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Picture of the subject I will be modeling 

I'll be doing the box cover version 

 

 

 

 

Started work on the CMK interior set. First step is to cut off the section of the fuselage behind the seat to show off the fuel tank behind the seat, which you can see in the upper fuselage half in the picture. 

Cockpit tub from the CMK interior set. Was a bit too wide for the fuselage halves, so had to sand it back a bit so the fuselage could close properly. 

Now fuselage halves close nicely, and the fuel tank is visible. 

Cutting open the fuselage panels for the CMK and Aires aftermarket (top halves). Bottom halves will be used in a second diorama with limited aftermarket. 

Wings cut to add the wing fuel tank tubs (CMK exterior set) and remove the flaps. 

Wings cut to add the undercarriage tubs (CMK undercarriage set) and ammo magazine (CMK armament set). 

CMK cockpit set - really nice, but takes some adjusting to get the fuselage halves to fit. 

Fitting all the CMK sets in the wings is a bit tricky, and as noted in the CMK undercarriage set, you need to file back the sets to make it all fit. Here you can see how much the undercarriage tubs need to be filed back to fit the wing fuel tanks. In the fuselage picture above, you can see the opening I needed to make in the fuselage to fit the corner of the ammo magazine.

The CMK undercarriage set provides more details for the landing gear bay for sure, but if I had to do it over, I don't think it's a set worth adding. It's a lot of work to add the CMK parts for details that will not really be visible. In addition, the kit has a very secure way of installing the landing gear legs where they are locked into position into the wing. For the CMK set, you can only glue the flat end of the leg against the nacelle, so it's definitely a lot less stable and not as easy to lock into the proper orientation. I ended up using two-part epoxy glue to make sure that the legs are securely fastened to the undercarriage bay. 

CMK cockpit set inserted. 

Right side fuselage with MG 151 open panel (Aires) and FuG 7 radio (CMK armament set). 

Left side fuselage with luggage compartment open (CMK armament set). 

Fuselage closed compared with second Hs 129 built for a separate diorama. 

Wings and nose pieces attached. Took a lot of time to modify the CMK aftermarket pieces and kit pieces to fit. The CMK undercarriage set in particular made things very difficult as they didn't mesh well with the other aftermarket sets. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't bother with the undercarriage set as it's not worth all the aggravation on something that will barely be seen. 

 

CMK undercarriage tubs installed. 

Added panel lines and rivets. 

I still need to add the push rods, but the Vector engines add a really nice level of detail above the kit parts 

My Hs 129 had a Mk 101 30mm cannon. 

To service the cannon, the rack was on a hinge that swung out. Very cool detail to model. 

Thankfully, the recent Omask Mk 101 cannon allows you to add the cannon in the open position. 

Instructions from Omask. 

I hadn't realized at the time that the Omask set allowed for this. I decided to try and add it, which was a bit of a nerve-wracking experience. I had to not only cut through the plastic fuselage, but also grind down the CMK interior tub and a tiny bit of the Aires MG 151 fuselage gun insert. 

Close-up of the work - I had to grind out almost the entire non-visible section of the fuel tank bottom from the CMK interior set. 

Whew, all done! Probably had less than a millimeter to spare. To secure the tub in the proper position, I put balls of Tamiya two-part epoxy putty in the opening and pressed the tub in place. 

Added pushrods to the two Vector engines. Took forever!  

Warning for folks looking to use the CMK flaps. They are too short! In this picture, the CMK flaps are in the upper right. Below it you can see the bottom and top halves of the kit flaps. CMK seems to have built their flaps according to the size of the top half (the bottom right piece), yet included as part of the length the small stub that fits against the fuselage. So, a couple of millimeters too short!

Luckily I had the Verlinden set which includes properly sized flaps (see top left piece). Saved me a lot of work it would take to modify the CMK flaps. 

Flaps, rudder and elevators from CMK installed. Ailerons are from kit. 

 

Primer coat. 

I almost forgot that I had the Verlinden "Luftwaffe Airfield Carts" set, which allows you to build a power supply cart and an oil cart. Here's the oil cart. 

 

Here's the power supply cart. 

 

Verlinden carts all primed. 

After a few rounds of primer, ready to start adding color. 

Verlinden provides a full engine, the exhaust ring for the engine, a mounting ring for the engine all in the same Hs 129 upgrade set so you have a one-stop shop for this. Things are a little more complicated for me because I decided to use the very nice Vector engine along with the CMK external set which replaces the parts for the undercarriage and nacelle. After some putty, everything is looking pretty good - you can see the Verlinden engine mount ring on the left nacelle and the CMK nacelle front on the right nacelle. 

I think Verlinden vastly oversimplified the engine mount ring. Looking at schematics and the Zoukei Mura kit, the ring is actually just a smaller diameter ring supported by a lattice type structure of frames inside the nacelle. Where this matters is that the rear part of the engine actually hangs down on the other side of the ring into that bottom vent piece you see in the Verlinden ring. That was going to be way too complicated to replicate, so I just stuck with the Verlinden mount ring. What's interesting is that Verlinden provides the back pieces for the engine that would feed down into the bottom vent piece, but you can't really use them because the Verlinden engine mount ring is not accurately configured. 

Underside and underlying top coat painted. 

I detailed the Vector Gnome Rhone 14M engine a bit more. The kit engine on the right is nice, but the Vector engine adds quite a bit more detail which will look nice with the open engine. 

I used Vallejo Liquid Mask applied with a silicone brush and toothpick to mask off the various lines then painted the Sand Yellow using Mr. Color. 

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