Curtiss-Wright VZ-7 out of foam board

Background:

The Curtiss-Wright VZ-7 (also known as the VZ-7AP) was a VTOL quadrotor helicopter aircraft designed by the Curtiss-Wright company for the US Army. Like the Chrysler VZ-6 and the VZ-8 Airgeep it was to be a "flying jeep" .

Two prototypes were delivered to the US Army in mid-1958.

The VZ-7 had a fuselage with the pilot's seat, fuel tanks and flight controls. On both sides of the fuselage the propellers were attached, unshrouded (the aircraft did originally have shrouds, but these were later removed). There were 4 propellers in total. The VZ-7 was controlled by changing the thrust of each propeller. The flying platform was maneuverable and easy to fly.

The aircraft performed well during tests, but was not able to meet the Army's standards, therefore it was retired and returned to the manufacturer in 1960. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss-Wright_VZ-7)

Research:

My first step was to find all the reference photos I could find and develop a 3-view. I had to recreate the logo found on the nose; I could not find a clear image so i made it from scratch. I scaled the model to fit 8" props.

Making the parts:

Creating the flat pattern from the 3-view and transferred it to the foam board. Also I created a decal sheet that will cover the model once assembled.

Here is the main body assembled and most of the covering attached. The covering is just printed on paper as glued on with Super 77.

The lower fuselage that will hold the "jet engine" will also serve as the battery compartment.

0.50" square dowels fit into slots and tabs will index into the main fuselage.

Here is a detail picture showing the stenciling on the side as well as the top cover plate.

 Here is a top view showing the alignment slots for the tab on the lower fusalage.

First dry fit of all major components. The dowles fit right into place with no ajustment needed as well the tabs.

 Here is one more top view.

Here are the parts cutout for the seat.

Assembled seat dry fit.

Finnished Model wil Landing Gear attached.

Here is a view showing the landing gear detail and roll bars.

Conclusion:

Building this model was not to difficult. The only issue I had (besides finding the time to work) was that the ink on the decal sheets was heat sensitive and the hot glue cause a few areas to need touch up.

Below are the 3-view drawing created and the flat pattern for the foam board.

VZ-7 3-view

VZ-7 Flat Pattern