how to build a 1/35 helicopter hover in air ?

I put magnets into a 1/72 Hasegawa Hind, and also embedded them in the diroama underneath it. There was only a centimeter or so between the wheels and the ground, but it floated. The catch was that it had a tendancy to capsise over, so I had one hair on each wingtip tethering it in place. Unfortunately, no pics.

NTM

For the load sling idea, what if thinwall, small diameter copper tubing was hammered flat, painted to simulate webbing, formed around the load, and then attached to the helo?

Or, same idea, use brass flat stock? However, this might be a bit too springy for larger scales.

Never used either of the above, and weight/scaled is likely to be an issue, just brainstorming, instead of working.....

thanks for your reply .... great help ....

QUOTE: Originally posted by HeavyArty QUOTE: The tough part is the cargo hook, the support beam and the structure around it. That part is going to be hard to model and be able to support the entire aircraft. Yup, the delima of supporting the weight of the helo and balancing it on one point. Simmilar to the fastrope idea for supporting the helo. Good luck.

I agree. I'm thinking you'd have to build some supporting structure in the bilge area of the aircraft both fore & aft and left & right of the hole to properly support the model.

Good thing about this is that I think it would be do-able in a CH-47D, since the hook is a *major* structural mounting place anyway. (A UH-60's fast-rope fixtures are a little spindly, IMHO, to support like that) The cargo hook beam is pretty substantial (compared to the hook beam on a CH-47A thru C model). I dunno if you could do a good job of making the sling/clevis/cargo hook very scale, however, if you were beefing it up that much.

Maybe a fore/aft milvan or connex rig (oooh, AH-64 dual-point recovery!!), or even shot-gun HummVees rigged fore-aft would be far more stable a platform to perch the model on. Also, the fore & aft hooks are more closely integrated into the aircraft's bottom structure, so you'd be able to probably rig a more solid connection in scale.

Oh yeah I forgot about the rotor "cone" too!
The blades would be up, in the shape of a cone, not down.

Don

Wonder what could be done using that invisible magicians thread, and displayed within a clear case. If the shelf it's displayed on has a dark background, viewers would be quite unable to detect a means of support.... but it couldn't be moved around a lot. Yikes!


http://www.ellusionist.com/order/invisible-thread.htm

Hmmmmm....

Take care,
Frank

i'm thinking about using 5lb fishing line ran out at 4 spots then spray with low luster clear to hide the wires better i seen this done in a movie how to and they were pretty invisible but if you put a glass case around it the wires would hide themselves that much more

One very, VERY important thing to remember:
Rotor wash.
It is very intense just outside the bottom of the helo.
A Blackhawk/Jayhawk produces hurricane force winds, if it isn't tied down it will fly away!
I have seen people knocked down as the helo approaches, or gets ready to lift off makes for some mad folks especially law enforcement!!

Don

Wow I've been quoted as an example! (Thanks Gino!)
Guess HeavyArty wanted to show this picture

but esmart doesn't support direct linking!

To balance the helo the steel rod goes toward the front of the fuselage in order to block the rotation. The rod will be covered with a shoestring to make it look like a rope.
There are three more pictures on my site.

QUOTE: The tough part is the cargo hook, the support beam and the structure around it. That part is going to be hard to model and be able to support the entire aircraft.

Yup, the delima of supporting the weight of the helo and balancing it on one point. Simmilar to the fastrope idea for supporting the helo. Good luck.

I've been giving this a lot of thought with the 1/35 Chinook that's coming, for more than one reason. A static Chinook is a pretty forlorn thing, plus getting the droop of the FRBs just right is going to be pretty tough, too.

As an ex-CH-47 FE, I loved doing sling loads. Lots of sling loads. :) I really had fun doing that stuff.

So I'm thinking a 1/35 Hummvee, or maybe a scratch built Connex container as an external load sitting on the ground. Rigging some tubing or bent rod as the slings up to the center cargo hook, and position the Chinook in a hover over the load. Couple 1/35 infantry guys scrambling off the top of the slingload to get clear after the hookup, crewchief up in the cabin door, and an FE looking suspiciously like me in the hole..:)

The tough part is the cargo hook, the support beam and the structure around it. That part is going to be hard to model and be able to support the entire aircraft.

