by John Sears
1/700 Aircraft Collection, part 13 (Scratchbuilt)
Russian Mil V-12 super heavy lift helicopter. This is a scratchbuilt, 1/700 scale replica of the Russian Mil V-12 super heavy-lift helicopter developed and flown in the late 1960s and early 70s. A very unusual monster of a helicopter – still the largest rotary wing aircraft ever built and flown - it set many world records. It was a huge aircraft and was designed to carry cargo that could also fit in the An-22 transport. This model, however, parks nicely in the palm of one’s hand. The model is sculpted wood dowel fuselage and the surfaces and rotors are layered Evergreen plastic sheet and tubing. I used line drawings obtained online and scaled down to 1/700 and found several sites with a photo or two as research. The model is finished by way of hand-painting and scaled homemade custom decals in the livery that appeared at the 1971 Paris Air Show. One of the two prototypes is on display at the air museum at Monino, Russia.
