GI Joes for pilots in JSI Tomcat?

astronut1885 · Post by **astronut1885** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:02 pm

Hey guys. I just sent out payment for my first 1/18, a JSI Tomcat that I plan on having repainted. Anyway, I've seen some awesome figures on here that people are using for pilots. I've seen both poseable GI Joe style figs as well as static figs for the cockpit. I want to know if the Joes style figures can fit into the Tomcat. I bought four Joe pilot figures on eBay ( 2x VvsV Ace, 25th Wild Bill, 25th Pilot Scarlett) I plan to mix and customize into two male pilots (and as a surprise for my new wife, I'll customize Scarlett to look like her and I know she'll geek out when she sees it displayed with my jet), because either way at some point I'll set up a "pre-flight" scene with pilots standing by the jet, but I was hoping to fit them into the seats as well. Let me know.

tmanthegreat · Post by **tmanthegreat** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:11 pm

Yes, the 25th Joe-sized figures can fit in the cockpit. I've had difficulty with 1:18 figures that had wider legs (ie sculpted wider pants, etc) but the Joe pilot figures and 1:18 pilot figures tend to have thinner legs that fit well into the recesses in the cockpit. You may have to scrunch the legs into a "sitting" fashion, though. Good luck and have fun with your customs

astronut1885 · Post by **astronut1885** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:15 pm

Nice. I will post up progress once the figures arrive. I've customized Transformers before, nothing masterpiece quality, but better looking than the stock paint apps. I am going to just use some olive green and other dark green shades along with black for the boots to paint whatever end result combination of figure parts I plan on using. The nice thing about painting clothing is that it doesn't have to look smooth as glass like a car hood. I'm probably not going to go as detailed as painting on patches, but I will touch up silver details like buckles and such, and I am going to repaint the helmets white with a blue stripe to match the ones I saw guys from VF-101 wear while performing the last Tomcat demo I saw. Thankfully I have a few decent shots of the pilots to work from.

YT · Post by YT » Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:34 pm

Here are a couple pics of my finished pilots using the Skyworks decals. I used the SRO Ace and did have to take the legs off. I really liked how they came out.

Black_Dragon_One · Post by **Black_Dragon_One** » Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:44 pm

rise of cobra personal armor suite work well as polite

astronut1885 · Post by **astronut1885** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 7:05 am

What is "SRO" Ace? I haven't seen that one and I like the flight helmet you have. I've got two of the Valor Vs Venom Ace version that have a different flight helmet and suit coming, one is to be repainted as is, the other is going to be used for parts and combined with a 25th Wild Bill to make 2 different looking male pilots. Then I'm painting them both more or less like yours, but probably with a green vest. I also plan on re-doing a Pilot Scarlett into a blonde in a green flight suit to try and win my girl over with the idea of having a 1/18 Tomcat parked somewhere in the house.

parrish333 · Post by **parrish333** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:21 am

astronut1885 wrote:What is "SRO" Ace? I haven't seen that one and I like the flight helmet you have. I've got two of the Valor Vs Venom Ace version that have a different flight helmet and suit coming, one is to be repainted as is, the other is going to be used for parts and combined with a 25th Wild Bill to make 2 different looking male pilots. Then I'm painting them both more or less like yours, but probably with a green vest. I also plan on re-doing a Pilot Scarlett into a blonde in a green flight suit to try and win my girl over with the idea of having a 1/18 Tomcat parked somewhere in the house.

SRO is the "Senior Ranking Officers" set that was a 3-pack set at Toysrus, but I think he meant a different TRU 3-pack called "Air Command" which contained a pretty cool Ace pilot figure:
http://www.yojoe.com/action/08/captace2.shtml

Also, I'm currently using two v.3 Slipstreams for my F-14; I think it is is GI Joe's most realistic looking pilot, though this fig is a bit hard to find. I think there's a bit of a passing resemblance to Maverick from Top Gun so I like him piloting my F-14

http://www.yojoe.com/action/04/slipstream3.shtml

And best wishes getting your girl to like that big turkey parked prominently in your house!

