History

The large production numbers of this French designed bi-plane are directly attributed to foreign purchases. Designed by Pierre Dupont, the HD.1 had excellent flying characteristics. The type was competing with the Nieuport Company for the French government's need of low altitude fighters. The Spad VII had the position for high altitude. While Nieuport took up most of the French contracts the Hanriot, an aircraft of better flying qualities was availing the lion's share of its contracts to Italy's Maachi Aviation (831 licensed built aircraft out of 1700 ordered.) To a lesser degree variants were sold to America (about 26 aircraft), Belgium (125 aircraft), France (20-24 aircraft) and Switzerland (16 aircraft.) Highly successful in the hands of Belgium's Count Willy Coppens, Andre de Mulemeester and Jan Olieslagers or Italy's Silvio Scaroni, Mario Fucini and Giorgio Michetti. The first major modification came when on the Belgian issue the gun was placed centrally rather than being offset. Also, the sight arrangement was moved from the cabane struts to the gun itself.

Kit Contents:

06 pcs Plastic Parts
14 pcs Resin
35 pcs Metal
07 Decal Profiles
Instructions, 6 pages and 3 exploded views w/text
Characteristics, late production single center located Vickers machine gun. The fuselage has early production facades.

Characteristics

While the "JMGT" kit is finely molded multimedia/resin kit fuselage represents early production variant, but has the later production armament of the central single Vickers gun set up. It costs is twice that of either "Eduard" kits, #8034 Profi-pack or #8039 HD.2. As of this writing "Eduard" does not have any aftermarket frets available for the 1/48 scale Hanriot kits as they do for their Nieuport 17 types. For this review we will build the "JMGT" kit. Before beginning, wash your kit in mild dish soap & water, dry completely, then pre-drill all rigging and strut locator holes.

Cockpit interior: Paint all the major components for the cockpit interior and let dry. Remember that the skin camouflage and cockpit interiors on A restored aircraft tend to be over- painted completely to avoid dry rot in fabric. For WWI aircraft minimal weatherproofing was the normal procedure. It is noted that some of the cockpit tubing structure may have been painted black. First note crisscross bracing wires in the frame bays of the fuselage sides. These can greatly benefit from careful dry brushing. Add two lower fuselage support rods that are meant to support the white metal control column as well and add the elevator control wires at its base. Over these support rods I added two foot planks to the cockpit flooring. These are plastic painted to simulate varnished wood graining. Next the rudder control bar and its torsion / stabilizer bar (PE I). Add rudder control wires lead from the installed rudder bar on PE I back to the rear cockpit screen. I added an air / fuel mix lever, linkage, air induction piping (painted rod), fuel tank air pressure hand pump, a compass and the seatbelt and harness straps. Most of these items can be found in "Toms Modelworks" photoetch brass, French interior set. Next add a couple of cross member supports under the front and rear of the seat (PE G) that span to the fuselage sides. The resin stump in the cockpit floor is nice but was not how the original was supported.

Attach the instrument panel facade (PE H) to the resin forward deck assembly. The instrument panel should be painted to represent varnished wood. The Instruments represented from left to right are: fuel gauge, tank switch, tachometer, altimeter, and clock. There should be an oil pulsator attached to the right side of the manufacturers plate as well. Note the little rectangular blank on the right side noting its needed placement. Additionally there should be a starting magneto on the left side of the fuselage attached to the upper longeron. Adding this will effectively close your cockpit assembly so make sure everything is where you want it.

The fuselage:
The Hanriot fuselage had an adjustable horizontal tail surface just like the Sopwith 1 2 Strutter, Pup, Triplane and Camel. You will need to add the rear of the fuselage by choosing either the white metal assembly or the photoetch (PE C & D.) I like the photoetch myself. Check your references for further details. For clarification the early production fuselages had the offset gun(s) with two access panels on the pilot=s left side forward of the cockpit. The later centralized gun version has only one access panel there. The "JMGT" top forward cowling and firewall should be modified to move the gun(s) to the offset position. You could use the ammo feed fairings from the "Eduard" kit (#8018) (blued out pieces on the parts map between the prop & wing struts.) Just for the sake of matching I would also use the "Eduard" or at least two matching Vickers guns if I was doing a twin gunned version. One question that I have been asked, is if your doing Sous Lieutenant Willy Coppens machine (specifically # 17) "...how do you duplicate the 11mm Vickers Balloon Gun as opposed to the usual kit 7mm Vickers .303 ?" The Lafayette Foundation in Denver Colorado USA has an 11mm ( .45 caliber) Vickers and outwardly it is identical to the 7mm ( .30 caliber) Vickers model 1918. My personal preferences in 1/48 scale are the PE items from "Part of Poland" as they have the multiple jacket vents seen on the 7 & 11mm,1918 Vickers. Now were really picking nits! Add the Ammunition Feed Chute per the scheme you have chosen.

