"1/100 Mangusta Helicopter - Does this need scifi-ed?" Topic

I found this great helicopter model. It's 1/100 so perfect for 15mm and it fits in with the style of vehicles I have for my scifi background. But is it okay as it is, with just a repaint, or does it need something to make it more scifi? If so, where could I get some engines to make it VTOL?

That has always been my big obstacle in converting combentional air vehicles to scifi. Usually it means finding a part from another model to use as jets or fans.

If you go with "grav" tech it becomes easier as you only need some sort of "emitter" on the vehicle to generate the grav field. This can be any shape.

I experimented once with using Tau drones from Warhammer that were glued in where the rotor would normally go. This ended up looking too much like a radar dish. A pair of these off the sides of the helicoptor might work and on some helos you can even glue them into the exhaust for the conventional engines.

-Eli

If your setting uses Helos it is just fine…. Most attack Helos already look pretty Sci-Fi to me…

My setting has no grav vehicles or any aircraft… yet. So I'm pretty much able to do what I want.

I'd like to make this look like the VTOL craft in Avatar but the idea if Tau drones attached each side may work.

Okay, had a look on ebay. Tau Drones are easy to get. Does anybody have a pic of the underside of one of these?

I wonder if these would work? What do you think?

auction

Depends on how big they are.

-Eli

You might consider raiding the bins in a hardware store. I've stacked together a couple of different sizes of ribbed locking washers to create small turbo-fans that looked pretty decent.

I sometimes wonder what the staff there think when I come up to the register with my little bag of washers, bushings and doo-dads that couldn't possibly relate to any home improvement project.

I sometimes wonder what the staff there think

Heh. I recall when a fellow gamer and I were pushing a cart around the local Orchard Supply Hardware brainstorming a hot wire cutter as we went. At one point we heard two of the employees discussing us. "Those guys need any help?" "Nah, they've been all over the store at least twice."

I feel goofy walking around with arm loads of plumbing fitting and electrical junction boxes for terrain.

"Rewiring your house?"

"Nope! Building a space colony"

"…..*cricket*…*cricket*..um..fun..okay.."

-Eli

It already is a VTOL, Vertical take off and landing, cool looking heli, leave as is and repaint.

I took a HIND, chopped off the tail, and added the engines from an A-10 Warthog a few years back. I also had considered using the pods from a Star Wars Episode 1 pod-racer as sci-fi-looking engines. Something like that might give it a bit more of a sci-fi flavor.

Someone around here had made a cool conversion of a heli by removing the rotors and adding a pair of 40K Marine jump-packs on the sides. I'll have to see if I can find a link to that.

Andreas,

I believe that was done with a 1/144 scale helo.

-Eli

I'd just leave it as is.

Doesn't need a repaint, in my opinion, either.

Leave the wheels off and remove the landing gear..shoud do the trick?

I just took delivery of some engine units from Combat Wombat that'd do the job perfectly.

John T

It's gotta get a new paintjob. My Federal army is green. That's brown.

John T.

Engines from Combat Wombat?

Care to post a link/pic? I can't find them on their webpage.

Woah Binaries, you keep adding to your federal forces, maybe just maybe you could let the Opposition have the A-129?

;)

Moqawama they are from the bullfrog.

Thank you for the info.

Got some reinforcements for the opposition ready to put on the blog tomorrow, plus tried to get a pic of the Feds so far….

What about inclosed fans? small ones on either side or a large one on top.
Where to get one? Have a friend that builds computers? I'd look at those first.

Repeating a comment made in the other scifi helo thread –

You could always update the weapons load to look more scifi. Maybe use some green stuff to armor the cockpit, adding a few pin holes or details pressed in with a very small brass tube to simulate micro-cameras or optics.

-Eli

I like the tau frone idea. Put some of them under the body tilted out and angle and you would have something like the ships in matrix.

You could look at some of the Mechwarrior clicky stuff. More around N scale but some of the VTOLs have really nice fans on the wings. Should be able to pick some of them up on Ebay for pretty cheap.

BTW, who makes the Mangusta and where did you get it? I cannot find a 1:100 Mangusta anyplace.

-Eli

It's a die-cast model from Italeri. comes in kit form with plastic parts. I think it may have been available in a part work magazine collection.

Here's one… auction

I'm only showing you this, rather than buying another, cause I'm skint. :(

take off the parts you did in that picture and thrown some some lift engines, like the ones on a Harrier in the centural fusilage behind the weapons pylons. You can actually see indented areas there. Use them.

IT would look good.