vince_chua · Post by **vince_chua** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:45 am

This is my pilot for my F-14.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=24026

astronut1885 · Post by **astronut1885** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:18 pm

Your pilot is awesome. I love the helmet, but that site is down. My VvV Ace figs each came with a helmet, so I am using those. I am going to do a VvV Ace head, torso, and arms with VvV Stryker legs and then a 25th Wild Bill with holsters and goofy belt buckle removed. Both are going to be repainted similar to what you have there. I will post pics when I am done as all the figures are here and the Tomcat is on the way.

astronut1885 · Post by **astronut1885** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 3:09 pm

Change of plans. After reading this thread again and realizing that Air Command Ace won't fit in the Tomcat without it's legs ripped off, I deduced that a Wild Bill of the same size will require the same leg-ectomy and abandoned him. However, he did come with an awesome vest that has greatly decreased my VvV Ace's squared-off look. Since the smaller GI Joes fit without amputee modifications, I think this is the route I am going to take. Now I just have to find my dang model paint. I've moved 5 times in the last year thanks to work and the result is that I have no idea where half my crap is.

Oh, and the Wild Bill...He's gonna become a deckhand like the ones JSI never produced.

astronut1885 · Post by **astronut1885** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 6:58 pm

Also, I'm currently using two v.3 Slipstreams for my F-14; I think it is is GI Joe's most realistic looking pilot, though this fig is a bit hard to find. I think there's a bit of a passing resemblance to Maverick from Top Gun so I like him piloting my F-14
http://www.yojoe.com/action/04/slipstream3.shtml

And best wishes getting your girl to like that big turkey parked prominently in your house!

Haha, I've got an awesome girl. I'm currently working with 1 valor vs. venom Ace as my first custom. I've just about got the look down. I'd prefer to have two different base pilots to add a little variety to it, though, rather than weird twins in the jet. I can't find that Slipstream on EvilPay, and I know it would be the same size as my Ace. Any chance you'd want to swap one of your Slipstreams for an Ace lol?

Here's what Ace looks like, also a nice representation of a pilot in stock form:

Right now for pilot #1 I have whipped up:

head- VvV Ace
Torso-VvV Ace
Right arm- VvV Ace
Left upper arm- VvV Sgt Stalker
Left lower arm- VvV Ace
pelvis- VvV Ace
upper legs- VvV Ace
lower legs- VvV Sgt Stalker
helmet- 25th Wild Bill with mic removed
O2 mask- for now, it's from VvV Ace, soon enough going to add one from 25th SPC. Altitude
Vest- 25th Wild Bill

I've got to paint it, and get him a RIO in scale. The 25th ann. figures tower over the original GI Joe figures and it looks kinda goofy, so using the Wild Bill I have now is out, and like I said, I'd rather not have 2 of the same base figure. That Slipstream looks like the perfect candidate if I can find one.

I'm also still working on securing a pilot scarlett to appease my wife.

astronut1885 · Post by **astronut1885** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 7:45 pm

Well, I just started buying stuff for pilot 2. Going to start with Ace unless a Slipstream pops up. Swapping head for VvV Duke, lower arms for VvV Televiper to give him a rolled up sleeve look. Probably will use Duke's lower legs as Ace's look like the boots are wrapped in ribbon. Going to add the vest used by Vince_Chua from a ROC Wild Bill, and either Ace's helmet with the mask on or removed and pinned to vest.

GOTTA FIND MY PAINTS!!!

parrish333 · Post by **parrish333** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 7:31 pm

astronut1885 wrote:
Also, I'm currently using two v.3 Slipstreams for my F-14; I think it is is GI Joe's most realistic looking pilot, though this fig is a bit hard to find. I think there's a bit of a passing resemblance to Maverick from Top Gun so I like him piloting my F-14
http://www.yojoe.com/action/04/slipstream3.shtml

And best wishes getting your girl to like that big turkey parked prominently in your house!

