So when I read about TC13, I first had something huge in mind...

But actually I think the pullback series are cute because of what they are: small, simple and quite fast. So I decided to keep in the spirit of official pullbacks, and keep it small. However, I did not go for the obvious racer or offroader car, I want to do something not done before (at least not by TLG). So I went for a helicopter. The type was not a difficult decision: after watching barmans incredible avatar helicopter numerous times, I wanted to do one myself.

So how to make a pullback work without any wheels...

Here is the proof of concept result of tinkering an evening with two pullback motors and some rotors:

And a video of it in action.

I'm actually quite happy with the way it works, although it does not use the full extend of the windup mechanism. So I'll stay with this concept and try to refine the looks in the coming period.

Edited January 26, 20187 yr by Rudivdk
Changed title

Very nice, and I like compact too.

Very nice idea! I would strongly advise you to make the front and rear portions longer.

For the contest just being officially announced today, I like it! 

I like it. It's a good use of the pullback motor, and is a great vehicle to model. One thing to improve would be the cockpit-area shaping, IMHO.

Nice! Great work making it so quickly, I've barely even got a prototype...

Very nice! And I like to see more non-vehicle-solutions 

The result of another evening well spent:

I'm quite pleased with the result, although I think the side view is not totally convincing yet. Will leave this at rest for a few days and see if it can be improved later.

Awesome! I like the cockpit much more now! Another pair of the mini panels to fill the gaps on the tail would probably be good...

2 hours ago, Rudivdk said:

The result of another evening well spent:

What an improvement! I agree with @Leonardo da Bricki, a couple of small panels should fill the gap in the tail quite nicely - if they fit...

7 hours ago, Leonardo da Bricki said:

Awesome! I like the cockpit much more now! Another pair of the mini panels to fill the gaps on the tail would probably be good...

 

7 hours ago, mocbuild101 said:

What an improvement! I agree with @Leonardo da Bricki, a couple of small panels should fill the gap in the tail quite nicely - if they fit...

Thanx for the compliments!

I think fitting and securing panels on the tail won't be a problem, but I do not have any more of the medium azure panels (only have the pullback stunt truck in that color and used all of them already), and I also don't have them in DBG (yet...). Maybe I'll put black panels for now...

So after a flying start (pun intended ) on this TC13 entry, progress grinded to a hold as life took away most of my spare time over the last 1,5 months... But I still wanted to finish this model and enter the contest, and found some time here and there to do so.

So here is my last update and final build. I've added some panels to the sides, and put two seats in the cockpit. It is no longer intended as a model of the Avatar movie helicopter, so I changed the name to just "Twinrotor Helicopter".

 

Edited January 26, 20187 yr by Rudivdk
vid added

6 hours ago, Rudivdk said:

I've added some panels to the sides

That looks much better! Good work.

Edited January 27, 20187 yr by mocbuild101

Looks superb, nice idea.

 

Thanx for all your votes up until now everyone! Didn't expect to get so much support for this humble build...