| ZH-17 Big Tiper Type:
Crane Fly
Class: 2 (MZ) Length: 22.9m Height: 3.3m Weight: 27t Speed: 80kph Crew: 1 Equipment: |
 Zoid sky crain |
| Notes: Originally developed under Republic military contract. The Tiper (Sky crane) is able to lift tremendous loads, both as a stationary crane on the ground, or as a skyhook in the air. Primarily an engineering support vehicle, they have also been used for combat deployment. At the end of the Central Continent war many of the these Zoids were surplussed off and are now used in the private sector. As an engineering vehicle they were very lightly armed, usually a pair of AP lasers in the cockpit. The model shown has been converted for civilian use. It's weapons have been powered down, but are still usable for range finding and auto docking. |
|
Zoids being used as a stationary boom crane. And in storage position.
The crane boom and the wings are fully pose able.
Or the Zoid can be used as a "sky hook" type air transport.
The middle legs are hinged near the top, and the feet are on ball joints. This allows the legs to clasp onto cargo.
The neck and head can rotate up and back. When the pilot reverses position he can operate the crane.
Pre painted model.
| I'm really happy with
the way this turned out. I'd picked up a couple of construction
play sets to get a few vehicles and a large crane. The set had also
come
with the small boom crane shovel, attached to a pivoting hut. I'd
decided against my original idea, to mount the large a crane to a
Deathstinger to make a heavy lifter. But I still wanted to build a
crane vehicle. Then inspiration hit me, or more exactly landed on me.
I'd saved a dead crainfly I'd found in my garage, and use it as my
prototype. And after seeing the below image of an early skyhook
prototype, I was set. I started with a Saicurtis, as it's a good insect form, and even had wing movement, even if there are no wings. The tail is from the crane shovel. And I used part of a 1/100 scale back hoe to make the neck, with Guysak parts for the head. The had and neck can be repositioned so the driver can reverse seating to operate the crane. The wings are cut up sheet plastic from a small kids purse, with some rigid tube that I slit for the forward edge. Most of the rest is modified Saicurtis parts. The legs are heavily modified for length and positioning. I also built a hinge into the middle legs and added a ball joint at the feet, so they can be used as lifting pods. |
| I painted most of the
model with "gunmetal" metelizing lacquer paint, then mask ed and 1
layer
of white primer and 2
layers of Fusion "sunbeam yellow". I hate this paint, as it
changes
color as it drys, taking on the color of the plastic beneath, even with
primers! Then I assembled and painted in the black, and a dark gray wash. The model still moves, but barely. I can get it to craw forward about an inch, and the wings lift up 3 or 4 times about an inch at the tips. |
The inspiration for my model. On the left is an early prototype US military Sky Crane, the XH-17.
The other is an adult Crainfly.