Haha, I've got an awesome girl. I'm currently working with 1 valor vs. venom Ace as my first custom. I've just about got the look down. I'd prefer to have two different base pilots to add a little variety to it, though, rather than weird twins in the jet. I can't find that Slipstream on EvilPay, and I know it would be the same size as my Ace. Any chance you'd want to swap one of your Slipstreams for an Ace lol?

Sorry

- I've got two of the VvV Aces as well piloting some other modern aircraft. I did a simple head swap on the other Slipstream so my RIO is at least a different face. I looked for quite awhile to find that second Slipstream - when it finally turned up it was actually at a good price, but there's not many to be had at any price for whatever reason.

And I really like that Wildbill vest a couple of you are using - that's perfect!

astronut1885 · Post by **astronut1885** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 9:18 am

Found the base for my second pilot:

Starting with VvV Shipwreck. I just scored an all gray version of this figure on EvilPay for $6, pretty sure it is a prototype or a test shot. Going to swap in VvV Duke's head, VvV TeleViper lower arms for a rolled up sleeves and no gloves look, VvV Ace pelvis and upper legs for the flight suit buckles and G suit straps, VvV Ace left upper arm for a sleeve pocket, and I'll probably keep his lower legs the same along with the chest/back piece and right upper arm. Add in a VvV Ace flight helmet, 25th ann. spc. altitude air mask, and ROC Dragonhawk Wildbill vest (thanks for that tip), and I think once painted it will look awesome opposite the first one I started throwing together above. I don't want them to look exactly alike, so the two different vest along with the different parts should really give them some unique characteristics.

On a downside, I still can't find my damn paints and I don't know of a store for miles around me that has testors model paint... I might just have to order one of those basic military colors kits online or something, because I have to start getting figure #1 into color...

astronut1885 · Post by **astronut1885** » Wed May 04, 2011 2:44 pm

Well, I tried fitting my 25th Wild Bill in just for shiggles, and it didn't happen, he's just too tall and even when I finally got the legs in his head was against the ejection seat loops. I am bidding on an SRO Ace, because I figure he and the green Dragonhawk Wild Bill I have will make nice "outside the plane" pilots for display times when I use pizzaguy's covers or want a boarding the Tomcat scene happening. I'm gonna have to stick with old school size GI Joes for the in-the-cockpit pilots. I realized that I didn't need to wait for that Shipwreck figure to arrive once I got the Wild Bill vest in, because it covers the whole chest. I whipped up a RIO for my pilot that started as my extra VvV Ace and now includes:

VvV Duke head (didn't want clone pilots)
VvV Ace chest, back, and pelvis (chest hidden by vest completely, pelvis for G suit buckles)
VvV Televiper upper arms (rolled up sleeves, looks cool)
VvV Duke lower arms (flight gloves)
VvV Ace upper legs (G-suit pants)
VvV Televiper lower legs (nice mold on one that almost looks like a pilot's leg pad)
ROC DragonHawk Wild Bill vest (thanks again to the suggester)
VvV Ace helmet (soon to be replaced with a Wild Bill one like figure #1)
25th Spc. Altitude face mask/ 02 cord (on the way, much more realistic than Ace's).

More of Pilot #1:

My pilot and RIO together:

Still can't find my paints

Moving in about two months, probably won't see them again until then I fear...

astronut1885 · Post by **astronut1885** » Thu May 05, 2011 8:46 am

Haha, talk about fickle, I am changing plans again. I re-tried fitting my ROC Wild Bill into the cockpit and was able to get him in both seats without removing his legs. I watched several videos of F-14s shot in the cockpit and realized my smaller Joes pictured above were sitting way too low in their seats, and that the real pilots practically did have the tops of their helmets against the ejection shroud handles, and that's where Wild Bill was ending up. The upside to this is that the Wild Bill I have from the Dragonhawk copter is already painted in flight suit green and just needs his vest redone. If I manage to win Air Command Ace, he also comes pre painted with details in green like YT's figures and I will probably be adding the same vest with a different helmet. I think the 25th guys look so much more realistic than the squared off old-school joes.

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GI Joes for pilots in JSI Tomcat?

GI Joes for pilots in JSI Tomcat?

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