Small Scale Military Headquarters

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-TONKA-TRANSPORT ... dZViewItem

came across this at TRU the other day. Many of you may have seen it. It's about 18 inches long, 8 1/2 inches high. It's well under 1/18 but the way it is designed it will house two 4 inch figures in the cockpit, the rear ramp opens as does a side door. It's a respectable size and looks quite alot like a Sea Knight. The fuselage is barely 4 inches high so i don't think you'd be able to get a 1/18 figure in it standing up.

Anyway, i thought i'd mention it as i know some of you are not as concerned about scale correctness as i am and could use a helo like this to transport your BBI Marines. You could even graft two together if you were so inclined and make one about 24 inches or so in length, by my reckoning. With a spiffy new paint job it could look pretty good. I think it's as good or perhaps a better option than the Chap Mei 'Sea Knight' that came out a few years ago..

Just a heads up...

I thought they also came with a generic FP figure. Nothing to write home about, but could be decent custom fodder.

don't recall seeing any figures with the tonka one. The chap mei came with two cruddy figures IIRC.

The cockpit seats one. Some versions are sold with one pilot figure (~1:18 scale), other versions do not include the pilot. Most of the versions I've seen are the white/orange coast guard colors, but I believe there is also a white/blue police version.

One word of caution: while the side door and rear ramp both open, they open to two separate compartments; in between the two compartments is I believe where the batteries and/or electronic gizmos are housed. So the rear ramp opens to a compartment maybe big enough to squeeze a couple guys or some gear. The side door opens to a compartment big enough to squeeze maybe 3-4 guys (sitting down).

Obviously it is pretty underscale for a Sea Knight, but could make a nice little rescue chopper if you aren't in need of accuracy.

I'm seen them at TRU and KB Toys, usually ~$30.

the cockpit only seats one? I opened the little windscreen and i was sure there were two seats in it. Maybe i'm wrong and was just thinking that you could squeeze two guys in there if you wanted to. I've seen both color versions but neither came with a pilot, unless some little kids swiped them.

Didn't realize the compartments were separate like you described. That's an important heads up for anyone thinking about getting one.

I think the chances are pretty much zero of us ever seeing a real 1/18 Sea Knight or even a Chinook, given their size and the relatively weak helicopter sales of even what i would consider hot choppers like the Blackhawk, Cobra and Apache.

A shame, they'd look pretty sweet in 1/18 with their bellies full of troops..