DONE @p.2 +++ 1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2; Stab II./AufklGr. 122, Finland, 1943

[Dizzyfugu]

The kit and its assembly:
This build was inspired by a similar project done by ericr here at whatfimodellers.com in 1:48 a while ago: a combination of the German land-based Hs 126 observation aircraft with twin floats from an Ar 196 seaplane. This combo looked very natural and balanced, so I decided to re-create a personal interpretation in my "home scale" 1:72.

Basically, this what-if model is a straightforward combination of the Italeri Hs 126 A (a venerable but pretty good model, even today, despite raised panel lines) with floats from a Heller Ar 196 A (also a slightly dated but very nice model, also with raised panel lines). The selling point of both kits is their good fit and overall simplicity, even though mounting the Hs 126's wings to the fuselage – it is held only at six points – is a tricky task. Furthermore, once the wing is in place, painting the area in front of the cockpit as well as the windscreen area is quite difficult, so that I did that ahead of the final assembly.

1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2, 'F6+DC' of the Stabschwarm II./AufklGr 122; Petsamo Airfield (Tampere/Southern Finnland), February 1943 (What-if/modified Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2, 'F6+DC' of the Stabschwarm II./AufklGr 122; Petsamo Airfield (Tampere/Southern Finnland), February 1943 (What-if/modified Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The Ar 196 floats feature lots of struts, and to mount them (only) under the fuselage the outer supports had to go, because they are normally attached to the Ar 196's mid-wing section. What was a bit challenging is the struts' attachment points on the floats: they come with square bases that offer relatively big surfaces to glue the party in place, adding stability to the whole construction. However, blending these areas into each other called for some PSR.
A similar attachment solution was chosen by Heller to mount the floats' struts to the Ar 196 hull – again, the "end plates" had to go and the struts had to be trimmed to keep the floats parallel to the fuselage. Since the outer supports were gone, I added diagonal stabilizers between the front and rear struts cluster.

1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2, 'F6+DC' of the Stabschwarm II./AufklGr 122; Petsamo Airfield (Tampere/Southern Finnland), February 1943 (What-if/modified Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2, 'F6+DC' of the Stabschwarm II./AufklGr 122; Petsamo Airfield (Tampere/Southern Finnland), February 1943 (What-if/modified Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


To add a personal twist and depict an evolutionary late version of the Hs 126, I decided to swap the engine for a donor part from a Matchbox He 115 – it is basically the same engine, but the cowling is slightly wider and cleaner. The engine part itself is simpler. Just a disc with an engine relief. But with the propeller in place (mounted on a metal axis to spin free), this is not obvious. With scratched exhaust pipes, the new cowling gives the aircraft a slightly more modern and beefier look?

1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2, 'F6+DC' of the Stabschwarm II./AufklGr 122; Petsamo Airfield (Tampere/Southern Finnland), February 1943 (What-if/modified Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


Another personal addition is improved crew comfort: the original Hs 126 observer workplace was totally open, just protected by spoilers on the canopy that only covered the pilot's station. Esp. at wintertime this must have been a real P!TA place, so that I tried to extend the glazing. A raid in the spares box revealed two things that created an almost perfect combo: a Hs 126 glazing from a Matchbox kit and a rear canopy section from the spurious ESCI Ka-34 "Hokum" kit.
The Matchbox parts' selling point: it fits perfectly into the respective opening on the Italeri kit and has a slightly "boxier" roof shape, which better too up the square profile of the Hokum cockpit, which, itself, perfectly fell into place over the observer station! To adapt the modern piece to the highly braced Hs 126 glazing I added fake stiffeners made from adhesive tape cross- and lengthwise. I thought that just painting braces onto the flat windows was not enough, and with some paint the tape's 3D effect looks quite convincing!

Other small additions are a barrel for the machine gun the cowling, a stabilizing fin made from styrene sheet material and PE ladders from the floats into the cockpit on both sides.

More coming soon...

[ericr]

 

[Dizzyfugu]

"Behold what becomes of your original concept".  Hope you like it!

[ericr]

feel free to adapt it fully to your tastes ! 

I am busy retrying it in 1/48 and red, after the earlier 1/72 blue (or more recent FW190 1/48 in yellow ...)

[philp]

Looking good so far.

