Someone created a stunning (and flying!) full-scale replica of Half-Life 2's City Scanner

The image you see above isn't a screenshot from Half-Life 2 - it's a still from a video of a stunning full-sized replica of the City Scanners from Valve's iconic gaming series.

The City Scanner was an aerial security and surveillance drone used by the Combine in City 17, and they were often witnessed in Half-Life 2 monitoring the activities of citizens.

Valentin Demchenko from Saratov, Russia, says he built the replica from scratch using carbon fiber and 'expanded polystyrene', and as you can see from the video, it's a fully working model. At 80cm long and 55cm tall, the quadcopter can stay airborne for up to 11 minutes, and even features movable surfaces, adding to the impression that this thing really is watching your every move.

Demchenko said that he initially installed a flash to replicate the action of the Scanner in the game, but that it "quickly burned out", so the flash shown in the video was later added as a special effect. He said that he plans to fix this in the near future so that the flash on the model itself works more reliably.

He also said that he's now looking for suggestions for his next drone project, but insists that "it should be something even more unique, difficult and impossible". It sounds like he relishes a good challenge: "I really like when they say 'It will not fly, it's not possible!'"

For now, witness the remarkable results of his efforts to bring the City Scanner to life: