Small Scale Military Headquarters

“It would take desperate men indeed to try to run a submarine through the Fjords with its tricky channels and the danger of falling ice.” - Professor Ericson (of Jonny Quest)


THS1 Barracuda by WesternOutlaw, on Flickr


THS1 Barracuda Control Console by WesternOutlaw, on Flickr
(note: computer console included with sub but actual interior measured at 4.5 x 10". Additional details appear in background image only.

Hi all; I haven't posted to SSMH for quite some time but wanted to share a few pictures of the latest 1/18th scale sub. Some may recognize as the older Chap Mei sub which has been re-released by TRU under their True Heroes (Sentinel 1) brand.

I'm tempted to paint/modify as a German U-Boat. It's one nice set!

EDIT: Let;s just add a Captain to this Bad Boy:


U-531 by WesternOutlaw, on Flickr

I saw that at TRU the other day. Had been a while since I went in one, so things had changed around a bit...

That sub definitely warranted a closer look. Its cool to have a sub that size and it would go great with GI Joe. But there are a lot of aspects to it that are either too toyish or just plain wrong to me... I'm not wild about the "cockpit" like windows on the bow section, nor the fact that the really neat-looking side hatch is on the side - would have been better on the upper hull. The conning tower and interior control room do look neat, however. The TRU also had some other "GI Joe Moray" like patrol boat that had been modified to include a more realistic missile launcher than the earlier incarnation of that item. There were a couple other armored vehicles that could be made into something interesting with a little work as well.

But overall, most if it will be something like the C-130 that I give a close look to, think about how I could use it, but never actually commit to.

This it?

Holy Hell. My 1/32 coastal sub is bigger than that thing.

Thanks for the cool pictures, Karl Dak!

I completely agree; as a scale model it's WAY, WAY off. BUT as a TOY, which is what it's intended to be, (sold at TOYS R us for crying out loud), it's unbelievably awesome. As a G.I.Joe collector I'm used to under scale vehicles, and chock it up to G.I.Joe being a Special ops team, has smaller specialized vehicles like the sub and the cargo plane.

tmanthegreat wrote:I saw that at TRU the other day. Had been a while since I went in one, so things had changed around a bit...

That sub definitely warranted a closer look. Its cool to have a sub that size and it would go great with GI Joe. But there are a lot of aspects to it that are either too toyish or just plain wrong to me... I'm not wild about the "cockpit" like windows on the bow section, nor the fact that the really neat-looking side hatch is on the side - would have been better on the upper hull. The conning tower and interior control room do look neat, however........

Using my imagination, I'm calling that space in the bow the disembarkation chamber, either underwater or they can pull up to a dock or beach and guys jump out like a landing craft.

The hatch on the side I can't really figure, unless it's to scuttle the sub. Mainly it's a cost cutting thing, because they used the same mold as the C-130.

i suspect this will be a popular additon to the True Heroes line. Chap Mei is nothing if not creative and resourceful.

I use to collect GI Joe 3 3/4" figures until 1998 that i got in to the WWII 1/18 scale.
I did a pretty large collection Mostly because they where my childhood heroes and also because the 25th anniversary line came up the the stores. If it wansn't because i run out of shelf space and that i need it funds to start another collection i would still have them.

To me the Submarine and the large airplane are very good fit to the collection even if they are not in scale to the real thing.
I like the interiors and that it can fit many figures. Now GI Joe has a Submarine to fight against the cobra submarine "B.U.G.G"
The large airplane will look good on the U.S.S. flagg aircraft carrier.