Price around €45.00
Review by Geoff Coughlin (November 2017)
Our sincere thanks to GasPatch for supplying or review sample – get this impressive kit here now!
This manufacturer is very well known in the UK for their great turnbuckle sets to help create authentic bi-plane rigging but I had no idea that they had gone into full production with a growing range of high quality, multi-media kits – my bad for sure! Their stand at this year’s IPMS UK Scale Model World at Telford was crammed full with a wide range of excellent kits and accessories.
Initial impressions
This is a class product by any standards and this impression starts with what is an excellent sturdy box that will ensure your kit arrives in perfect condition – some nice box art is also attractive. And what of the contents? let’s go inside…
All the grey sprues are packaged in their own bags and these even have perforated edges to make opening easy – a first with that design.
What you immediately notice is the precise and restrained engraved panel line detail and sheer quality of the tooling, simply superb, really, it’s that good. The wings and surfaces that need a gentle ripple-effect are very well done.
This model will be attractive to modellers because the detail is very good and of course there is no rigging! This will please many :)
Cockpit
The internal detail is all there from what I can see from the stepped main instrument panels to bulkhead, extinguisher and pistol and so it goes on. You can see the photos as well as me and what’s in the cockpit is perfect for the scale. A nice touch will be to open the port access door so you can view all the detail inside.
Engine
This is another strength of this kit – great cylinder details push rods and the exhaust pipes are even hollowed out – very nice. The BMW 132 engine is quite a feature of the aircraft and the multipart cowl will still allow a good view inside and so it’s worth spending time on this part of the kit for sure.
Wheels and undercarriage
Spatted and un-spatted undercarriage units are supplied as are weighted and different wheel set ups to increase the options available. The detail on these parts is notable with impressive tyre tread pattern visible.
Wings
I’ve already mentioned the subtle contour rippling and another feature is the option for dropped flaps that can add much to the interest of your model.
Stores
Centreline tank and various bombs are included so you can create various load-outs to suit.
Photo etch (PE)
It’s great to have the small fret included. It contains the seat harness plus a myriad of other small details to further refine your model – see what’s on offer in the attached photo.
Clear parts
The Hs123 B1 has an open cockpit and so you only need the small windscreen which is moulded neatly and clearly without defects.
You even get a jig!
This is a nice touch – inclusion of a cardboard jig to make sure your undercarriage and lower wing sit at the correct angle – just excellent service.
Decals
These are printed by Cartograf, are in perfect register with excellent colour for all the versions offered in the kit. This is another high point in that 5 different aircraft are featured too with plenty of scope for aircraft active in different theatres of ops.
Instruction book
Perfect! In colour, clear diagrams and photography showing where parts are located, clear labelling with paint references and easy paint reference guide at the front – simple, clear, practical and actually helpful!
In summary
Well, what can I say? The package is genuinely stunning from what I can see from the box contents. The build may present questions although I have no reason at all to think that will be the case and I can’t wait to get into this build. The plan is to run it quite soon, so watch SMNs What’s New pages for that.
It’s extremely rare for me or any of the review team to give a full house – 5 Stars across the board and on this occasion I have no hesitation in doing so – happy days for us modellers. If you just like your scale modelling I would buy this kit, even if I didn’t have a huge interest in the type – and it’s an absolute must-have if this is your area of interest. The A1 variant is also currently available at the time of writing.
I’m anticipating a very enjoyable modelling experience and let’s hope that reality lives up to what we’ve seen so far – I fully expect it will :)
Geoff C.
SMN Quick summary Star rating out of 5
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | ***** |
| Accuracy | ***** |
| Instructions | ***** |
| Decals | ***** |
| Subject choice | ***** |
| Overall | ***** |
A little bit about the type
The Henschel Hs 123 was a single-seat biplane dive bomber and close-support attack aircraft flown by the GermanLuftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War and the early to midpoint of World War II. It proved to be robust, durable and effective especially in severe conditions. It continued to see front-line service until 1944, only to be withdrawn due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts (production ended in 1940).