Santa's Sleigh
2003 |
1/48 Italeri AH-1Z
with a 1/72 Italeri V-22 kitbash |
Gallery Article by Alvis 3.1
on
Dec 24 2003
|
|
|
|
With the airframe
hours on his Harrier Jump Jet running out, Santa had to look around for a new
aircraft to deliver all the toys on Christmas Eve.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
Some suggested the B-1, others
the Hercules, and others still the Super Guppy, but in the end, the geniuses at
Saulino Aviation and Software came up with the perfect design. Utilizing the
attributes of the AH-1Z Cobra helicopter and V-22 Multirole aircraft, the
designers developed a fast, manoeuverable VTOL with a decent range. Air-to-air
refuelling was achieved by tanking off the old Boeing 727 delivery plane (last
used in the early 90's) and thus, global range was made available.
First assembled at the North Pole Airframe Plant Number 4 in July, 2003, an
extensive test program wrung out the problems. A constant recurrance were engine
flameouts, which were eventually traced to disgruntled reindeer
"altering" the fuel, and once the gas cap locks were installed, the
plane flew without any further problems. This Christmas Eve will be it's first
official mission, but it is rumoured that it did fly some Turkey Drops over the
American mid west during Thanksgiving.
The Model:
What you get when you
blend a 1/48 Italeri AH-1Z with a 1/72 Italeri V-22, and a couple of almost 1/32
scale "Christmas Village" figures.... I finished it in the early hours
of Dec 23...I've got to start these things sooner! The skids were moved back to
allow for a shift in the model's c/g, the rotor housing was cut off the top of
the Cobra fuselage, and the V-22 wing/engine assembly was attached. A widening
bar was inserted into the forward fuselage to allow for both the scale change and the enhanced girth of
the pilot. The classic wooden bench style seat was scratch built.
Markings were hand painted.
Now, what to do next year....B-52??? 1/32 B-17?? Or the ever classic 1/24
Bf-109???
Alvis 3.1