Helicopter

May be in wrong area but it is a build thread[P

I built one of these for my daughter almost 30 years ago from some plans out of Popular Mechanics, I no longer have the plans but had a picture of the one I built for my daughter so giving it a go. This ones for the Grandsons.

I'm using 1/2" sand ply and will paint and use marine varnish on it when finished.

The circles for the cab were cut on the table saw, the inner ones were cut with a sabre saw then all edges were routed over and will be thoroughly sanded smooth. I used aluminum angle for all the joinery along with carriage bolts (I'll replace the exposed nuts in interior with acorn nuts) I formed the two radious angle pieces to bolt the windshield in with my new shrinker/stretcher (I'll give a review on it in another thread)

The landing gear and steps are made from 2x6 and 1 1/2" pvc pipe. The tail section I redesigned and used plywood framed in 1x 1 1/2 poplar and drilled holes in it for a cooler affect (the original one was a truss style out of 2x2)

I'll keep you guys updated if your interested.

That thing is awesome. I would love to see more pictures.

YA...that thing is so cool....may have to build onr myself!!![cl[cl[cl

As usual Charley, cool stuff!

Jeez, Charley. Skip ridin' a bike, jump straight into flyin' a chopper?

Seriously, it's really cool. Please keep the thread alive and show us the project to the end.

Dr Crankenstein said:

Jeez, Charley. Skip ridin' a bike, jump straight into flyin' a chopper?

Seriously, it's really cool. Please keep the thread alive and show us the project to the end.

Click to expand...

i agree with the good dr! we will be anticipating updates...[P

How cool is that!! Some little dudes are going to have a lot of fun pretending. Way to go Grampa. I want to see this to the end, keep posting.

Thanks guys, I just fixed the part for my shrinker/stretcher at work last night so I can remake the windshield mounts. I'll be heavy on it this weekend and will keep you updated.

That is too cool!

Deciding on colors and scheme right now, the one I built for my daughter was back in the Magnum P.I. days so I painted it to look like the one TC used to fly on there.

All of the other yard toys are red & yellow[S I'd like to find a helicopter in a popular kids cartoon that would be highly recognizable and paint it like that.

Yes it's fun to build things for the grandkids. Good job Garndpa.

A little Setback

Re bent the radius angles for mounting the windshield and got some aluminum flat stock for the trim piece. Cut the acrylic smoked glass windshield and started installing it and on the 3rd hole I heard a snap, then the whole neighborhood heard a lot of swearing I was using my heat gun but the acrylic was just too thick to make the radius. Went to Lowe's this morning and got a thin sheet of clear, gonna paint it first then install the windshield & have it tinted.

Need some advice on what paint to use & a clear like maybe marine varnish so it lasts a while.

That is great. love to see projects done for kids or grandchildren. cant wait to see it when its done.

Sorry 'bout the windshield. I'd be swearing, too!


I've painted wood with rust paint and clear over the rust paint. TOUGH as nails. Both the paint and clear were Tremclad (Canadian brand Rustoleum) products. See if you can find something similar and make sure it's oil-based. Water-based and latex products are a waste of time in my opinion.



From the first CARS movie, the only half-bright idea I have for color and scheme.

The Doctor is right

I agree with the Doctor.Oil base is the way to go.Latex is no good.

Started painting the copter, Red with yellow accents then gonna take it to my pin striper. Putting diamond plate floor mat in cab floor and landing gear steps. A friend gave me a brand new 7" LCD monitor to put in it. Hope to get it to the striper by Sat.

A little more progress, broke another windshield so no more drilling into them gonna just sandwich it between the 2 pieces of aluminum.

A friend gave me a 7" LCD monitor for it.

way kool i like it

I'll waste some more time posting pics

This is how it looks today, still gotta paint some trim and install the dash

looks like you grandsons are going to have the coolest toy in the neighborhood.great jod