[Wardukw]

I like seaplanes  ...looking forward to seeing more on this Dizzy 

[Dizzyfugu]

Painting and markings:
I wanted an authentic Luftwaffe livery – but the Hs 126 and similar German recce planes of the mid-WWII era only offer a small range of camouflage options. The generic paint scheme was a splinter pattern in RLM 70/71/65 with a low, hard waterline. Africa as optional theatre of operations offered some variations with field-modifications of this basic scheme with German and Italian sand added on top – but that would not have been the right option for a floatplane, I guess?

Eventually I decided to locate the model's unit far up North and to add improvised winter camouflage to the standard livery. It was applied just as in real life: first, the whole model received its standard splinter camouflage with Humbrol 30, 91 and 65, then the decals were applied.


1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2, 'F6+DC' of the Stabschwarm II./AufklGr 122; Petsamo Airfield (Tampere/Southern Finnland), February 1943 (What-if/modified Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2, 'F6+DC' of the Stabschwarm II./AufklGr 122; Petsamo Airfield (Tampere/Southern Finnland), February 1943 (What-if/modified Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2, 'F6+DC' of the Stabschwarm II./AufklGr 122; Petsamo Airfield (Tampere/Southern Finnland), February 1943 (What-if/modified Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The code was puzzled together from the scrap box, using simplified Eiserne Kreuze without black edges. The white unit emblems are fictional and come from an MPM He 100 kit with spurious PR markings. The tactical code is "plausible" ("9W" is the AufklGr. 122's unit code, "D" denotes the 4th aircraft, and "C" is the verification letter for the Stabgeschwader of the unit's 2nd group) and created from single letters/digits. The black and the green have no strong contrast to the camouflage, but this style was common Luftwaffe practice. The Stabflieger color green was also incorporated on the spinner, another very typical Luftwaffe marking to denote an aircraft's operational unit.


1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2, 'F6+DC' of the Stabschwarm II./AufklGr 122; Petsamo Airfield (Tampere/Southern Finnland), February 1943 (What-if/modified Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


The temporary whitewash was the applied with white acrylic paint (Revell 05) and a flat, soft brush. Once dry, the whole model received a light black ink washing, post-panel shading and a light treatment with wet sandpaper on the white areas to simulate wear and tear. After some exhaust stains were created with graphite, the model was finally sealed with matt acrylic varnish.


1:72 Henschel Hs 126 C-2, 'F6+DC' of the Stabschwarm II./AufklGr 122; Petsamo Airfield (Tampere/Southern Finnland), February 1943 (What-if/modified Italeri kit) - WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

[PR19_Kit]

Looking VERY realistic indeed! 

[Snowtrooper]

Petsamo is on the Arctic Sea shore though? The airfield near Tampere was at the time at Härmälä (nowadays there's one in Pirkkala), supporting State Aircraft Factory (Valtion Lentokonetehdas), Air Force Repair Depot (Lentovarikko) and the Air Force Test Squadron (Koelentolaivue). No operational units were stationed there at the time, Satakunta Air Command and Fighter Squadron 21 moved to Tampere only in 1986, but to the present airport location in Pirkkala instead of the by then closed Härmälä.

The nearest lake is only about 1,5 km away from the former Härmälä site though, so still plausible that floatplanes could have been operating from there temporarily.

[Dizzyfugu]

I found hints about Petsamo in literature that it was used by Luftwaffe units during WWII - and it was directly located at a large lake?

https://www.google.com/maps/search/petsamo+airfield/@61.5154478,23.7681367,5150m/data=!3m1!1e3

[comrade harps]

The worn winter white wash is a master move.

[Dizzyfugu]

...or a desperate move to add some excitement to the rather bleak RLM 70/71/65 standrad Luftwaffe livery. It does the job, though.

[Tophe]

Good start.
I appreciated ericr's one, but your one will be different for sure, without bright primary colour at least (ericr's signature)

[comrade harps]

...or a desperate move to add some excitement to the rather bleak RLM 70/71/65 standrad Luftwaffe livery. It does the job, though.

[mat]

The geschwader code "9W" were used by NJG 101. If you modify to "6W" you get the code for SAGr 128, which could certainly have found a good use for a Hs 126 on floats.