VTOL HUMMINGBIRD

Using a 1:72 scale kit of the Italeri Sukhoi S-37 Berkut as a basis, the Vertical Take Off & Landing Hummingbird took quite a while to convert!

After sitting on the unfinished modelling shelf for 5 years, this is how the conversion looked when re-examined. The basic kit had been turned upside down, a cockpit area had been cut out and detailed with kit parts and the added engines were from an A10 Warthog aircraft. The central “lift fan” was from an old SRN Hovercraft kit, while the shaft itself was an underarm deodorant section.

The landing skids came from a couple of old “Star Wars” kits, while the two man crew consisted of 1:72 scale aircraft pilots. The cockpit area had been detailed with various kit parts and the canopy was going to be cut down from a Japanese spacecraft kit canopy.

The basic red colour was sprayed on, looking a little “flat” until the addition of a few sprays of gloss clear varnish. The yellow areas were hand brushed. Detailing consisted of various decals, drawn on panel lines and pieces of pinstriping tape which were carefully applied to follow the contours of the aircraft.