History
The
Henschel Hs 129, often referred to by it's nickname, the Panzerknacker,
(tank cracker), was a World War II ground attack aircraft fielded by the
Luftwaffe. Although likely to be a good anti-tank weapon, the plane was produced
in only small numbers and deployed during a time when the Luftwaffe was unable
to protect them from attack. It wasn’t as nearly successful or prolific as the
Soviet’s IL-2 Strumovik, however.
By
the middle of the 1930's the idea of using aircraft against ground targets had
been "well understood" to be of little use other than hurting enemy
morale. But the Condor Legion proved the opposite in Spain with attack planes
like the Henschel Hs 123 and cannon-armed versions of the Heinkel He 112.
Although these planes were poorly suited to the role, their powerful armament
and fearless pilots proved that the aircraft was a very effective weapon even
without bombs.
This
led the Luftwaffe to issue a tender for a new plane that was built specifically
for the ground-attack role. The plane had to be heavily armored around the
cockpit and engines, and include a 75 mm thick armored windscreen that had to be
as close as possible to the nose in order to see the ground during low level
strafing runs. One last requirement doomed the designs, they needed to be
powered by "unimportant" engines of low power. Four companies were
asked to respond, and only two of the resulting three entries were considered
worthy of consideration; Focke-Wulf's conversion of their earlier Fw 189
reconnaissance plane, and Henschel's new Hs 129.
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Design
and Prototypes
The
Hs 129 was designed around a single large "bathtub" of steel sheeting
that made up the entire nose area of the plane, completely enclosing the pilot
up to head level. Even the canopy was steel, with only tiny windows on the side
to see out of and two angled blocks of glass for the windscreen. In order to
improve the armor's ability to stop bullets the sides were angled in forming a
triangular fuselage, resulting in almost no room to move at shoulder level.
There was so little room in the cockpit that the instrument panel ended up under
the nose below the windscreen where it was almost invisible, some of the engine
instruments were moved outside onto the engine nacelles, and the gunsight was
mounted outside on the nose.
In
the end the plane came in 12% overweight and the engines 8% underpowered, so it
flew like a pig. The controls proved to be almost inoperable as speed increased,
and in testing one plane flew into the ground from a short dive because the
stick forces were too high for the pilot to pull out. The Fw design proved to be
no better, both planes were underpowered with their Argus 410 engines, and very
difficult to fly. In the end the only real deciding factor was that the Henschel
was smaller and cheaper. The Focke-Wulf was put on low priority as a backup, and
testing continued with the Hs 129A-0.
Hs
129B-1
A
series of improvements resulted in the Hs 129A-1 series, armed
with two 20 mm MG 151/20's and two 7.92 mm MG17's, along with the ability to
carry four 50kg bombs under the midline. But even before the A-1's were
delivered the plane was redesigned with the Gnôme-Rhône 14M radial engine,
which were captured in some number when France fell. This engine supplied 700 hp
(522 kW) for takeoff compared to the Argus at 465 hp (347 kW). The A-1 planes
were converted into Hs 129B-0's for testing (although some
claim that some A's were sold to Romania) and the pilots were reportedly much
happier. Their main complaint was the view from the canopy, so a single larger
windscreen and a new canopy with much better vision were added, resulting in the
production model Hs 129B-1.
B-1's
started rolling off the lines in December 1941, but they were delivered at a
trickle. In preparation for the new plane, I./Sch.G 1 had been formed up in
January with 109's and Hs 123's, and they were delivered B-0's and every B-1
that was completed. Still, it wasn't until April that 12 B-1's were delivered
and its 4th staffeln was ready for action. They moved to the eastern front in
the middle of May, and in June they received a new weapon, the 30 mm MK 101
cannon with armor-piercing ammo in a midline pod.
Hs
129B-2
By
May of 1942 only 50 of the planes had been delivered when they started to
deliver the new Hs 129B-2 model side-by-side with the B-1. The
only difference between the two were changes to the fuel system – a host of
other minor changes could be found almost at random on either model. As time
went on these changes were accumulated into the B-2 production line until you
could finally tell them apart at a glance, the main differences being the
removal of the mast for the radio antenna, the addition of a direction-finding
radio antenna loop, and shorter exhaust stacks on the engines.
In
the field the differences seemed to be more pronounced. The R-kits were
renumbered and some were dropped, and in general the B-2 planes received the
upgraded cannon pack using a MK 103 instead of the earlier MK 101. These guns
both fired the same ammunition, but the 103 did so about almost twice the rate.