This has been discussed here many times before. The general consensus is that you need to have some type of rod holding it up. The fastrope idea is hard to acheive due to the small size of an actual fastrope in scale, and where it attaches on the aircraft, a ring on the roof of the cabin, one on each side (2 ropes total). Also, is the issue of balance and the weight of a large, 1/35 helo.

Here is a pic of how David Brown, LetsWeForget at Armorama did it.


And a full article on how he did it:
http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=424

Another way done by Pete Becerra, EPI at Armorama, using a clear acrylic rod to support the helo.


And a final picture from Klaus Pagano's, Avus here at FSM, in-progress MH-60L Blackhawk doi with the intent of fastropers coming down the lines. He may just pull it off. We shall see.


Hope that gives you some ideas.

QUOTE: I plan on doing a Blackhawk Down diorama depicting the Rangers rapelling down. The ropes would be 4 steel rods and the rods would be inserted into braded lines and then painted. The rods would be mounted into the base. The rods would be inserted into the roof of the choppers cabin(2 on each side to keep the chopper stable and support the weight)

A6Efan, this won't work. There are only 2 fastropes used on a Blackhawk, one on each side, not 4. That is where the balance and weight issue comes into play. Sorry.

Moving this to the Helicopters forum. For one, it won't get buried as quickly due to the activity in the Aircraft forum and secondly, it'll increase the chance it's seen by more rotorheads.

Well, let me ask you this. What setting are you planning on using? Is it a desert setting or a wooded setting? I built a 1/72 SH-60 Jayhawk(Coast Guard) in a diorama depicting the Flood of 1993 here in the mid-west. The scene shows the chopper hovering over a rooftop of a house that is almost covered by water and the crew are rescuing a dog and cat from the roof. I used the lichen used by the model railroad folks for trees. They were attached to a regular piece of wood you'd find lying in the yard.
I peeled the bark off and used a dremel tool to partially hollow the wood out. I inserted a brass tube in the hollow space and glued the bark back onto the wood to conceal the tube. I ran a wire inside the tube and connected it to the wiring and small electric motor that I had installed in the chopper. I drilled a hole at the rear of the tail boom that was the same diameter as the brass tube and inserted it in the opening and glued it in place.
The wiring was run into the base of the diorama and into the chimney of the house where I had made a battery holder. The top of the chimney served as the switch to activate the motor. Once the tree was installed I attached more lichen to depict leaves and branches. The fluffy lichen was built up and the tail of the chopper was barely touching the tree which gave the appearance that the chopper was hovering. The tubing re-enforced tree held the chooper in place. I'll be happy to send you a photo of the completed diorama if you'd like.
I made a similar diorama in 1/48 scale using the Academy 1/48 Blackhawk depicting the rescue of a pilot. I had this one motorized and hovering over a forest as well using the same technique. This one however suffered major damage when, while being judged, one of the judges got his head too close to the main rotor while it was spinning and broke off one of the blades.
I plan on doing a Blackhawk Down diorama depicting the Rangers rapelling down. The ropes would be 4 steel rods and the rods would be inserted into braded lines and then painted. The rods would be mounted into the base. The rods would be inserted into the roof of the choppers cabin(2 on each side to keep the chopper stable and support the weight) You might want to try one of these ideas. They do work. Good luck!
Chris

More possibilites. I just read about someone building a hercules dropping crates flying just over, constructing invisible rods inside the crates, half on the ground, still touching the airplane.
One option would be to let a marine slide down a rope , letting the rope to be a stirdy pole to put your blackhawk on.

Another option - "sponsored by revell" - would be to use magnetism to keep you blackhawk in the air. This would be extremely tough to make yourself I reccon.

If you would want to keep it invisible, not showing any ugly transparant poles, option one would be adviseable. Try to find a reasen why some object links the ground to the chopper.

For the Hercules: look at discussion within AIRCRAFT named Posing control surfaces?
Eager to know how your going to solve this as well as how it will turn out (pics online?)