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 20th 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/

Adam,

I look forward to your building this old beauty.

Your review is fun, amusing, and informative.

I will second that! Always a pleasure to work through your reviews Adam.

This looks like the airborne equivalent of one of my Tri-5 Chevy kits in terms of clunkiness!

Cheers, D

Thanks, guys!

I do like the choice of the words "work through", that's very true. I do tend to longer reviews, and I'm always impressed and thankful when people go through them. I really do appreciate it.

It's got that "old skool" heft to it, that's for sure, Damian!

Great review.
Reminds me that I have this one somewhere. have to say the most gaudy unrealistic plastic I ever had in a Matchbox was their bf109 moulded in a bright, almost translucent, yellow and orange. Very authentic!
Strange as most of the Luftwaffe kits I have tend to be in greens and the same light blue.

That one brings back a memory or 3...

Wish those cool box-arts would make a comeback one day. Those artists could make even something like a HS-126 or even a Lysander or Walrus look cool.

Amen to that. I think Round 2 has made it clear that Retro-style box art, box design and the use of old names is a very successful practice. Bandai's gone big on retro modelling too, reissuing 20+ year old Gundams in their original boxes once again.

I think Revell should get on the bandwagon and reintroduce the Matchbox name, like Round 2 puts out MPC and AMT kits. If it's a Revell plane, you can't be sure if it's a Matchbox, Revell, Italeri, Zvezda... and I (unless I'm sure) don't take a chance. However, they could put out a whole range of Matchboxes in Matchbox retro-boxes and be pretty darned sure that they would sell. I'd be happily picking them up if they used the oldest box art, or got old-style box art for later kits (like the Tornado F.3). Throw in an additional scheme or two with decals (say, give small kits 3 schemes, bigger ones 4) and you can easily overcharge for a new-old kit. Heck, go back to multi-colour moulding if you want to. I'm down with it!

Anybody else think this is a good idea?

Not to diverge from the toppic but I think that Revell would not issue kits under matchbox brand. They want to promote the Revell brand, have a wider portfolio of products and presence in toy shops with which they have exclusive contracts. They aim also at customers who dont know the hobby so good and dont want to confuse them.

IRC Revell only had the rights to use the Matchbox name and branding for a few years in the 90's. They have most of the tools, but can't use the name.