Inspiration

As a kid, I thought I knew all there was to know about WW II aircraft – that is, the names and roles of the actual aircraft – even including the lesser known models.  But one day, while perusing the modelling forums, I ran across a name I had never heard of – the Handley Page Heyford.  What was that?

When I saw the photos, I knew I had to build one as it appealed to my sense of the oddball.

A dustbin ventral turret no less.

There is a Matchbox 1/72 kit reissued by Revell and available from various online vendors.  So, this made a project plausible.

As the Heyford was mostly struck off charge before the war started and did not serve in any front line units, I pondered for some time how I would present this craft in a World War II guise – not being terribly interested in intra-war depictions.  The pondering went on for a while until I ran across this photo of a Heyford towing a Hotspur Mk I glider in trials sometime in 1940-41.

A quick check online showed there were various reboxings of a Hotspur Mk II in 1/72 and I ordered the most recent one from Ark Models (2012).

Now I had my idea — an airfield scene of a Heyford in training colors about to start towing a Hotspur, also in training colors.  I would need to perfect my skills at painting yellow. There was always the fun challenge of rigging a 1/72 biplane. And, I could throw in some of my collection of unbuilt RAF vehicles and buildings for visual distraction.

As I await the arrival of the Hotspur (it is shipping from Russia), I sadly realized that the Hotspur Mk I had an 18 foot longer wingspan than the Hotspur Mk II (the one coming in the kit). There are no 1/72 Hotspur Mk I kits nor aftermarket conversion sets.  So, I’m going to have to custom extend the wings from scratch. This is going to be interesting trying to get the leading and trailing edges to match.

Meanwhile, time to collect some references…