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SCALE: 1/72 |
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INITIAL RELEASE: 2001 |
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MEDIUM: Resin/Polystyrene |
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RARITY: (2) |
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ABOUT THE DESIGN |
ABOUT THE KIT |
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Yet another in a long line of
bizarre Vertical Take-Off & Landing (VTOL) concepts was this plan for
turning an F-104 Starfighter into a supersonic helicopter. Proposed
by Ryan Aeronautical engineer Peter Girard (who had flown the actual Ryan
X-13 Vertijet), the plan called for replacing the Starfighter's stubby
wings with a triangular dorsal-mounted airfoil. The airfoil was to
spin like a helicopter blade, the tips of the triangle tilting to provide
the necessary lift. Once the craft was airborne, the triangle would
lock into a straight horizontal position and serve as a traditional "wing"
for conventional flight. Fortunately, the development of the vertical take-off Hawker Harrier later in the decade precluded this seemingly suicidal concept from actually being pursued. |
This resin conversion kit was
released by Igor Shestakov's Unicraft company in 2001. It consisted of
just the four-piece "wing" and the dorsal-mounted support column; the rest was
just the injected-plastic 1/72-scale F-104 model kit of your choice. In this case, the "base" model is a 21st Century edition of the F-104-C released by Revell of Germay. The model is built as an "operational" version of the proposed F-104 VTOL.. |
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Original Box Art |
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Revell Box Art |
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Concept Aircraft |
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