Post all JOE SCALE discussion here...read first post

[aferguson]

Well, the masses have spoken (or at least a sampling of the masses) and it seems that the idea should go ahead.

So this thread is for discussion of non 1/18 scale items that can be or are intended to be used with true 1/18 scale items.

Examples are Power Team helicopters and jets, some of the chap mei vehicles, and even some of the older GI Joe items like the MMS.

This thread is NOT for discussion of smaller or larger scale collecting (eg 1/32, 1/72, 1/6) and it is NOT for discussion of GI Joe items per se, unless they represent real world military items, like the Humvee of a few years back. No fantasy stuff.

Have fun.

[tmanthegreat]

I really don't care either way.

I collect a bunch of different scales, and as one can see in pictures from my display room, have lots of items in different scales in one place, but seldom display items of a different scale together (i.e. I don't use 1:16 tanks with 1:18 ones).

It gets harder when dealing with mixing GI Joe and the realistic stuff. Personally I never really mix the GI Joe with the realistic military items, but it can be done. The figures are all pretty much scale from the original line in the '80s to the new ones, just some vehicles are not. A Skystriker doesn't really work next to my 1:18 aircraft (the Skystriker is smaller than a P-38) but a lot of the armor and smaller vheicles do. The Mauler and Equalizer tanks fit just fine (in terms of scale) with my 1:18 items, as do the Vamps, AWE Strikers, etc. (The Mauler itself is actually a pretty close representation of a the small HSTV-L tank the US Army experimented with in the 1980s). I won't get into all the wonky Cobra stuff, but it has some of the same scale issues.

[Tinman]

I think it's a good idea, especially since there's not a whole of new 1/18 that we can expect.

[cjg476]

I know i havent been here for that long, but I wish you would seperate 1/32 and 1/72 from each other. There is a group of us guys who collect those two scales and we have to filter through everything to read between the two. 1/18 has its own thread, could we let 1/32 and 1/72 have there own? This is just my opinion.

[normandy]

Whats with all the small stuff?............... kidding.
If we want to keep this hobby alive in all its scales, it might not be a bad idea.
I collect 1:18! But recently I've picked up some off scale aircraft to use in photos
with Pickel's Ho 229.
So what the heck.......go for it.

[Snake Man]

As for myself, I would be much more interested in a thread dealing with inaccuracies.

[Coreyeagle48]

Greetings

I have a question about this.

What about the unique stuff, like my Authentic Models planes. They are historical representations but in my opinion the quality is better than Joe stuff. I like doing reviews on these for the board guys here. Where do I put this type of thing?

[aferguson]

well quality isn't really an issue. If they're military related and you feel they can work with 1/18 figures, then put the reviews here.

If they're not military related or of a scale not workable with 1/18 figures, put them in off topic.

[aferguson]

this may sound like a dumb idea but has anyone thought of using the 1/35 LCM3 with xd soldiers? It would be the equivelant of about 25 feet long in 1/18 scale and about 5 inches wide but it would look the part and hold probably 10 soldiers or so. They'd probably stand too high, so may have to have them kneeling or cut them off at the knees.

Just a thought of the top of my head....probably a dumb idea, as i said.

[JamesW]

Why not put up am "Non-Military 1:18 scale" category.
There must be enough people who collect generally 1:18 scale stuff that would love to post and share. The "off topic" category is just too broad. Now true the number of posts is not enormous, but sorting through everything from movies to pets to delicious recipes for tacos is a little much. It would be nice to have all the Starwars, trek, gijoe, gamestars, ets etc all in one place.


aferguson I just saw your signature! Maybe we need this category to post 'em in

[Tinman]

Photos of the True Heroes rescue helicopter that I unpackaged yesterday. Cheap and toyish, as expected, but not bad for what I paid for it. One side (the one that was not displayed in the box) has screw holes in it. I removed most of the stickers right away (with a bit of vegetable oil and elbow grease). There's a scratch on the nose that I'll probably just take a black sharpie to.


http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/ ... ue%20Helo/

[Tinman]

Here's a garage sale find from about three years ago. I think I paid $6 for it. The barrel is turned aluminum, the rest is steel, and the wheels are rubber. One of these days I plan to repaint it and change out the wheels. It's a bit of a stretch, but maybe I'll use it as a US 57 mm AT gun.


http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l107/ ... ank%20Gun/

[big_mike]

I came to the realization that a lot of what I collect now stems from a childhood interest in militaria spurred on by what else than G.I. Joe. My love of the SkyStriker kindled a love of the F-14 hence my Jolly Rogers Tomcat. Which I have parked on the deck of my U.S.S. Flagg next to the 30th anniversary SkyStriker. And recently after purchasing a 21st Century Cobra I decided I needed Wild Bill to pilot it. So now a 25 anniversary Wild Bill sits in my chopper. And now I have a Lift Ticket in the mail for my Apache.

Also I want to second the sentiments of other members to expand upon threads for other scales. I don't collect any scale other than 1/18 so far but I thnk anything that could expand discussion of the hobby is worthwhile.

