Matchbox Hs-126 - Old School Out of Box

[Faust]

Just knowing what’s going on in a battle can make the difference between victory and defeat, literally life or death. Because of that, finding out what the enemy is up to, and making sure you apply your resources in the best way possible, has always been an important part of warfare.

With the maturation of aircraft as viable spotting and recon platforms during the 20^th century, the art of battlefield recon rose (sometimes literally) to new heights. However, not every important machine was a high-tech wonder, festooned with cameras and other sensors. Some were more workaday planes; tough, rugged front-line spotters that would fly out over the battlefield and report directly. One of the less-famous of these kinds of planes is the Henschel Hs-126. With long, fixed undercarriage and a surprisingly bulky-looking fuselage hanging under a rarely-seen-in-frontline-planes parasol wing, the -126 was really not a beauty queen. However, it did its job well.

I’m quite a fan of odd and lesser-known aircraft, so I was very happy to get my hands on one of the original Matchbox kits of this particular bird! Check out the out of box review below – maybe you’ll want one of your own?!

https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/model-kits/out-of-box-reviews/matchbox-1-72-hs-126-out-of-box/

[DonW]

Reminds me of the Westland Lysander, though that wasn't a parasol wing design. 

Thanks for sharing, Adam.

[Earl Marischal]

These did a similar job. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fieseler_Fi_156_Storch

Airfix made a kit I seem to remember.

steve

[Faust]

It's similar to a Lysander, but not as useful, I don't think. The Lysander always astounds me - it's so big for its intended role, but that gave it so many additional roles! 

The Storch took over for the -126, and it was a better plane for the spotting duties. It was better aerodynamically, too, but there's something neat about the heavy-set body and parasol wing I find irresistible. It's like what the SBC Helldiver was before they made it a biplane, kinda! I think the -126 would look awesome on floats, actually. 

There are more kits of the 126 than I would have expected, given it wasn't super-prominent like the Lysander and Storch. 

[Snake45]

Faust, I looked at your linked page, but can't find pictures of the built "under glass" model. What am I missing? 

[Faust]

Richard:

You're not missing anything. I posted this after a long day of work and then a long evening of yardwork! I didn't notice it was in the "Under Glass" section. It's in the wrong spot! 

Is there anyone out there who can move this to where it belongs?  Son of a...

Sorry, everybody. My bad, but not intentionally so!

Thanks!