Hobby 2000 48012 - 1:48 Henschel Hs 129 B-2 North Africa

Plastic model kit of the German Henschel Hs 129 B-2 ground attack aircraft in 1:48 scale

Hobby 2000 48012 is a self-assembly kit of the Henschel Hs 129 B-2 in a boxing devoted to the fighting in North Africa. It comes as a Hobby 2000 release with its own box, illustrated assembly instructions, self-adhesive masks for the glazing and a sheet of waterslide decals printed by Cartograf carrying markings for aircraft of 8.(Pz.)/Schl.G 2 based at El Aouina in Tunisia.

The model reproduces the characteristic shape of the Hs 129: a narrow fuselage of triangular cross-section, an armoured cockpit with small panes and a thick armoured windscreen, and two nacelles housing the radial engines. Fixed armament is included along with the underfuselage gun pack that underlines the aircraft's anti-tank purpose.

The Tunisian chapter in the Hs 129's career was short but visually very attractive — the aircraft wore desert finishes markedly different from the Eastern Front schemes, and operating conditions left clear traces on them.

What's in the box:

• Plastic parts covering the airframe, engine nacelles and landing gear
• Clear parts for the cockpit glazing
• Fixed armament and an underfuselage gun pack
• Self-adhesive masks for the glazing
• Waterslide decals printed by Cartograf
• Illustrated assembly instructions

Model specifications:

• Scale: 1:48
• Catalogue number: 48012
• Manufacturer: Hobby 2000
• Assembled model length: approx. 203 mm
• Assembled model wingspan: approx. 296 mm
• Skill level: intermediate

Note: The kit does not include glue, paints or modelling tools. The model is intended for self-assembly.

Assembly:

The kit is aimed at modellers with some experience. The cramped armoured cockpit is best painted and finished before the fuselage halves are joined, as access becomes very limited once the fuselage is closed. The nacelles and radial engine cowlings call for careful seam sanding, and the supplied self-adhesive masks make preparing the glazing for frame painting considerably easier.

Aircraft in the Mediterranean theatre typically wore RLM 79 sand upper surfaces, often with green patches, over RLM 78 light blue undersides, with white theatre bands. Applying the decals over a gloss coat is recommended to limit the risk of silvering, with a satin varnish for the final finish. Desert operations invite pigments simulating fine sand and dust on the landing gear, lower fuselage and leading edges, along with subtle paint wear around the areas handled by ground crews.

Tools required:

• Modelling sprue cutters
• Hobby knife or scalpel
• Files and sanding paper for cleaning up sprue gate marks
• Plastic cement (e.g. Tamiya Extra Thin Cement)
• Precision modelling tweezers
• Brushes in assorted sizes or an airbrush
• Modelling paints (acrylic or enamel)
• Gloss varnish for decalling and satin varnish for the final finish
• Panel wash to emphasise details and panel lines

About the aircraft – Henschel Hs 129 B-2:

The Henschel Hs 129 was designed to meet a 1937 Luftwaffe requirement for a cheap, heavily armoured close support aircraft. The designers enclosed the pilot in a cockpit built from armour plate 6 to 12 mm thick with an armoured windscreen, at the cost of an extremely cramped interior and poor visibility — some instruments even had to be moved to the inner sides of the engine nacelles. The airframe had a distinctive triangular fuselage cross-section and a strongly tapered wing.

The first examples with Argus engines proved hopelessly underpowered, so the B series adopted captured French Gnome-Rhône 14M radials of some 700 hp each. Performance improved, but these engines were sensitive to dust and sand, which caused constant serviceability problems on the Eastern Front and in North Africa. The fixed armament of the B-2 comprised two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon and two 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns, while a ventral pack could carry heavier weapons — a 30 mm MK 101 or MK 103 cannon, and in later versions even a 37 mm gun.

The Hs 129 was used above all on the Eastern Front, where the anti-tank squadrons played a notable role during the battle of Kursk in 1943, attacking Soviet armour from low level. Smaller numbers were sent to North Africa and Tunisia, and the type also served with the Romanian and Hungarian air forces. Fewer than 900 aircraft of all versions were completed, so it remained a niche design, but as a specialised tank buster it earned a firm place in the history of ground-attack aviation.

Original aircraft specifications (Henschel Hs 129 B-2):

• Length: 9.75 m
• Wingspan: 14.20 m
• Height: 3.25 m
• Empty weight: approx. 4,020 kg
• Take-off weight: up to approx. 5,250 kg
• Crew: 1
• Powerplant: two Gnome-Rhône 14M radial engines of approx. 700 hp each
• Maximum speed: approx. 405 km/h
• Service ceiling: approx. 9,000 m
• Range: approx. 690 km
• Fixed armament: two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon and two 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns
• External armament: gun packs with a 30 mm MK 101 or MK 103 cannon, bombs
• Armour: pilot's cockpit built from 6–12 mm armour plate
• Production: fewer than 900 aircraft of all versions

About the manufacturer – Hobby 2000:

Hobby 2000 is a Polish model company based in Katowice that specialises in preparing its own boxings of plastic kits. Its releases follow a re-issue formula: the plastic parts come from established kit manufacturers, while Hobby 2000 adds its own box, illustrated assembly instructions, a fresh decal sheet printed by the Italian printing house Cartograf and — in most aircraft kits — self-adhesive masks for the glazing. The result combines proven tooling with a decal sheet developed for one narrowly defined subject. The company's catalogue covers 1:72, 1:48, 1:35 and 1:32, with a clear emphasis on Second World War and Cold War aviation. A hallmark of the range is its thematic approach: individual boxings are devoted to a single front, campaign, unit or operator of a given type, frequently with Polish connections. Cartograf decals offer a thin carrier film, crisp printing and accurate colour registration, which makes applying the markings straightforward and helps avoid silvering. Hobby 2000 kits are produced in limited runs and many titles do not return to the market once sold out. Today the company is one of the most recognisable Polish publishers of plastic kits, stocked by model shops across Europe.