The engine:
Unite the white metal propeller, plastic vacuform cowling and engine assembly and when throughly set, The kit resin rotary engine is supposed to represent a 110hp - 120hp LeRhône. Dry fit this before assembly just to make sure of a good fit. To detail this kit=s motor the air induction pipes can be painted in dull copper. You also may want to add the push-rods at the rear face of the kit's 9 cylinders. Even though you have a full cowling these push-rods will be evident from the rear on the bottom cylinders. The white metal propeller is a typical profile for the LeRhône rotary. You could do the 130hp Clerget with twin push-rods on the front face of the cylinders. The only company at this writing that has a separate commercially sold 1/48 rendition of the Clerget to date is "Copper State Models" and you will need a different propeller. Be sure to check your references, for the aircraft profile that your building. The resin rotary engine shaft support assembly is represented by a very simplified piece. I decided on a spare "Eduard" LeRhône I had from one of their early Nieuport 17 kits. The "JMGT" item is nicely detailed and will be used for another build where the cowling will be removed.

The camouflage:
See the paragraph at the end of this article on some important details. Considering the complexity of the five-colour French camouflage, if you choose this scheme you may want to paint the major airframe components before bringing them together. These were hand painted using brushes. The edges of the camouflage colours are hard and definite on all upper surfaces. The later Belgian Hanriots were camouflaged in the 5 colour French camouflage. (Note, at this writing the restored HD.1 at The RAF Museum at Hendon (with the green and white cowl) is not camouflaged properly. The pigments for the doped fabric areas don=t contain any aluminum powder.) If you are going for the overall aluminum doped type it may be better to mask the interplane struts and open cockpit and shoot the whole piece (without finished wheels)

The lower wings:
Unite the lower wings to the fuselage using brass pins in mating pre-drilled holes. Using scale plan views and a jig made from Children=s >Lego= building blocks. This will hold the parts perpendicular and square until the adhesive sets fast. Carefully score the breaks in the tail surfaces for the rudder and the elevators and their respective stabilizers. Attach these items while the model is still in the jig using additional support blocks to keep them square and level. Let dry thoroughly. When it came to the control horns for the control surfaces (ailerons, elevators and rudder) I prefer to use the brass items from "Tom's Modelworks" brass frets because they have a small spike to anchor into the resin - pre-drilled holes. They also hold tension well when I use monofilament for rigging. The kit items are attached topically can be used if your rigging with sections of fine wire or heat stretched sprue.

The top wing:
This comes as a left and right half like the lower wings. This is like the original with the two panels united on the centerline over the fuselage with the trestle spine directly under the panel unions. The cabane trestle struts ( PE K X 2.) Remember, according to profiles and photographic evidence the top wing trailing edge sits lower that the leading edge. This tells me that the rear trestle legs are shorter than the front. In the top wing the related centerline holes will serve as sockets for the trestle spine. I had to open up or widen the rear most hole to get the best wing alignments. Once the top wing is aligned with the bottom wing, you can add the interplane struts (PP A 26-29) by simply wedging them in to their respective sockets and add a drop of Cyanoacrylate. The thin struts go in the forward position and the thicker struts go in the rear. Next add the shorter splayed cabane strut extensions (PE J X 4.) Remember to check the wing alignment as you go. One strut too long or short can begin to throw you off. With the compound trestle ("W" shaped profile) type cabane struts, the more contacts the more careful you need to be.

Before moving on I will rig the wings and tail surfaces per listed references. Note, that "JMGT" did not show the aileron cables leaving the undersurface of the wing ailerons and leading into the area adjacent to the front interplane struts in the upper surface of the lower wing. These should locate on the upper surface of the lower wing out board of the forward interplane struts socket. Note that any brass pin tips that are exposed can be cut flush with the wing surfaces. Thank goodness for motor tools. (One final thought here is, that if your interplane struts appear to be too short or too long you will probably need to replace them. Even if you try carefully flex the lower wing upwards toward the top wing the resin wing may crack.)

