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neil foster
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GAL Hotspur 1/72 Novo kits

April 21, 2019 · in Diorama · · 11 · 2.2K

This is the ancient Novo , kit that I picked up for a fiver at a club day last year. I bought it for the RAF centenary G.B. and that is where it first appeared but I always thought it needed to be presented in a more interesting way, the lower surfaces are in black and yellow chevrons so I was going to present it in flight but somehow this idea took shape. The sheep cost a tenner from Bachman twice as much as the kit! .

As kits go this was no walk in the park considering the age and quality of the moulding, the main problem was the numerous little portholes which were way oversize and extended beyond the fuselage by a couple of mm and needed to be rubbed smooth and then polished to something approaching transparent and then masking the tiny round windows took an age. The decals were Fubar so I had to trawl through my spares box, there is no real explanation for the dio so the viewer can decide for themselves what is going on, how did the glider end up in a sheep field ? who will win out in the standoff between the ram and the dog ?

A bit of information about the Hotspur. It was originally intended to be an eight man (plus two crew) assault glider but Whitehall soon decided that a much bigger payload was needed and the Horsa came to be. The Hotspur was relegated to the role of trainer and was used to great success.

Hope you like it, N.

Reader reactions:
4  Awesome

5 additional images. Click to enlarge.


11 responses

  1. sharp...love the sheep...great touch

  2. I know someone has to dance with the ‘not so pretty’ GALS at the party, but that’s one ugly bird. Seriously, I’d rather date the sheep.

    Of course, it’s not a criticism of the modeling skills, Neil, just an observation of some really ugly design work. Seen better lines at drunken country parties.

    Anyway, it IS a great little diorama, seriously, and I’m all for getting animals in a build project. Sharks, camels, dolphins, you name it - I’ll get it in a dio. Well done, sir.

    By the way, if you need any professional help, send a private message and I’ll give you the number...

    Oh, and ‘liked’

    • I could do with some professional help actually, my shower tray is leaking - do you know a good plumber ?

      I know what you mean about the old girls looks ,I don't think she's ugly by any stretch of the imagination but she doesn't look "right " somehow, they actually trialed a twin fuselage version ,talk about flogging a dead horse... have a looksee.

      If I wasn't such an idle bugger I'd re-do these pictures as they are slightly out of focus and too close, compared to the same scale Horsa she really is tiny but the pictures show up imperfections I hadn't noticed with the Mk 1 eyeball like the leading edge of the wing needs tidying up as does the seam round the cockpit canopy and the Ram looks like it's had some sort of major spinal surgery, I hadn't noticed any of those flaws.

      I have really found an interest in Dio's ,in fact I just more or less completed another yesterday reproducing a picture of HMLS Centipede or "Mother" as she was known on trails ,I just need to find a collection of suitably dressed toffs and brass hats to finish it off.

      Cheers for looking Dave, N.

  3. That's a lovely diorama. It seems there are quit a few of these kits around at the moment as I find them with second hand traders on various shows for little money.
    It shows again that with some effort a nice model can still be made from these oldies.

  4. Nicely done Neil, baaaaa !

  5. 🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 :
    Surprising looking aircraft Neil, very rarely seen, cute little diorama.

  6. Nice work on an old kit! I'm in the middle of a Frog project now, so feel your pain...

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