A Rough Landing: Gary's Crashed Horsa Glider
Gary Faulkner's conversion of our 28mm Airspeed Horsa Glider isn't one fixed wreck. He made the same model work as an intact aircraft, a landing going badly wrong, and the wreckage left afterwards. The wings can come away and fit together again, while the flaps, rudder and undercarriage tell the rest of the story.
The Airspeed Horsa carried troops and equipment during the Second World War, including the airborne operation at Pegasus Bridge on D-Day. Gary points out an interesting detail in his original notes: some of what looks like wreckage in wartime photographs is actually a glider being unloaded. On certain versions, sections of the cab and tail could be removed to get the cargo out.
“But that would be no fun if all landings are perfect landings. So we decided to crash a glider.”Gary Faulkner, original conversion guide (2017)
Start with the assembly instructions
Before cutting anything, Gary worked through the N088 kit instructions and marked where he wanted the damage to happen. He chose drooping control surfaces and wings that would appear to have torn away, but he also wanted to be able to put the glider back together. That meant thinking about how each alteration would affect the rest of the build.
Small changes, convincing damage
He started with the front guide wheel, cutting away its support and making a fork from scrap material. That also required a slot in the fuselage card, so the new piece could fit between the front ring frames.
Next came the flaps, stabilisers and rudder. Gary cut the parts free and repositioned them, using super glue gel and lengths of 1.2 mm plastic rod to reinforce the joints. The result is a glider whose control surfaces can be shown drooping rather than neatly lined up for flight.
Making the wings come away
The wings were the trickiest part. Gary cut the MDF panels to overlap, taking advantage of the kit's main spar to make a joint that could hold together when required. He then used scrap 2 mm MDF to add spar ends inside the wing sections, checking their alignment before gluing them into place.
That let him display both wings in place, remove them for the crash scene, and line up the invasion stripes while painting. It is a conversion planned around how the model will be used, not just how it will look in one photograph.
The crash, one stage at a time
With everything painted, Gary photographed the landing as a sequence. The glider touches down, the front guide wheel fails, and the main undercarriage tears free. As the fuselage slides, one wing begins to break away; then the other digs in and goes too.
After the landing
In the final scene, the cab and tail are removed so the passengers can get out and the load can be unloaded. Gary even turned the washer counterbalance pack from the kit into a pallet load at the door. It is a useful way to turn the remains of the aircraft into a playable tabletop scene.
Gary's full illustrated guide covers the cuts, strengthening and assembly changes in more detail, followed by the complete photographic crash sequence. It is available as a free PDF, and the conversion uses our 28mm N088 Airspeed Horsa Glider kit.
Build it yourself
Download the free Crashed Horsa Build & Conversion Guide (QSG0018-D)
Original conversion, photographs and guide: Gary Faulkner (March Attack), 2017.
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