Often described as a dive bomber and predecessor to the Ju 87 Stuka, the Henschel Hs 123 was more rightly considered a close air support aircraft, gaining fame for robustness in the face of austere field operations. Designed before the war began, the Hs 123 was employed throughout the Spanish Civil War – as seen in this boxing – and served until near the end of World War II.
The ICM 1/32 scale Hs 123A Legion Condor plastic model kit has sufficient cockpit detail, although it lacks seat belts. Weapons options are included, however, according to my research, the bombs used in the Spanish Civil War look more like the ones in the kit that have the fuse extenders in the nose, but these were not used at this time and are easily removed, allowing the noses to be reshaped.
All control surfaces are separate, but they will need their alignment tabs modified if you wish to pose them at any position other than neutral. Remember to fill the depression in the upper wing for the radio antenna as directed in Step 46 – radios weren’t carried at this stage.
No rigging instructions are included, but the box top clearly and correctly shows that the Hs 123 has some required rigging by the center section cabane struts. Depressions in the upper wing mark the correct locations, but none are apparent on the upper fuselage decking. I used the cowl fasteners to mark the locations for drilling.
While I had the pin vise out, I drilled the trigger guard in the tiny flare pistol for a bit of extra detail, and I opened holes in the cowling behind the gun muzzle blisters.
The fits of most parts are exceptional, requiring only a touch of filler at the rear join of the wing to fuselage. However, the multipart cowling can be a bit of a challenge as most pieces only attach to the front ring, relying on edge contact with the adjacent cowl piece. A bit of persuasion (i.e., gentle squeezing and threats) and removal of two cylinder heads got the parts mostly aligned – you have been warned.
The landing gear assemblies are comprehensive and include all the internal parts for displaying the landing gear without the streamlined spats. The gear includes the bracket for mounting the spats, visible when none are mounted but in the way on the spatted version as built – removing them before assembly is than when suggested in the instructions. The attachment points for the gear struts are shallow, so take care when aligning them.
The instructions helpfully have a template for masking the windscreen – careful cutting results in a perfect fit. The kit includes decals for three of the five airframes sent to Spain, which are all similar. I taped the multipart cowl taped together in sections prior to assembly to mask the camouflage.
The decals were a bit of a mixed bag. Thin, I found them prone to folding over on themselves. After applying them, I coated the model with Hataka Matt (which has a hint of a sheen) and was surprised to see the decals adopt a dead flat finish, including the carrier film between the numbers. I crossed my fingers and applied a further overcoat of my dwindling supply of Testors Acryl Flat and that evened the sheen out across everything. I’m not sure what caused this issue.
After all of the painting and decals were finished, I added the landing gear (main and tail), bombs and bomb racks, multipart exhaust, engine, and cowling. I also attached the EZ Line cabane rigging wires to the upper wing prior to attaching it. I added the main struts to the upper wing, measuring the gap between to ensure fit to the lower wing. This worked, but I should have done the same with the cabanes as the tilt of the wing and the fore and aft alignment were just slightly off, throwing off the fit of the cabane struts. Again, gentle persuasion took care of the issue. Then I glued the rigging into the pre-drilled decking.
I spent 30 hours on my ICM 1/32 scale Hs 123A Legion Condor plastic model kit, many of them placing or peeling masking tape. Solid engineering, great fit, and minimal rigging make this kit a great option to break into biplane building. Just be cautious of the potential fit and decal traps.