In 1928, M. de Chappedelaine designed a small VTOL vehicle and built a 1/10 flying model (see J.C. Carbonel's excellent 1/48 scale model and historical background here:
http://modelarchives.free.fr/Bestiaire/ChappeGyro_P/index.html ).
Despite great technical and financial difficulties. M. de Chappedelaine toiled on a full scale vehicle during the 1930s, even though the French government seemed uninterested in his invention. 1938 saw an influx of significant British and US investment and he was able to finally produce a flying vehicle by May 1939. Despite the looming threat of war with Germany, the French government was still uninterested in his gyroptere but were more interested in his unpaid taxes. His foreign investors suggested that he move his operation to the UK, which he did.
The gyroptere first saw action after the defeat of the Vichy collaborators in North Africa during Operation Torch. The British Army used several vehicles (operated by the Free French Forces) as reconnaissance and artillery spotting aircraft. While the gyroptere's performance was quite limited, it was able to hover in place at 1000m altitude. It's small size and unusual shape made it almost invisible from the ground and at that altitude, it was difficult to hear the engines.
Helicopters surpassed the gyroptere in every technical and performance aspect so they quickly taken out of service.
I've wanted to build a version of the gyroptere after seeing JC Carbonel's model. I found a better image of de Chappedelaine's model and some plans, which look very different from the 1/10 scale model or JC Carbonel's 1/48 scale interpretation.
I designed the model in Rhino 3D and flattened it to produce outlines that I could glue to plastic and cut to shape. I wasn't sure of which scale to build it in (1/72 or 1/35) so I made paper and cardboard versions in both scales. I decided to go with 1/72:
I also added extra windows and doors. The rear hatch slides open and allows the observer to use a gun for defense:
This is the final mediocre result. I had a lot of problems with the Vallejo gray primer, which peeled, bubbled and cracked in some spots. It also interacted with the Gunze Sangyo masking fluid which may have been the source of some of the problems. I'm not at all happy with the finish, but it looks OK from 2 - 3 feet.
The windows are clear masking tape. I removed the tape glue, then glued the clear tape with pressure sensitive adhesive and super glue.
The flea and other decals are all home made.
While not visible, the pilot's seat is scratch-built. I added two fuel tanks (made from sprue) to the cockpit (which I'm sure the pilots were not happy about).
Here's a Preiser figure for scale:
The model is mostly scratchbuilt. The cowls for the squirrel fans/impellers are from an old LS Ki-46III Dinah. The landing gear is from an old Huma Me-P.1101 and left over from another Huma kit (a Bu.181). The machine gun is from an old Matchbox Ju 188 kit and it has a PE sight. The intakes on top and details inside the cowl (not really visible) are from a Kotobukiya mecha detailing set.
I thought about how this vehicle would have flown and been controlled. I'm not sure that it would have even been able to get off the ground, but just in case, I added ducts underneath to allow for pitch and yaw (via vanes):
It's not very different in concept from the Garrett AiResearch STAMP vehicle (
(Google search)