ICM Hs 123 A-1

[denders]

The Pzl is in the painting process and it's rainy and damp here today. And since I don't want to paint while it's rainy and damp, I thought I'd start the next model. I'm planning on doing the box art aircraft OOB.

Working on small bits and preparing for painting RLM02 when I can paint. Lots of detail in the cockpit.

I believe this is the carburetor intake. The seams need a little work. I think a little Mr. Surfacer 500 will do the trick.

 

[belugawhaleman]

Nice to see. Like that aircraft....I built the ESCI 1/48 version while on break from College back in the 80's had it on my

desk for years. Glad to see a 1/32 kit available. Will be following😀

[denders]

Making Progress.

 

[denders]

Another update, although, I've not done much in the last 10 days or so. We were traveling and I picked up a book on the battle for Italy in WWII which has been taking a lot of my time. 

 

Several pictures. Since I want this to be OOB, I've created some seatbelts with lead sheet and brass wire. I've also added some wiring/plumbing using lead wire. Otherwise, everything is from the kit.

The left fuselage half has a bit of warp to it. Next step will be to close up the fuselage.

 

[denders]

Fuselage is closed up. Need to work on seam lines.

 

[crazypoet]

On 9/27/2025 at 9:16 AM, denders said:

Another update, although, I've not done much in the last 10 days or so. We were traveling and I picked up a book on the battle for Italy in WWII which has been taking a lot of my time. 

 

Several pictures. Since I want this to be OOB, I've created some seatbelts with lead sheet and brass wire. I've also added some wiring/plumbing using lead wire. Otherwise, everything is from the kit.

The left fuselage half has a bit of warp to it. Next step will be to close up the fuselage.

 

Great work on those seatbelts!

[denders]

Thanks, crazypoet.

Okay, I"ve got a couple of questions. Colors and what if, perhaps.

 

I was forwarded photos of Blue 4 in Winter White camo. I was planning on doing it with worn winter camo. But, Blue 4 in the photos appears to have been wrecked soon after being painted white, so it doesn't look worn at all. (The photos haven't been posted by the donor, so I'm not going to post them, sorry.)

 

1. One thought is to paint the model as it might have been before the winter white paint.

 

2. Winter White paint, RLM 00 Wasserhell/Water-white??? I have three books with colors in them. One is Luftwaffe Colors, 1935-1945 by Ullman from Hikoki Publications, Crecy which show it to be a white with a slight bit of yellow, very pale. The second book is the Monogram book on German aircraft shows RLM 00 as clear. The third book, the AK Real Colors book has printed in it a representation of an original color card and RLM 00 looks kinda pale gray, but perhaps that's the representation of clear. Thoughts? I would have thought that it would be whitish gray, very pale. I sort of think there should be some difference there from the white in the insignia.

 

I'm using MRP paint, and they don't have anything that I think is suitable, so I'm planning on mixing a color.

 

Also, progress, paint on the bottom of the upper wing.

Thanks!

 

[denders]

I've been a little lax in showing progress.

The top wing has been painted.

The engine is mounted. I've been painting the cowling pieces, inside and out. I'm planning on assembling the cowling with tape, first, to make sure I don't run into problems that some other folks seem to have run into.

The bracing for the tail surfaces appears to have a "direction". I didn't test fit it and the tail surfaces before gluing the bracing piece into the fuselage and it resulted in the need to 'bend' the braces to hit the correct spots on the horizontal stab. Of course, before I installed the horizontal stab, I managed to break both bracing sides while working on seams at the nose area. Of course, when I finally did glue the horizontal stabs and the bracing 'pieces' it didn't look very good. So, out with the styrene and new braceing.

I've been painting LG, wheels, bombs, struts, and other bits. Also, the fuselage and lower wing. Referencing the photos that I was sent. I'll note that the yellow area on the underside of the lower wing seems to cover more of the wing than what the kit instructions indicates. So far, all the markings are painted.

 

[denders]

So, I noticed this anomaly on the head rest after gluing it in place.

I've also test fitted the engine cowling pieces, just tape, no glue. They do fit without gaps. It is a precise fit and must be done very carefully.

There is a lot more painting to do before this is permanently attached.

 

[crazypoet]

*very* nice work!

[denders]

Another update.

 

[denders]

Update, all the markings that I'm going to paint. (I think.) There are a few stencils that are decals. There is something in the stash that I need to dig out. IIRC it's either 1ManArmy or HGW.

 

[PanzerWomble]

On 10/21/2025 at 12:54 AM, denders said:

Another update.

 

Very sharp I balk at stencil within stencil 

[denders]

Well, I've gotten to where I paint the larger areas first regardless of color and do the thin stuff last. I find it easier to re-locate the larger areas than the tiny, thin stuff.

So, I've placed the only decals that I'm going to use (5). They went on very well.

The engine cowling was next. I had pre-painted the cowling pieces and expected the need to touch them up. I was also aware of other folks having issues with a somewhat large gap in the end. (There are 9 pieces to the cowling.)  Something else I did was to scribe the part number on the inside of each piece so they wouldn't be incorrectly placed. There is a thread that DrDave posted over on LSP showing how he worked it out. I couldn't find it when I went to install the cowling but after having taped the pieces together to fit, I came to the same conclusion on how to locate them. I just didn't glue sections together. I did them one at a time. It didn't reach a perfect solution, but it is a bit less of a gap than other folks had.

Here is a link to the thread over LSP in case anyone is interested.

ICM HENSCHEL. How to avoid cowlings fit woe! - Works in Progress - Large Scale Planes

 

[denders]

So, the cowling didn't turn out too bad. But it certainly isn't perfect.

But, in preparation of attaching the landing gear I realized that I didn't look at the assembly diagram for the landing gear nearly enough. 

 

[denders]

Update, the top wing is on. I attached the cabane struts first, then the wing struts.