MOC: Hellecopter Gunship

I think this is the right place for this but please move if not.

This gunship was inspired by the 7676-1: Republic Attack Gunship and the 8971-1: Aerial Defence Unit. It has a Tecnic frame (Yes, the tail is at a slightly different angle, but no bricks are bent) and is quite sturdy, apart from the nose which is a bit loose.











Comments & Criticism welcome.

Not a bad effort however the main rotor blades are too short. Most main rotorblades stop within a few feet of the rear rotor blade. Another good idea is to have "sliding doors" that like the republic gunship slide into the closed position to give protection to the crew. If you look at the blackhawk and even the old huey bell, the doors on them slide back.

Hey Captain, just found this thread! Must have missed it while
I was overseas. Great MOC, looks like some heavy duty flying machine indeed!
Only thing I would suggest is that you add wheels or skids so that your chopper can land on some uneven terrain.

I really like this and it is well built.

Paul

I have a number of critiques regarding this build, so please bear with me.

- The helicopter profile is far too large in comparison to the minifig. Minifig helicopters with correct scaling would have far less headroom (and by extension, overall height) than your current design.

- As has been mentioned, the main rotor blades are far too short for a craft of this size. A helicopter relies on the lift generated by the airfoil profile in the rotor blades to get off the ground in the first place. Definitely consider increasing their length.

- I dislike your extensive use of Technic parts for the fuselarge, as this leaves you very little provision for adding protective side panels. Consider reverting to regular LEGO instead for the bulk of the build, and possibly implement some form of SNOT.

- The engines definitely need to be enclosed. Without the outer shells, the turbines won't work properly.

I found some good articles written by some friends of mine regarding building good helicopters in LEGO. I strongly recommend everyone in this thread have a good read:

http://militarylego.blogspot.com/2010/08/huey.html

http://militarylego.blogspot.com/2010/07/building-helicopters.html