HUMA 1:72 HENSCHEL HS-132
Reviewer: Myself (braithy@bigpond.com)
The Henschel Hs 132 was the last Henschel design to reach hardware form during the Second World War and in many ways mirrors the design of the Heinkel He 162 Salamander (but with glazed nose and angled tailplanes containing fins on the end). It was an attempt to create a diver bomber with a terminal speed so high that interception would be nigh impossible. This suggested a pull-out so severe that the pilot would black out from the resultant g-forces in a conventional cockpit, so Henschel adopted a design that had the pilot more-or-less lying stomach down to accept higher forces. The Hs 132 was planned with ease of manufacture and operation in mind and minimised use of strategic alloys by adopting wooden wings. The first of prototype was almost ready for flight at the end of the war when all three prototypes were captured by the Soviets.
This is a real no-frills kit with simplicity in mind by the small Huma model manufacturer, and I wasn't sure what to expect being my first experience with their kits. Just one sprue of 34 light grey injection mold parts inside the box and one clear part for the nose glazing that all seems to indicate a very quick and easy build. On the downside there is plenty of flash that needs to be carefully cleaned and the plastic is very soft that will ensure easy gouges for the unwary. Panel lines are engraved but detail is not much better than minimal. The instruction sheet is simply one double sided sheet just smaller than A3 in size and the four assembly steps are excellent and easy to follow. A sprue diagram is also included showing where parts are numbered (the sprue itself is not numbered but identification is easy) and information is set out in German with an English translation for aircraft's history. The three view diagram showing painting guide is a novelty - best described as being illustrated like a complete paint chip itself - nice.
This is really a simple kit but does require a fair bit of cleaning and dry fit testing to achieve a good result as well as calling upon filling and sanding skills in some areas. Be very careful when removing parts from the sprue, you really need to use nippers/blade for a clean cut otherwise it's very easy to ruin the soft plastic. Mold marks are evident on most parts as well as flash - which is more of an annoyance than anything else. Construction began with the cockpit and this is simply a pilot figure lying on his stomach (must attach his arms) on a base with a rear wall to be placed inside the fuselage. A decal is provided for the very front of the base as an instrument panel. There are no alignment rails inside the fuselage to help positioning of the cockpit and ejector pin marks make the task more difficult. These needed to be sanded down and then an estimation of exact positioning was the best I could do. Flash had to be cleaned off the nose so that I could position it more accurately and took a lot of patience. This was also hampered by the fact that the base and rear wall don't measure up exactly for interior dimensions - super glue ended up being used to fix it in properly - because only elbows and toes of the pilot are attached to the base a very small drop of super glue was carefully dabbed on one of each to ensure he did not start flying about in the cockpit later on.
That was actually the hard bit out of the way - most of the rest of the construction process was generally plain sailing. Slight flash was evident also on the fuselage and these joined together reasonably well once the cockpit was happy to stay in place. Main wings went on easily and then filled and sanded the various gaps resultant from this process. I tried out the undercarriage parts and these proved to be a bit fiddly but would go into their wells (which was absent of any detail) reasonably easily. The same cannot be said, however, about covering them up for wheels-up configuration. All the doors are much too large and not very well shaped - excessive flash did not help the cause either - to be closed over the wheel wells. A lot of trimming and dry fitting was called upon and in the end it still needed plenty of filler and sanding for an optimum finish. A very frustrating exercise.
Actually before I attended to the wheel well covers, I attached the fins onto the end of the one-piece tailplane while it was still attached to the sprue. This is recommended because the tailplane is angular and the way it is on the sprue allows one to attach the fins and leave it to dry in its mount. Use the front view diagram on the instruction sheet to both position and get the correct angle of these fins - they actually went on very easily and with Revell Contacta Pro grabbed quickly. The rear cut-out of the fuselage where the tailplane section goes had a bit of flash and a piece right on the tip that suggested the tailplane section had to sit in front of - it doesn't as the instructions show so cut/file it off the very rear tip of the aircraft. The tailplane meets with the very tip as shown in the 3-view diagrams on the instruction sheet. Where the front of the tailplane meets the stub at the rear of the aircraft you need to carefully file and sand so that it fits snugly into place. This part needed to be nursed while it was drying so it didn't slip out of line.
The one-piece nose canopy required several dry fit tests before I placed it on - it also had a very large (but easily cleaned off) piece of flash underneath in two sections that initally made me think was a required component! It sat nicely into place but still required small delicate filling to cover the gaps. One 500 kg bomb is provided in the kit and this is simply stuck to the belly of the fuselage (no pylon or anything).
Accuracy appears to be quite good, I don't have much in the way of reference material but what I do have makes the model measure up well with perhaps a few exceptions. In a photo I have of the Hs 132 (and in the sideview drawing contained in the instructions) there is a small piece that hangs down under the belly of the aircraft just behind the wing. This piece is not addressed in the assembly steps and as far as I could ascertain is not included in the kit and I am not sure what it is (an aerial? a pitot tubelike thingy?). My photos suggest the rear point of the aircraft has a small bump/fin underneath which is not reproduced in the kit. The bomb has two attachment pins separating it just slightly from the belly of the aircraft but the kit has the bomb attached literally against the belly. Panel line detail is more evident in the photos.
Only one example is produced by the kit and assume it's the V1 prototype - in overall aluminium finish which matches my photo of the V1 prototype. I opted to finish mine in a speculative grass green/tank grey upper mottle with RLM 76 undersides as depicted as boxart. No swastikas in the kit for obvious reasons (but instructions include a diamond for correct placement). The decals are simply the V1 serial for the fins and the German cross insignia for each side of the fuselage, upper wings and lower wings. Nice and thin and went on very easily. No other stencilling provided.
Overall this is a kit that was very enjoyable and is recommended, I commend Huma for the rare subject choice. It is a very simple kit to build for anyone who is used to the intracies pointed out above as the less experienced might find the soft plastic and lots of cleaning and dry fit testing a bit of a problem. Complexity would certainly go up a notch if you built (like I did) a wheels-up model given the shocking fit of the wheel well covers. It's one of those kits that would help "AMS" because just enough attention is needed to achieve good results but not too much to go overboard with. So be wary of the soft plastic and give the parts the required preparation treatment and you will have a quick and easy model that looks good in the cabinet for those interested in this subject material.
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