Hover Ambulance Construction Query

[Cobra]

Hey Guys, i was doing some Reasearch with Google,and also had An Idea but,  I'm a Little Unsure about Something! I'm Considering Building a Hover Ambulance,but I'm Not Sure if i should just get a Model or if this is Something i Should scratchbuild? I was inspired by the Hover Ambulances Featured in the Thunderbirds Episode "Trapped in the Sky"!  Could use the input. Thanks for looking. Dan

[PR19_Kit]

I think you'll have to scratchbuild one Dan, or convert a standard hovercraft kit, not that there are too many around of course.

The 1/144 scale Airfix SRN4 is available on ebay quite often, even though it's been out of production for ages, but that might need some scale-o-rama work as in real life it'd be larger than the hospital it was attending! 

Trumpter do a USN LCAC on 1/72 and 1/144 scale, and the 1/72 scale version is about the same size as the Airfix SRN4.

[Hobbes]

There was a kit of the SRN1, but I see that it's quite rare, with the only one on Ebay right now priced at €56.

You could scratchbuild one, using electrical conduit to make the skirt.

[sandiego89]

If I read Dan's thoughts correctly, I think he is thinking more like a VTOL ambulance, not a skirted hovercarft.  Check out the X-Hawk proposal: http://www.urbanaero.com/category/x-hawk

Scroll down for the ambulance version. Looks like a long shot- but neat concept. 

I started a scratch build of something similar using a OV-10 Bronco as the shell, but gave up. 

Anything with ducted fans will be a tough scratch bulid.  The Glencoe kit of the AirJeep could be a good place to start. 

[Go4fun]

Hmmmmm. A Ghostbusters Caddy ambulance with a jet engine and rudder(s) on top and a skirt system? 
Seriously a skirted vehicle with intake fans (From a computer cooling fan maybe?) built into the front and rear decks could be built with skirts like Hobbes said. With modern battery plus electric motor (and Whiffery!) technology available you can do it.
Elsewise a good cago van (Chevrolet C1300, Ford E350 Econoline) and scavenge two OV-10s for wings and power.

[Weaver]

Here's where to get some lift fans from:

http://www.evilmushroomgames.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=12

The difficulty with any hovercraft is building the skirt. Partly, it depends what scale you're working in. In 1/72nd, you can get away with making a "fat snake" of Milliput and sticking it round the base of the model, then cutting some panel lines into it when it's set. In a larger scale, that's too much Milliput to set properly, so you probably want to wrap sheets of it around tubular formers then press the lines and ribs into it before it sets. Helps in all cases to have a really close look at some real hovercraft to see what it is that you're trying to achieve.

Compare and contrast the skirts on these different hovercraft:

[deathjester]

Dan, if you look on ebay for a UK seller / shop called 'Daemonscape', you will find that they make the resin 28mm wargames vehicles that Ground Zero Games used to make.  One of them is a Hover Ambulance!

[Cobra]

Guys, to Clarify,I'm thinking more like Converting a Car or Truck into a Hovercraft type Ambulance, similar to the General Li that was Posted Recently! Deathjester,I'll check that Company out you mention,Thanks. Dan

[Weaver]

Another way to do the "mutli-cell" type skirt might be to use ribbed electrical conduit, that is, the stuff they use to gather wires into looms.



Get some fine stuff (for 1/72nd scale) then stuff some fuse wire into it so that it holds it's shape. Then bend it around the base of your wagon.