Just Crane Crazy A HeliWorkshop build
Before his passing, I hired Joe Howard to build me a Vario Air Crane. I love the model and, in particular, the one with the Erickson livery. Joe left us before he got through the fuselage completion so I asked Mark Smith of HeliWorkshop to take over the project.
Anyone who knew Joe, understood that he was gifted with an airbrush. Joe built a few helicopters for me over the years and the paint jobs were unmatched. Joe had actually built me an orange Erickson Crane around 2016 but I destroyed it in a bizarre bout of flying which had me wearing my old glasses from 2 prescriptions ago and losing orientation. Kaboom! Distraught, I ordered an entirely new engine and kit.
Fast forward to 2020 and I found myself with a half-completed model that I knew I could not complete at a level anywhere near what Joe would have produced. Enter Mark Smith. Mark agreed to take on the project knowing what I wanted. He was patient with me and promised that he would not only complete the model, but would also put his special touches on the model (but wouldn't tell me what they were).
Many fortunate and unfortunate events intervened from 2020 until September of 2025 when I took delivery of the gangly orange flying contraption. COVID was followed by the rapid expansion of HeliWorkshop and ensuing commitments that Mark had with other customers. I gave Mark a heaping helping of ribbing as time wore on, but with a pretty full fleet of fun flying models, I was not in some sort of helicopter emergency. All I can say now is that it was all worth the wait.
Mark went over and above the call of duty, although not quite at the SLI ("Spinner Level of Insanity") that one could apply to the Vario Crane model. Nonetheless, what Mark did undertake was not trivial. He sanded down all of the rivets that were on the model and painstakingly created nearly 30,000 perfectly sized and spaced rivets that really give the model a scale appearance (especially in person). He added piping, grip steps, flanges, oil pump house and engine canopy to name a few things. The tank area is smartly mounted with magnets and two thumb screws at the fore and aft junctions. The paint job is exquisite. In flight, the glint of sunlight bouncing off the fuselage gives the Crane a captivating appearance as it passes in front of blue sky and cloud wisps.
I fly the model with stock blades and the JetCat SPH5 (Version 6.0) engine. The power-to-weight ratio on this model is fantastic. It flies like a pod-and-boom model in that respect so you really cannot get into trouble even at high altitudes like mine in Littleton, Colorado.
For a brief moment, I considered adding a tank option which would replace the stock faux water tank with a 1:14 scale Tamiya "Maersk" container (with a tank built inside of it). I've tabled that idea in favor of just flying and enjoying the model as is. As scale modelers, we just can't seem to leave well enough alone.
I'll leave you with some shots of the Crane. I've yet to capture flying footage because I am waiting on a back-ordered FOD screen for the turbine. I cannot risk burying another beautiful Air Crane!
HeliWorkshop: https://HeliWorkShop.com
Vario: https://www.vario-helicopter.biz/us1/
JetCat https://jetcat.de
