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HR Model 1/72 Hanriot HD.1

By Matt Bittner

Introduction

The Hanriot HD.1 was a design – at least for the French – as too little, too late.  At the time the HD.1 was introduced the French military was then equipping all of their squadrons with the SPAD S.VII.  Since they put so much effort and faith into the SPAD – which most would consider a better machine – and with the HD.1 sporting the same characteristics as the Nieuports, the French saw no need for the HD.1.  However, they also didn't want Hanriot to suffer, so they "allowed" Hanriot to sell the plane to other countries.  The two that snapped it up quickly were Italy and Belgium.  In their hands it proved to be a capable fighter.

The Kit

The HR Models 1/72 Hanriot HD.1 consists of 56 pieces in injected gray plastic (not all used as the same trees are for the HD.1 and HD.2), and a small sheet of clear film.  The film takes care of the three different types of windscreen along with an instrument panel.  The injected pieces are nicely done, with the underside of the wings correctly showing "sunken ribs", as opposed to be "raised", as they were on the upper surfaces.  Kudos to HR for that.  In addition the HR kit comes with a separate turtledeck, which means you won't have to re-add stringer detail lost in sanding.  More companies need to do this when it comes to stringered turtedecks.

Depending on the option you buy determines which markings you receive.  The kit has been released as Belgian, Italian and Swiss.  HR sent us the Belgian and Italian releases so the options provided with those are:

Italian

• No.515, Tenente F.T.Baracchini (cards), CDL
• No.6254, Sottotenente G.Michetti (seahorse), CDL
• No.6239, Tenente Silvio Scaroni, Beige lower surfaces, Gray-green uppers
• No.7517, Tenente Silvio Scaroni, CDL
• Unknown, Tenente Mario Cucini (pennant), Beige lower surfaces, upper surfaces in green and brown

Belgian

• "The Comet", 5th Escadrille de Chasse, French five-color
• "White Cocotte", 11th Escadrille de Chasse, French five-color
• No.121 with no unit markings, French five-color
• "Thistle", 9th Escadrille de Chasse, French five-color
• Three Willy Coppens aircraft:
  • "White Cocotte" emblem shaded in black, blue over aluminum finished
  • No.24 "Thistle", 9th Escadrille de Chasse, French five-color
  • No.23 "Thistle", 9th Escadrille de Chasse, blue upper surfaces, aluminum lower

Construction starts with assembling the fuselage halves.  One thing to be aware of.  HR provides very little cockpit detail.  You receive a seat (which is not entirely correct since most (if not all) HD.1 seats were perforated, but producing a perforated seat in plastic is problematic), rudder pedals, instrument panel (in which you'll use either a decal or the clear film – or both) and control column.  That's it.  No sidewall detail and nothing else.  Because of this, if you want to add more detail (especially sidewall detail) it's best to do it before gluing the fuselage halves together.  Via the instructions, the rest of the kit-supplied cockpit pieces aren't added until after the lower wing is glued to the fuselage halves.  This is because the lower wing forms the cockpit floor.

Once the lower wing and cockpit pieces are added, the construction proceeds quickly.  Glue on the two separate, upper fuselage pieces along with the horizontal tail and you're ready for painting.  I would leave off the rudder, engine and cowl until the end.  Not to mention the upper wing and all its struts.  You'll probably want to leave off the landing gear until after paintint as well.

The last steps will be adding the upper wing - with struts - and rudder. Note there is no rigging diagram so finding other references for rigging is a must. One nice option is you can show the prop/engine "free", meaning they will spin as rotaries were meant to.

Conclusion

This is an excellent kit. Extremely well done for HR Model's second foray into injected plastic. If - like me - you were hoping Eduard would deliver on their promise years and years ago when they announced Hanriots, there is no need to wait. HR Model provides an excellent 1/72 kit of the Hanriot biplanes.

My thanks for HR Model for the review kits.