

[Hewy]

Nice job craig, i like the look of the hs -126 , i was tempted to build my icm version for this gb

[modelling minion]

1 hour ago, Hewy said:

Nice job craig, i like the look of the hs -126 , i was tempted to build my icm version for this gb

Cheers mate, it's not a bad kit at all but I have started to find the fit less than perfect such as joining the fuselage halves together, not horrendous and just needs some filling and sanding.

[Ray_W]

Hi Craig,

Just catching up with a few builds. Great subject! And more winter camo. Well for us in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is coming.

Ray

[modelling minion]

2 minutes ago, Ray_W said:

Hi Craig,

Just catching up with a few builds. Great subject! And more winter camo. Well for us in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is coming.

Ray

Hi Ray, yes more winter camo mate, hopefully this one will work out well like the 109.

I have been having a few issues with this one, building up the engine and it's cowling and getting everything aligned was a right PITA and I am still not 100% happy with it but it is one and so is some paint, I shall post some pics later.

[Greg Law]

Looking good Craig. I'm interested in this build as I have one started on the shelf. I'm worried about the wing attachment. 

Is this kit the same as the ICM kit? 

[modelling minion]

13 hours ago, Greg Law said:

Looking good Craig. I'm interested in this build as I have one started on the shelf. I'm worried about the wing attachment. 

Is this kit the same as the ICM kit? 

Thanks Greg.

Yes this the same plastic as the ICM kit mate, the bag of bits inside the box even comes with a little "made in Ukraine" label.

I must admit that I am a little worried about attaching the wing too, I am also worried about detaching the struts from the sprue as some of the sprue gates are much thicker than the struts. We shall see what happens.

[modelling minion]

Okay a bit later than planned but here are the latest pictures of the Hs-126.

As I mentioned earlier the engine gave me a bit of a headache but it is now firmly (I hope) fixed in place, the tailplanes went on nicely with just a smear of filler at the joints, I have left their bracing struts off until after the painting is done.

Here is the underside of the very large wing after the RLM 65 was applied;

 

And the uppersurfaces after the RLM 71 was sprayed on;

 

The fuselage had 65 applied then masked off and the 71 sprayed on;

 

I will be giving this a day or so for the paint to be safe enough to mask off for the RLM 70, I will be giving it a rough masking as the majority of the scheme will be covered in the temporary white so no need to  be perfect. After the 70 is done I shall be masking for the yellow theatre markings.

 

 

Thanks for looking in and as usual all comments and criticisms are gratefully received.

 

Craig.

[Hewy]

Nice 👍, and You do a fine looking winter white wash, so I'm looking forward to that bit shortly ,