Hs
129B-3
Even
by late 1942 complaints started about the MK103 against newer versions of the
Soviet T-34 tanks. One solution would be to standardize on the larger 37 mm gun,
itself adapted from an anti-tank gun that had recently been abandoned by the
army. For some reason the Luftwaffe decided to skip over this gun (although it
served perfectly well on the Ju 87), and install a 75 mm gun from the Panzer IV.
A huge hydraulic system was used to damp the recoil of the gun, and an
auto-loader system with twelve rounds was fitted in the large empty space behind
the cockpit. The resulting system was able to knock out any tank in the world,
but the weight slowed the already poor performance of the plane to barely
flyable in this new Hs 129B-3 version.
B-3's
only started arriving in June 1944, and only 25 were delivered by the time the
lines were shut down in September. A small number were also converted from older
B-2 models. In the field they proved deadly weapons, but with only 25 of them
they had no effect on the war effort.
Hs
129C
In
order to address the poor performance of the aircraft, plans had been underway
for some time to fit the plane with newer versions of the Italian
Isotta-Fraschini Delta engine that delivered 850 hp (634 kW). However
the engine ran into a number of delays, and was still not ready for production
when the plant was overrun by the Allies.
The
Kit
Hasegawa’s
1/48th Hs-129B-1 is a gem of a kit. Very typical of their newer molds
of the past few years. The moldings are crisp with nicely engraved panel lines.
There were no traces of flash or sink marks. The boxing I got was for the
Hs-129B-1 ‘North Africa’ edition. There are parts on the sprues to use if
you want to build a -2 model (DF loop antenna, shorter exhausts) but you are
limited to the weapons choice since the special boxing does not come with the
Mk-103 cannon. Someone must have messed up at the factory because I found 2 sets
of decals and clear parts in my kit. A bonus for the spares box!
Construction
This
kit goes together very nicely. As do most newer Hasegawa kits. The cockpit is a
bit spartan but the real aircraft was rather dull in this area as well. The
instrument panel and side consoles are decals. These went on with no trouble.
The only addition I made was to use CE’s posable seatbelts. There needs to be
something in place to dress things up a bit. The nose section is in several
pieces but these all join along existing panel lines so any seams are well
hidden. The only place that required filler was the lower fuse seam aft of the
wing and the join beteen the wing and underside of the aft fuse. This seems to
be a typical problem area for a few Hasegawa kits. The Gnôme-Rhône rotary
engines are nicely molded. Some paint and drybrushing are all that’s needed.
The cowls were assembled and the engines installed but these sub-assemblies were
put aside for paintin and attachement later.
There
are some fiddly bits with installing the aileron hinges then attaching the
ailerons them selves to the wing. Just take your time and it will go OK. The
landing gear wells are plain. I didn’t add any detail here because it would
reall not ever be seen. A few ejector pin marks need filling on the gear struts.
One nice feature was the included wheels were already molded with weight on
them. Nice touch. The gear asseblies were put together, painted and then set
aside for installation after final paint. In fact I leave off all antennas and
protruding bits until the very last minute. The canopy and windshield are very
basic. The windshield is installed in place then masking starts.
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Painting
I
think the longest part of completing this model is masking. I chose to make an
Eastern Front bird rather than the desert cammo version. Sure, the desert cammo
would have been easier but I had to have the Eastern Front scheme. I first
sprayed the underside color, Pollyscale’s acylic RLM 76. When that was dry I
masked it off and sprayed the upper surfaces with Pollyscale acrylic RLM 70.
Here’s where the fun starts; masking the splinter cammo. Once that was done I
sprayed Pollyscale acrylic RLM 71. I think removing the masking took almost as
long as applying it. The yellow distemper areas were them masked and sprayed
acrylic white as a base followed by Aeromaster acrylic RLM 04.
Once
everything was dry I gave the entire model a coat of clear lacquer in
preparation for decals.
Decals
and weathering
I
used the kit supplied decals. They worked very well and settled nicely. The
yellow tail band was a bit tricky and it wrinkled a bit with application of the
setting solution. I think next time I’ll just paint this rather then rely on
the decal. Hasegawa’s decals always seem to be a bit transparent. It’s not
noticeable on all but the larger, single color markings (with their white being
the worst). Once the decals were done I added the various bits; landing gear,
antennas, gear doors, gun sight, etc. I did not heavily weather this particular
machine. It looks like a newly delivered bird, ready for the harsh reality of
the Eastern Front. I did apply some Tamiya smoke for exhaust stains on the upper
wings and on the lower cowling exit areas.
Conclusion
This
is a very nice kit of a rather obscure ground attack aircraft. It assembles very
quickly and the fit is excellent. Most people that model WWII aircraft are
unaware of this particular plane. It doesn’t have the glamour or beauty of a
Bf-109 or P-51 but it was a necessary vehicle none-the-less.
Jeff
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