I would go with an Apache pilot's helmet. The Comanche was an Army Stealth recon chopper;but go with what YOU WANT!! Good luck on your project and welcome to the site!!
1/18 Comanche? Opinions welcomed
- Thread starter bar
- Start date
Thanks a lot. Both for the suggestions and the warm welcome.
Ultimately, when i get the Comanche made and if there are other people than myself that want a copy, more people will chime in with their preference for a pilot and copilot recipe.
Thanks for posting. Do you have pics?
Honestly I think an arah pilot would be the way to go. Better parts since the only modern pilots have g-suits. Use wild weasel legs and waist and 1992 ace upperbody and helmet of choice
the Wild Bill that came with some RoC crap copter was a nice looking pilot...through a helmet on him from the new Ace, that'd look great IMO
http://www.yojoe.com/action/09/wildbill15.shtml
http://www.yojoe.com/action/09/agu/wildbill15.shtml
http://www.yojoe.com/action/09/wildbill15.shtml
http://www.yojoe.com/action/09/agu/wildbill15.shtml
I don't really collect the figures. I am a vehicles guy. So i don't have the pieces of several figures to mess around with. In any case, i am more likely to sculpt the figure's articulation points out to make it look like a model rather than a figure if you get my meaning.
Thanks for the links.
I am none too happy about having to buy that crummy chopper to get the figure though...
I'll be watching this thread with interest. 
Add me to the list of people who'd happily buy this kit from you.
Add me to the list of people who'd happily buy this kit from you.
I'll be watching this thread with interest.
Add me to the list of people who'd happily buy this kit from you.
Thanks a lot.
I won't be "taking names" until i have hulls in my possession. And even then, i won't be taking names till i have put one hull together to know it works.
Hopefully after i have put the first one together, everyone will see how easy it is to pop together and get something decent from it.
And where would i go about getting two of those?
I am looking for that Wild Bill as well...on ebay it is cheaper to buy the whole set than just the figure...especially if you want the flight helmet as well.
Yeah. I'd have zero use for the chopper...
A green canopy... Who thought that would be a good idea???
You don't, not really. Maybe luck up on eBay.
The fact of the matter is the only thing you need from the Apache pilot is the helmet. The single carded Bbi helicopter pilots (excepting Chopper Harris, and his helmet wouldn't be correct for a Comanche driver I don't imagine), and every other pilot packed with a Bbi helo, have the standard Army flight helmet. The Apache crew aren't even remotely better figures, but they have the M142 IHADSS, so there you have it.
I'd leave pilot options up to the end user.
Youve kind of got a point there because before i sold my UH-1 i was using two F-104 pilots with the UH-1 helmet thay not only fit better thay looked more (to date) in the vietnam era flight suites... but still not perfect though...
well i had the air america version so the pilots were just basically plain green suites
I guess I'd have to actually see one. All I really knew was that their helmets were removable, something the first series pilots would have benefited from.
It looks like the 1st Cav slick came with a pair of shirtless infantry figures with flight helmets tossed on them. That won't do at all.
Hey there Derek.
No updates right now. I unexpectedly got a GI Joe Skystriker for Christmas and, although i had planned on doing the Comanche right away, that Skystriker was calling me...
I wanted to try and make it as close as i could(Given the donor) to a Tomcat.
I started it on friday at work, and continued it today. I am nearly done, but i don't think anyone here will want to see it as it's not 1/18, lol.
But i will be back on the Comanche shortly. I swear.
Haha. I am a scratchbuilder though. There would be NOTHING for me to do on the JSI F-14.
The Striker is more of a challenge. I have linked the wings(While detaching them from the gear), removed the switch that activates the gear(And relocated it to the underside), removed that "Airbrake" from the rear end(No idea what that's supposed to be...), and adjusted the angle of the rear uprights.
I like a challenge.
Horseshit. Convert it to a Bombcat.
Anything you do on the Skystriker is wasted effort. It's always gonna be a lousy underscale Tomcat knockoff.
I considered the bombcat route.
But this is just a small diversion project.
In any case, i am using smaller pilot figures. Not quite 1/32, but better than Joes.
Horseshit. Convert it to a Bombcat.
Anything you do on the Skystriker is wasted effort. It's always gonna be a lousy underscale Tomcat knockoff.
gotta agree with K-T here...the SS is a waste of time when there is something as beautiful as the JSI offering available
i wouldnt go that far...maybe some public lashings though
Is it a hot chick that does the lashings???
Although i assume the skystriker is really frowned upon here, i have forged ahead with the Striker. The quicker it's done, the quicker the Comanche gets started.
I have removed the wing switch detached the gear from the wings, filled in a bit of the canopy to help sell the scale and done a bit of paint work.
Still unmistakably a Skystriker, but perhaps a bit less toylike.
I will not post images of this project in this thread again, i am just posting to see what Tomcat fans think of my work on it(Accepting it's not all that accurate to begin with...):
Thanks. It's amazing how much better the hull looks just by removing the wing switch. I am in two minds over whether to add the black surround to the cockpit or not. As it comes with a black canopy, everyone has theirs black, which is what made me mask it off and make it grey in the first place.
Hahaha. I like that. If you want to see the progression, the gallery is here.
The way i look at it, with the JSI Tomcat, it's PERFECT right out of the box.
For me the enjoyment is in building, not painting or seeing an item on the shelf.
An imperfect item is more fun making it look right.
And even though it's a new tooling, the Skystriker still needs a lot of work. Although they made a few nice changes to the tooling, they also made some of the old mistakes again(I think most people would have been happier with accurately placed manual gear and switch activated wings. It must have been a tightrope for the company to ok the project and make it almost identical to the original, faults and all. In general, i was happy enough with the base shape. But i am going to have to re-do the uprights and horizontal tail fins and cast the results in resin. The originals, while capable of taking paint, don't bond properly with it. They are made of the same type of plastic as shampoo bottles. I did some fairly complex masking today, and the base paint all came off with the masking tape...
Thanks a lot. Here are a few of the latest images.
I know the underside winglets are supposed to be angled, but i only added them to cover the small hole made by the landing gear legs.
Oh, and i also intend to add the turkey feathers to the little flashlights, and add a filter so they are more orange or yellow than white.