The landing gear:
Complete the under carriage assembly by laying the axle in the crotch of the white metal landing gear Vee-legs. and wrap upholstery thread around their unions to represent the bungee cord shock absorbers. Check your references. One IPMS model builder pulled the old "Revell Triplane boo-boo." In the IPMS USA Journal for Sept.- Oct. 1999, he described the "Eduard" kit but put the forward legs of the landing gear in the holes for the rear set. Then he drilled two holes further back for the rear leg accommodations. Don=t do this - Builder beware. Next add the wheels and the stabilizer struts for the tail unit (PE B X 2) I replaced with brass-rod of an appropriate diameter. Clear-coat your model and add the windscreen with white glue.

Camouflage:

The French 5 colour camouflage has been covered at length in several parts in the old Cross & Cockade USA by Hastings , Hardesty and Toelle. Mr. Toelle is the only member of that crew still with us. Studied at the electro-micron level existing pieces of fabric were thoroughly examined. It is highly recommended. The kit instructions recommend the use of lt. grey. This is inaccurate. Substitute a colour comparable with "Testors Model Master" med. green. Like other modelers, I like to mix aluminum and lt. grey for the aluminum dope applied to many WWI French and German aircraft. While some semi-gloss is ok, remember in smaller scales - gloss tends to make kits hard to look at. You want to draw the viewer in to your build. Also original aircraft had a good deal of use in a relatively short period of time. Flat or matte colours are better for smaller scales.

Decals:

The "JMGT" kit decals are very brittle and you may want to try to spray a gloss coat over them and let dry before cutting them from the sheet for use. They are a little translucent as well but the colours are easily matched with existing model paints for touch ups. Using the kit decals for the unit insignia and serial I built this kit to represent the Hanriot HD.1, Nr.11432 belonged to the 72a Squadriglia (not 80a as the old Datafile mentions.) Italian cockades were leftovers from the "Eduard" kit and placed on the upper wing and the tricolour stripes for the rudder. The lower wing under-surfaces were painted with the classic green and red fields of Italian practice. As for the lion colours, the kit decals are in red and white here but black and white is also possible.

The following history is offered with special thanks to Senor Alberto Casirati. HD.1 #11432 was a machine of French production and delivered in aluminum finish overall. This aircraft had one gun and I retained the French windscreen to depict its early operational days. The insignia of the 72a Squadriglia reproduces the classic lion of St. Mark, more or less as it is seen over the famous high column which is so well visible when one is approaching the city of Venice from the sea. Also on the Church bearing his name and supposedly where his bones rest. On the original statue the tablets held by the lion carries the Latin inscription: "PAX TIBI MARCE EVANGELISTA MEUM" (may peace be with you, Mark, my evangelist.)

1. Belgian 1e, #6
2. Belgian 5e Esc.
3. Belgian 1e, #4
4. Italian #812
5. Italian #11432
6. Italian #7157
7. Belgian 11e, #73

References:

1.Aircraft of WWI Vol. 2, Argus Pub. 198?
2.Airfix Magazine July 1971.
3.Aeromodeller, Nov.1968.
4.Fighters 1914-1919 by K. Munson, MacMillan Pub. 1968.
5.Fighters, Warplanes of the First World War Vol 5 by J.M. Bruce, Doubleday Pub. Pp.3-11, 1972.
6.Foreign Legionnaire - the Hanriot HD in Belgian, USN and post war service. by C. Johnson,
7.French Military aircraft of WWI by A. Durkota, Flying Machines Press. pub date ?
8.Eagle Droppings, Newsletter IPMS >Rocky Mtns= Vol. 7 Nov. 1996. & Vol. 8 Jan. - Feb. 1997.
9.Hanriot HD.1 by J.M. Bruce, Profile pub. # 109, 1966.
10.Hanriot HD.1 by J.M. Bruce & R.Rimell, Datafile #12, Albatros Pub. Ltd. 1988.
11. Belgian IPMS Journal, pub. date ?
12.Macdonalds RAF Flying Reviews Vol.16 #4, Pub. date ?
13.Project Butterfly= by Hardesty, Hastings, and Toelle, Cross & Cockade USA Vol. 9, and 13, 1972.--(Most excellent articles on the French 5 color camouflage patterns.)
14.Scale Model Aircraft in Plastic Card by H. Woodman, Model & Allied Pub. 1975.
15.The Hanriot HD.1 by A. Durkota, Over the Front Vol.11 #2, Pp.180-5, 1996.

When contacting manufacturers and publishers please mention you saw this review at AEROSCALE