1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, Slovak Air Force, early 1943

Dizzyfugu · June 06, 2022, 05:14:46 AM

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
After the division of Czechoslovakia by Germany in 1939, Slovakia was left with a small air force composed primarily of Czechoslovak combat aircraft. This force defended Slovakia against Hungary in March 1939, in the Slovak–Hungarian War in March 1939 in which Hungary reoccupied Carpathian Ruthenia and parts of southern Slovakia. In this the SVZ suffered some losses against Royal Hungarian Air Force. Later, the SVZ also took part in the German Invasion of Poland. The SVZ took part in Axis offensives in the Ukraine and Russian Central front sectors of the Eastern Front under the lead of Luftwaffe in the Stalingrad and Caucasus operations. This engagement resulted in great losses of aircraft and personnel, though.

During the World War II, the Slovak Air force was charged with the defense of Slovak airspace, and, after the invasion of Russia, provided air cover for Slovak forces fighting against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. For the rest of the war the SVZ fought US Army Air Forces and Royal Air Force raids against Slovakia.

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Among the many more or less outdated German aircraft types inherited from the Luftwaffe during the early stages of WWII was a small number of Hs 123 A-1 dive bombers. The Henschel Hs 123 was a small single-seat biplane dive bomber and close-support attack aircraft. The aircraft was designed to meet the 1933 dive bomber requirements for the reborn Luftwaffe. Both Henschel and rival Fieseler (with the Fi 98) competed for the production contract requirement, which specified a single-seat biplane dive bomber. The first prototype, the Hs 123 V1, was cleared for its maiden flight on 1 April 1935; General Ernst Udet, a World War I ace, flew it on its first public demonstration flight on 8 May 1935. The first three Henschel prototypes, with the first and third powered by 485 kW (650 hp) BMW 132A-3 engines and the second by a 574 kW (770 hp) Wright Cyclone, were tested at Rechlin in August 1936. Only the first prototype had "smooth" cowlings; from that point on, all aircraft had a tightly fitting, characteristic cowling that included 18 fairings covering the engine valves. The Henschel prototypes did away with bracing wires and although they looked slightly outdated with their single faired interplane struts and cantilever main landing gear legs attached to smaller (stub) lower wings, the Hs 123 featured an all-metal construction, clean lines and superior maneuverability. Its biplane wings were of a "sesquiplane" configuration, whereby the lower wings were significantly smaller than the top wings.

The overall performance of the Hs 123 V1 prototype prematurely eliminated any chance for the more conventional Fi 98, which was cancelled after a sole prototype had been constructed. During testing, the Hs 123 proved capable of pulling out of "near-vertical" dives; however, two prototypes subsequently crashed due to structural failures in the wings that occurred when the aircraft were tested in high-speed dives. The fourth prototype incorporated improvements to cure these problems; principally, stronger center-section struts were fitted. After it had been successfully tested, the Hs 123 was ordered into production with a 656 kW (880 hp) BMW 132Dc engine.

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The Hs 123 was intended to replace the Heinkel He 50 biplane reconnaissance and dive bomber as well as acting as a "stop-gap" measure until the more modern and capable Junkers Ju 87 became available. As such, production was limited and no upgrades were considered, although an improved version, the Hs 123B, was developed by Henschel in 1938. A proposal to fit the aircraft with a more powerful 716 kW (960 hp) "K"-variant of its BMW 132 engine did not proceed beyond the prototype stage, the Hs 123 V5. The V6 prototype fitted with a similar powerplant and featuring a sliding cockpit hood was intended to serve as the Hs 123C prototype.

About 265 aircraft were produced and production of the Hs 123A ended in Autumn 1938. It was flown by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War and the early to midpoint of World War II. At the outbreak of hostilities, Hs 123s were committed to action in the Polish Campaign. Screaming over the heads of enemy troops, the Hs 123s delivered their bombs with devastating accuracy. A frightening aspect of an Hs 123 attack was the staccato noise of its engine that a pilot could manipulate by changing rpm to create "gunfire-like" bursts. The Hs 123 proved rugged and able to take a lot of damage and still keep on flying. Operating from primitive bases close to the front lines, the type was considered by ground crews to be easy to maintain, quick to re-equip and reliable even under dire field conditions.

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The Polish campaign was a success for an aircraft considered obsolete by the Luftwaffe high command. Within a year, the Hs 123 was again in action in the Blitzkrieg attacks through the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Often positioned as the Luftwaffe's most-forward based combat unit, the Hs 123s flew more missions per day than other units, and again proved their worth in the close-support role. With Ju 87s still being used as tactical bombers rather than true ground support aircraft and with no other aircraft capable of this mission in the Luftwaffe arsenal the Hs 123 was destined to continue in service for some time, although numbers were constantly being reduced by attrition.