[lancelot]

I don't think there is much coming out this year that would be to this forums liking. Maybe the Power Team Elite stuff at Big Lots will have something interesting in the fall but I don't think Hasbro will be impressing any of us much.

[aferguson]

something i'll mention for any new members that may have never heard of it is the old GI Joe bridgelayer tank. The tank itself doesn't look like anything real, but it is very close dimensionally to a british Valentine bridgelayer hull....which was by far the most common bridge laying tank of wwii. It's the right width and height but a bit short. The scissor bridge itself is quite nice being wide enough for a 1/18 Sherman to fit on comfortabley and is correct 1/18 width and is 16 inches long when folded out. While the US didn't use any bridgelayer tanks to speak of during WWII the british and commonwealth forces used them alot, both in Italy and Europe.

That and the old Joe mountain howitzer are probably the most useful and scale items ever made for Joes that work well in our hobby too.

[tmanthegreat]

As I noted above, I always though the GI Joe Mauler was a pretty realistic tank as well, given that it is patterned very closely on experimental US tank from the early 1980s known as the High Survivability Test Vehicle Lightweight or HSTV[L]. I dug up a picture from old thread from about 4 years ago that described the tank:



You can see in the picture that Hasbro did a pretty decent "interpretation" of the tank, right down to the hull and turret silhouettes, side skirts, track width, and even the scale (judged by the person standing next to the tank in the picture). I think the Mauler was also supposed to have 3 crew with two in front and one in the turret. The toy details the turret hatch, though its non-functioning and you can only put two in the driver’s seats.

Even though I bought my Mauler only about 4 years ago and restored it to new condition, its still one of my all-time favorite GI Joe vehicles.

[Tinman]

Wow, that's interesting - I always thought the joe tank was totally made up, a piece of fiction. Guess not!

[aferguson]

this is kinda cool. An Honest John rocket, made by Estes.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Estes-Mini- ... 4cf6effc91

works out to about 1/24 scale. Might look cool mounted on a modified truck of some kind...like the new true heroes truck maybe.

Estes made a larger version that's out of production now. It was about 1/15 scale but is pricey to get these days.

[lancelot]

That's so awesome, I never knew the Mauler was based on something real. Now I want one.

[granch]

GI Joe? That's cool! I'm on buying and customizing black men to make a bunch of guys from a subsaharian terrorist militia, have also now 6 men in all white gear and skis for a diorama next winter (just have now the problem of finding a credible alpine back pack x 6). All beeing realistic...
Input of similar figures and custom welcome, also for vehicles, I don't really now all the names of GI Joes to get a closer research on eBay.

[parrish333]

GI Joe? That's cool! I'm on buying and customizing black men to make a bunch of guys from a subsaharian terrorist militia, have also now 6 men in all white gear and skis for a diorama next winter (just have now the problem of finding a credible alpine back pack x 6). All beeing realistic...
Input of similar figures and custom welcome, also for vehicles, I don't really now all the names of GI Joes to get a closer research on eBay.

Hi Granch - check out www.yojoe.com. That is a great database of all the different joes over the years. For black troops, a few options are versions of Roadblock, Heavy Duty, Stalker/Sgt. Stalker, and Doc. For arctic, a few options are Snow Job, Iceberg, Snow Serpent, and Blizzard, and there have been a number of arctic versions of other characters like Duke and Snake Eyes.

[granch]

Thank you parrish333! I've allready used snow serpent, snow job, and roadblock, sgt stalker, doc...
Yojoe database is very extensive, but a search browser is missing. I need a credible winter backpack... In which year, brand, figure should I search?

[parrish333]

Thank you parrish333! I've allready used snow serpent, snow job, and roadblock, sgt stalker, doc...
Yojoe database is very extensive, but a search browser is missing. I need a credible winter backpack... In which year, brand, figure should I search?

I have to say that I'm not familiar with real-world gear like backpacks. Maybe if you direct us to some pics of the type of thing you're looking for, it would spur some thoughts of 1/18 goodness we might know of!

[lancelot]

apparently some Dollar Generals are getting GI Joe figures. The new figures of Duke cold be the basis of a decent 1/18 custom with some work I guess. I'm not sure how you guys feel about those sort of things.

[tmanthegreat]

Another reasonably realistic - and scale - GI Joe vehicle is the Killer Whale hovercraft from 1984. Its completely fictitious, but clearly has a grounding in reality compared to a lot of the Joe items. It is mostly practical and functional in its design. It had that large cabin, the MG rings, flying bridge, and the missiles. The only "odd" components are the recon sled, side cannons, and the depth charges (not sure why one would need depth charges in the shallow waters the vehicle likely operates).

I want to say the Killer Whale at least draws inspiration in terms of function and feature from the US Navy Patrol Air Cussioned Vehicle (PACV) and US Army SK-5 from the Vietnam War, but it also has some derivatives from the LCAC.

GI Joe Killer Whale:


US Navy PACV/US Army SK-5: