[TC15] Nighthawk Tribute - Finished

[Tomik]

Let me introduce you what I was working on last week - it is going to be helicopter loosely inspired by Bell 47. I call it Nighthawk because it is also my tribute to set 8412 that I got when I was child.

I will feature:

• crank for spinning both rotors
• fake six-cylinder flat engine with moving pistons
• lever in cockpit for tilting main rotor (this is not realistic function but it is reproduction of functionality of set 8412)

Since I build almost exclusively alternative models this helicopter is no exception. I only use parts from rally car 42077. And now some pictures of my progress:

Initial proof of concept to ensure that I have enough gears

Prototype of cab with seat and lever

The first assembly of whole helicopter (before I took it apart for structural upgrades)

Edited January 22, 2019 by Tomik

[steph77]

Yes, one other Hoover :)

Some litle comments  compared to your reference model:

- The tail section seems fixed too high

- the white panel job on the rear part does not exist on the reference model

- i would lowered a bit the back fixation of the canopy in order to get a smooth curve

Great idea BTW, good work next steps...

 

[Jurss]

Interesting aproach, and the result seems really good for it.

[Tomik]

Thank you for comments.

10 hours ago, steph77 said:

Some litle comments  compared to your reference model:

- The tail section seems fixed too high

Yes, this is serious issue both visual and functional. Since main rotor was hitting tail I moved it 3 studs lower and it also improved look.

10 hours ago, steph77 said:

- the white panel job on the rear part does not exist on the reference model

Since I'm dealing with serious lack of liftarms I decided to cover tail with panels. Some types of this helicopter like Bell 47H-1 had also enclosed fuselage so I think it will be fine.

10 hours ago, steph77 said:

- i would lowered a bit the back fixation of the canopy in order to get a smooth curve

I did it and it really looks better.

So I applied few structural and visual changes and got this fully functional prototype. It became pretty huge - it is more than 60 cm (2 feet) long. Now I'm going to take it apart to finish structural changes and make part replacements to improve color scheme and details like dashboard.

Edited January 7, 2019 by Tomik

[captainmib]

Nice build so far.

I like how you use just one set, a car, and build a helicopter out of it. 

It looks like the original has a winch or something on the side? Will you implement that?

[Tomik]

I am done and these are pictures of finished model:

These pictures show effect of tilting main rotor in two axis:

And detail of vertically mounted fake engine:

[mocbuild101]

Looks great, I like how you left an opening so you can see the engine 

[MangaNOID]

So this is c model from 42077?

personaly I would take some panels off the tail if not structural, but otherwise...

...Fantastic! 

[Tomik]

12 hours ago, mocbuild101 said:

Looks great, I like how you left an opening so you can see the engine 

Thank you for comment.

11 hours ago, MangaNOID said:

So this is c model from 42077?

personaly I would take some panels off the tail if not structural, but otherwise...

...Fantastic! 

Thank you for comment. Yes, I've built it only out of parts from set 42077. Panels on tail are not structurally important but I ran out of liftarms so I used panels instead of them. It would look too empty without them...

[Tomik]

Building instructions for helicopter are available at rebrickable.com now.

Edited April 19, 2019 by Tomik