The Hs 123 was not employed in the subsequent Battle of Britain as the English Channel proved an insuperable obstacle for the short-ranged aircraft, and the sole leftover operator, II.(Schl)/LG 2, went back to Germany to re-equip with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighter bomber (Jabo) variant. The Bf 109E fighter bomber was not capable of carrying any more bombs than the Hs 123. It did, however, have a greater range and was far more capable of defending itself. On the downside were the notoriously tricky taxiing, ground handling, and takeoff/landing characteristics of the Bf 109, which were exacerbated with a bomb load.

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

At the beginning of the Balkans Campaign, the 32 examples of the Hs 123 that had been retired after the fall of France were taken back into service and handed over to the Slovak Air Force to replace the heavy losses on the Eastern Front after combat fatigue and desertion had reduced the pilots' effectiveness. Most of Slovakia's obsolete biplanes were replaced with modern German combat aircraft, including the Messerschmitt Bf 109, so that the Hs 123s were initially regarded with distrust – but the machines proved their worth in the ensuing battles. The Slovak Hs 123s took part in the Battle of Kursk and supported ground troops, some were outfitted with locally designed ski landing gears which proved to be a very effective alternative to the Hs 123's spatted standard landing gear which was prone to collect snow and mud and even block. After this deployment at the Russian front, the Slovak Air Force was sent back to defend Slovak home air space, primarily executed with Messerschmitt Bf 109 E and G types, Avia B-534, and some other interceptor types, also helped by Luftwaffe units active in the area.
Being confined to national borders, the Slovak Hs 123s were put in reserve and relegated to training purposes, even though they were occasionally activated to support German ground troops. From late August 1944 the remaining Hs 123s also actively took part in the suppression of the Slovak National Uprising against Germany.

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Since Hs 123 production had already stopped in 1940 and all tools had been destroyed, the permanent attrition could not be replaced - due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts the type's numbers dwindled. When Romania and the Soviet Union entered Slovakia, they organized with some captured aircraft and defectors a local Insurgent Air Force to continue the fight against Axis forces in country, including the last operational Slovak Hs 123s. No aircraft survived the war.

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 8.33 m (27 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)
Height: 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 24.85 m² (267.5 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,500 kg (3,307 lb)
Gross weight: 2,215 kg (4,883 lb)

Powerplant:
1× BMW 132Dc 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine with 660 kW (880 hp),
driving a 2-bladed metal variable-pitch propeller

Performance:
Maximum speed: 341 km/h (212 mph, 184 kn) at 1,200 m (3,937 ft)
Range: 860 km (530 mi, 460 nmi) with a 100 l drop tank
Combat range: 480 km (300 mi, 260 nmi) with 200 kg (440.9 lb) of bombs
Service ceiling: 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 15 m/s (3,000 ft/min)

Armament:
2× 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns, 400 rpg
Up to 450 kg (992.1 lb) of bombs under fuselage and wings

The kit and its assembly:
A relatively simple what-if project, and it took a while to figure out something to do with a surplus Airfix Hs 123 A kit in The Stash™ without a proper plan yet. The Hs 123 is an overlooked aircraft, and the fact that all airframes were used during WWII until none was left makes a story in Continental Europe a bit difficult. I also did not want to create a German aircraft – Finland was an early favorite, because I wanted to add a ski landing gear (see below), but since I won't build anything with a swastika on it this option was a dead end. Then I considered an operator from the Balkans, e. g. Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia or Slovakia – and eventually settled for the latter because of the national markings.

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The kit was built almost OOB, and the Airfix Hs 123 is a nice offering. Yes, it's a simple kit, but its is IMHO a very good representation, despite the many rivets on the hull, a rather bleak interior and some sinkholes (e. g. on the massive outer wings struts). It goes together well, just a little PSR here and there. I just added a dashboard (scratched from styrene sheet) and modified the OOB 50 kg bombs with extended impact fuzes with a flat, round plate at the tip, so that the bomb itself explodes above soft ground or snow for a bigger blast radius.

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The only major modification is a transplanted ski landing gear from a PM Model (Finnish) Fokker D.XXI, which had to be reduced in length to fit under the compact Hs 123. A small tail ski/skid was scratched from styrene sheet material.

Thankfully, the Hs 123 only calls for little rigging – just between the central upper wing supports and there is a characteristic "triangle" wiring in the cowling. All these, together with the wire antenna, were created with heated sprue material.

