Custom Sea Knight by Digler

These days, true 1:18-scale rotorcraft are hard to come by, and the average collector is often not prepared to part with a large chunk of cash for one.  This is where toy companies like M&C Toys (PTE) and Chap Mei come in, with their less realistic (but far cheaper and more robust) vehicles and playsets.

Now the base Chap Mei helicopter is quite nice in itself, and many Joe collectors ignore its toylike dimensions due to the shortage of usable (and inexpensive) transport choppers in this scale.  That said, many customizers have considered splicing two together for a more accurately-sized helo, but Digler is the only one I know of who has actually gotten off his butt and done it.

It took a lot of cutting, filling, sanding and detailing, but the end result is absolutely sublime in its execution.

Here is a small assemblage of photos showing Digler’s journey of converting the chopper from an inexpensive toy to a showpiece that many of us would be proud to have in our collections.

We’d like to thank Digler for continuing to share his beautiful custom vehicles with us.  His original build thread is here, with many more photos to inspire and amaze you.  Do check them out, and feel free to join the discussion as well!