1/72 Italeri Airspeed Horsa Mk. I


In the small parts area the kit is frustrating. There were no locating pins or marks whatsoever for the skid and landing gear. I even pulled a third kit out of the attic and it is still in the sealed bags. Couldn't see any marks on it either. I went to photos and finally a drawing that had a section of the landing gear installation. The front of the skid lines up with the front of the wing, and I keyed off of that to locate the landing gear, although it's just a best guess how far from the centerline that the main gear V struts attach to the fuselage. Did my best. Super glue was used, there will be some scraping and cleaning later. I bent the axle parts of the V struts so the main wheels would have a believable amount of camber. I lengthened the nose strut with music wire and brass tubing, otherwise the nose would set much lower than any photos I could find. There seems to be a lot of variation in how high off the ground the fuselage sits. The V struts on the tail had little circles where the end should fit, so I drilled them out. The struts didn't match up too well, but at least I have some confidence they are in the right place.