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Painting and markings:
Finland had been a favorite because I would have been able to apply a more interesting paint scheme than the standard Luftwaffe RLM 70/71/65 splinter scheme with a low waterline that was typical for the Hs 123 during WWII. However, as a former Luftwaffe aircraft I retained this livery but decided to add a winter camouflage as a suitable thematic supplement to the skis.
The basic colors became Humbrol 65 underneath and 30 and 75 from above – the latter for a stronger contrast to the Dunkelgrün than Humbrol 91 (Schwarzgrün). Thanks to the additional whitewash mottles, which were inspired by a similar livery seen on a contemporary Bulgarian Avia B.534, I did not have to be too exact with the splinter camouflage.

The cockpit and cowling interior were painted with RLM 02 (Humbrol 240), the propeller blades became Schwarzgrün (Humbrol 91, further darkened with some black) and the bombs were painted in a dark grey (Revell 77) while the small 100 l drop tank became bare aluminum (Revell 99).

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

However, before the white mottles could be added, the kit received its decals so that they could be painted around the markings, just as in real life. The Slovak national markings had to be scratched, and I used standard white simplified German Balkenkreuze over a cross made from blue decal stripes. Later a separate red decal circle was placed on top of that. The only other markings are the red "7" codes, edged in white for better contrast (from a Heller Bf 109 K) and the fuel information triangles on the fuselage from the Hs 123's OOB sheet. As an ID marking for an Eastern Front Axis aircraft, I retained the wide yellow fuselage stripe from the OOB, sheet, too, and added yellow tips on the upper wings' undersides.
The whitewash camouflage was then created with white acrylic paint (Revell 05), applied with a soft brush with a rounded tip. Once this had dried, I treated the surfaces with fine wet sandpaper for a weathered/worn look.

Finally, after some soot stains behind the exhausts and around the machine gun nozzles, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and the rigging (see above) was done.

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 123 A-1, aircraft 'Red 12' of the Slovenské Vzdušné Zbrane (SVZ/Slovak Air Force) 13th Stíhaci Letka (Reserve Squadron), Bratislava/Slovakia, January 1943 (What-if/modified Airfix kit) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The Hs 123 might not be the sexiest aircraft of WWII, but I like this rugged pug which could not be replaced by its successor, the Ju 87, and served in its close support role until literally no aircraft was left. Putting one on skis worked quite well, and the exotic Slovak markings add a special touch – even though the national markings almost disappear among the disruptive whitewash camouflage! The result looks quite plausible, though, and the old Airfix kit is IMHO really underestimated.

Wurgerman · June 06, 2022, 05:54:58 AM

Excellent, as usual !

Wurgerman

PR19_Kit · June 06, 2022, 07:39:26 AM

VERY effective camo, and even more so in black & white!

As you say, the Hs123 is almost forgotten, nice that you've bought it back again.

kitbasher · June 06, 2022, 08:02:12 AM

The Airfix Hs123 is a super little kit, typical of early/mid-70s Airfix output. The Slovak markings are certainly a novelty.

Hotte · June 06, 2022, 10:42:47 AM

Very nice Eins Zwei Drei

Hotte

Rheged · June 06, 2022, 10:48:42 AM

Another aircraft up to your usual excellent standard.

Wardukw · June 06, 2022, 12:57:34 PM

Another beauty Thomas

That paint works so well with that little bird ..makes it a little hard to see the details which means...it working

The Wooksta! · June 06, 2022, 01:27:26 PM

The nationalist Chinese had them and Spain was still flying them until after the war.

Whilst I applaud the no swastikas policy, I disagree with the collaborators too. The Nazis were sheer evil, but traitors helping them? Just as bad.

stevehed · June 07, 2022, 12:26:59 PM

Very well done. Subtle and effective whif.

comrade harps · June 07, 2022, 11:41:46 PM

The addition of the Dinort fuse extenders is a nice touch

Snowtrooper · June 08, 2022, 12:10:24 AM

Like others have already said, fantastic camo.

If Finnish swastikas are a problem (I can understand why, even though the Finnish and Latvian Air Force swastikas pre-date the Nazi insignia), then post-war roundels would have solved the issue? After all, we did keep even Fokker C.X's flying into the late 50's (the last of them crashed in 1958), so a few Hs 123's in post-war years (or in the Lapland War) would not have been a stretch.

A very plausible double whiffery to enable future builds would be to say that the FAF never adopted the swastika in the first place, as the personal coat of arms of a Swedish nobleman on every plane and not just the one he donated might have crossed some wires with Finnish nationalists. After the blue-white flag was agreed upon in 1918, it would have been natural to adopt the resulting white-blue-white cockade as the Air Force insignia as well; when choosing their Air Force insignia, most nations simply chose the cockade.

NARSES2 · June 08, 2022, 06:23:58 AM

I particularly like the camouflage

nighthunter · June 14, 2022, 05:46:39 AM

Thomas, it's quite surprising that the Finns never used them... *Hint Hint*