In Bag Review of Huma 1/72nd Scale
Henschel Hs-132 German Ground-attack Aircraft
Kit no. HM-0011
By Ray Mehlberger
OUT OF PRODUCTION
My kit has a copyright date of 1980.
I paid $13.95 for my kit at Rosemont Hobby Shop in Allentown, PA back in the 80's while visiting my mother who lived nearby.
By Ray Mehlberger
OUT OF PRODUCTION
My kit has a copyright date of 1980.
I paid $13.95 for my kit at Rosemont Hobby Shop in Allentown, PA back in the 80's while visiting my mother who lived nearby.
HISTORY:
Due to increasing setbacks suffered by German forces in 1942, the need for a fast and manoeuvarble ground-attack aircraft became increasingly obvious. At the time concerned, the dive-bombers and close support aircraft available were all obsolete and no longer met the required demands in terms of performance and manoeuverability.
In July 1945, Henschel started work on a jet-propelled ground-attack aircraft. All previously gained experience hailing from the Hs 123 and Hs 129 was combined with knowledge derived from flight trials carried out with the Berlin B-9 in 1937. The results of these tests revealed that a pilot flying in a prone position could better cope with the effects of high g-forces as well as with the techniques involved in flying new high performance jet aircraft.
It was in this way that the He 132, a small jet-propelled mid-wing monoplane of composite construction, was developed. Prominent features of design were the jet engine mounted on the back of the fuselage, a prone position cockpit and a positive dihedral tailplane with twin fins and rudders.
Construction of the first prototype (V1) began after testing of a wind tunnel model early in 1944. The almost complete prototype was finally captured by Russian forces in May 1945.
Sub-variants (proposed):
Hs 132 "A" - Unarmed aircraft carrying a bomb load up to 500 kg, powered by a BMW 003 jet engine.
Hs 132 "B" - Fitted with 2 x 20 mm MG 151/20s in the nose, maximum bomb load 500 kg, powered by a Jumo 004 jet engine.
Hs 132 "C" - Fitted with 2 x 20 mm MG 151/20s and 2 x 30 mm MK 108 in the nose, propelled by a Heinkel He S 011 engine.
Construction details:
Mainplane: Single-spar wooden wings with plywood skinning, of trapezoid shape with a slight positive dihedral. Main wheels retracted into wing wells thus permitting a wide-track undercarraige and better taxying qualities.
Fuselage: Circular metal monocoque. Pilot accomodated in prone position cockpit behind a fully glazed nose. Instrument panel was mounted below the pilot's position and read by means of mirrors.
Horizontal stabilizer: Circular, wooden construction. Plywood covered fins and rudders. High positive dihedral tailplane with twin fins and rudders mounted at right angles.
Undercarraige: Hydraulically retractable tricycle landing gear. Nose wheel retracted backwards into forward fuselage and main wheels inwards into the wings.
Due to increasing setbacks suffered by German forces in 1942, the need for a fast and manoeuvarble ground-attack aircraft became increasingly obvious. At the time concerned, the dive-bombers and close support aircraft available were all obsolete and no longer met the required demands in terms of performance and manoeuverability.
In July 1945, Henschel started work on a jet-propelled ground-attack aircraft. All previously gained experience hailing from the Hs 123 and Hs 129 was combined with knowledge derived from flight trials carried out with the Berlin B-9 in 1937. The results of these tests revealed that a pilot flying in a prone position could better cope with the effects of high g-forces as well as with the techniques involved in flying new high performance jet aircraft.
It was in this way that the He 132, a small jet-propelled mid-wing monoplane of composite construction, was developed. Prominent features of design were the jet engine mounted on the back of the fuselage, a prone position cockpit and a positive dihedral tailplane with twin fins and rudders.
Construction of the first prototype (V1) began after testing of a wind tunnel model early in 1944. The almost complete prototype was finally captured by Russian forces in May 1945.
Sub-variants (proposed):
Hs 132 "A" - Unarmed aircraft carrying a bomb load up to 500 kg, powered by a BMW 003 jet engine.
Hs 132 "B" - Fitted with 2 x 20 mm MG 151/20s in the nose, maximum bomb load 500 kg, powered by a Jumo 004 jet engine.
Hs 132 "C" - Fitted with 2 x 20 mm MG 151/20s and 2 x 30 mm MK 108 in the nose, propelled by a Heinkel He S 011 engine.
Construction details:
Mainplane: Single-spar wooden wings with plywood skinning, of trapezoid shape with a slight positive dihedral. Main wheels retracted into wing wells thus permitting a wide-track undercarraige and better taxying qualities.
Fuselage: Circular metal monocoque. Pilot accomodated in prone position cockpit behind a fully glazed nose. Instrument panel was mounted below the pilot's position and read by means of mirrors.
Horizontal stabilizer: Circular, wooden construction. Plywood covered fins and rudders. High positive dihedral tailplane with twin fins and rudders mounted at right angles.
Undercarraige: Hydraulically retractable tricycle landing gear. Nose wheel retracted backwards into forward fuselage and main wheels inwards into the wings.
THE KIT:
Huma was a model company based in Germany that went out of business. Their forte was limited run aircraft kits in 1/72nd scale. Their subjects are usually prototypal aircraft that other model companies have not done.
The kit came in a sealed cello bag.
Huma was a model company based in Germany that went out of business. Their forte was limited run aircraft kits in 1/72nd scale. Their subjects are usually prototypal aircraft that other model companies have not done.
The kit came in a sealed cello bag.
WHAT'S IN THE BAG:
This kit contains one chalk-white parts tree, a clear canopy, the decal sheet and the instructions.
The instructions consist of a single sheet folded in the center to created 4 pages in 8 1/2" x 11" page format, folded again to fit the bag.
Page 1 begins with a black and white photo of an actual Hs 132 sitting in front of a hangar, over the history of the aircraft in German.
Spread across pages 2 & 3 is a 3-view, parts tree illustration, 2-view and an exploded drawing for assembly.
Page 4 has the history of the Hs 132 in French and English.
The lone chalk-white tree holds: the fuselage halves, wings, bomb halves, V shaped rudder/elevators, main wheels and their legs, nose wheel, cockpit floor, pilot figure (full bodied with seperate arms) etc (27 parts)
This kit contains one chalk-white parts tree, a clear canopy, the decal sheet and the instructions.
The instructions consist of a single sheet folded in the center to created 4 pages in 8 1/2" x 11" page format, folded again to fit the bag.
Page 1 begins with a black and white photo of an actual Hs 132 sitting in front of a hangar, over the history of the aircraft in German.
Spread across pages 2 & 3 is a 3-view, parts tree illustration, 2-view and an exploded drawing for assembly.
Page 4 has the history of the Hs 132 in French and English.
The lone chalk-white tree holds: the fuselage halves, wings, bomb halves, V shaped rudder/elevators, main wheels and their legs, nose wheel, cockpit floor, pilot figure (full bodied with seperate arms) etc (27 parts)
The clear part is the cockpit canopy.
The decal sheet completes the kits contents. It holds skeletal and black and white crosses, swastikas, V1 and the dashboard instruments.
Huma provided a tissue to protect the face of the decal from scratching. However, it was floating around loose in the bag and not protecting a darn thing. So, I stapled it to the decal sheet.
Huma provided a tissue to protect the face of the decal from scratching. However, it was floating around loose in the bag and not protecting a darn thing. So, I stapled it to the decal sheet.
This is nice kit of a German one-off experimental German fighter.