Hanriot HD.1

HR Model, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Rob Baumgartner

HyperScale is proudly sponsored by Squadron.com

 
The Hanriot was a well balanced aircraft with elegant looks and gentle flying characteristics.
 
That makes this French fighter a popular subject amongst modellers and recent research suggests over 1500 were built. Although rejected by the French in favour of the SPAD 7, it was still used extensively by the Italians and Belgians. It also soldiered on in the post war era and thus wore a staggering array of markings and colour schemes.

Contents

Inside the box are two grey coloured sprues that contain a total of 56 parts. There is only a minimum of flash on each item which is easily sanded off with a quick swipe of wet ‘n dry paper.

The parts are well moulded with no nasty sink marks or ejection pins to clean up.

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Thumbnail panels:

The kit scales out superbly to Ian Stair’s general arrangement drawings in Albatros Productions Datafile 12.
 
That publication has since been updated with No. 92 in the series due to more information coming to light. Here the plans are courtesy of Marty Digmayer where the modeller will find a few differences in both the details and airframe. Note that the simple overlay of parts on the latter’s general arrangement drawings will not work in every case.  This is because some of the printed pages are not sized to the scale indicated. Hence always be guided by the graduated rule on the page, that’s what it’s there for!
 
The cockpit is quite basic and consists of a seat, rudder bar and control column so there’s plenty of scope for the scratch builder. There is no internal structure but thankfully the fuselage halves have incorporated the rear opening that allowed access to the tail skid.
 
The upper decking closes everything up but not before the instrument panel is added. The builder can choose between a pre-printed acetate sheet and a decal for the dials. The former material also caters for the windscreen that is integrated into the frame.
 
The engine sits inside a 2-piece cowl which is made this way to allow for the inclusion of the lower slots. The fit is good allowing an easy cleanup of this area.
 
The lower wing and tailplane can be added next. All of the flying surfaces exhibit subtle rib detail and sharp trailing edges. Both wings are in single pieces which mean that there is no problem setting up the tricky dihedral. With my example the upper wing needed a little coaxing to achieve the correct angle.
 
The instructions are clear enough to adequately assemble the kit but those looking for a rigging diagram will need to go elsewhere.

Options

The decal sheet contains options for 5 aircraft.

Each item is printed in perfect register with minimal carrier film.

1. Hanriot HD. 1, 76 Squadriglia, flown by Tenente (Lt.) Giuseppe Retino - Retino was officially credited with a single victory by war’s end. The colour and meaning of the rings and letter T are unknown but they certainly make for striking décor.

2. Hanriot HD. 1, 78 Squadriglia, flown by Sergent (Sgt.) Guido Nardini, 1917 - This aircraft was one of the first HD.1s to be delivered to Italy during the 1917 summer. Nardini was successful on 6 occasions in aerial combat. His biggest “scalp” was the Austrian 16 victory ace Franz Gräser.

3. Hanriot HD. 1, 80 (sic) Squadriglia, Summer 1918 - The distinctive lion of St. Mark takes centre stage on this machine. This red silhouette was the emblem of 72 Squadriglia and adds much needed colour to the silver-doped finish.

4. Hanriot HD. 1, 70 Squadriglia, Istrana, November 1917 - The 70 Squadriglia was born on 15 April 1916 after a name change from 1 Squadriglia Caccia which previously was the first Italian fighter unit 8 Squadriglia. Total sorties for the Squadriglia was 3,164, with 24 victories and a loss of 4 of their own.

5. Hanriot HD. 1, Austro-Hungarian Imperial Air Force - This was one of at least 3 intact HD.1s to fall into Austro-Hungarian hands. Engine trouble brought this one down near Pinzolo. Although usually depicted in red, there is a case for the lion of St. Mark to be had been painted black.

This is an excellent little kit from HR Models.
 
The eagle-eyed modeller will spot the alternate parts for the HD.2 as well as the different rudder and fin configurations.  So there’s plenty of scope to model other variants.
 
The kit’s contents require a small amount of cleaning up, which is not a problem, but take care as some of the parts are fragile. And those familiar with Roden’s 1:72 scale products will also see a resemblance… note the portrayal of the fabric seen below the wings.
 
The Hanriot was flown by many countries and displayed a colourful array of markings. As a result it is a popular aircraft amongst modellers and this kit is a worthwhile addition to one’s collection.

Thanks to hobbyshop.cz for the review samples.

Review Text & Images Copyright © 2012 by Rob Baumgartner
Page Created 3 September, 2012
Last updated 3 September, 2012

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