"Civilian aircraft" Topic

Is there some one that makes Civilian aircraft that would work for 15mm on the ground. Wanting a small plane like a crop duster or something small like that. Also a small Civilian helicoper. I have looked in the stores here all I seem to find are military ones. I am wanting to make a small county airport 1 or 3 planes

Would 1/144 scale fit? If so, there are large numbers of civilian models out there.

Dan

You might check out Target or Walmart, they have some matchbox ones (helicopters) that look pretty good imo.

Check out ebay for 1:100 Fabbri die cast helicopters. I've got an Agusta 109 from them, and I tink they do an EC-365 as well. IIRC There's a Revell snap together civvie Eurocopter of some variety available as well, although I can't remember which type.

I've had very little luck with civilian light aircraft. The best was an el cheapo plakkie thing from Chin which looked a bit like a Piper Cherokee. Unfortunately it was so poor that the best use for it was an an airfield wreck :(

Model Power has a Cessna 1/72 in 1/87 (18.5mm) as well as a UH-1 in that scale. There is supposedly a civilian helo coming out as well.

Wyatt

These should fit the bill

link

Saw a low wing and a high wing Cessna/Beechcraft plane(s) at a Kroger (grocery store) but it was too small for my 20mm stuff. They were not bad looking and inexpensive (maybe $2).
I do have a DC-3 I found at Big Lots that is too small for my 20mm (especially to sit next to my lockheed electra or blackhawks) but would go well with 15mm. Write me at mikemarie@aoldotcom if you want to get it from me.

As mentioned, some of the diecast stuff should work.

You might need to redo the paintjobs on them, depending upon which you select. Don't overlook the Coast Guard helos, which could be useful for some actions.

I even have a small unit of French Mirages, which will hopefully see use some day for actions on the African continent, either to help quell an uprising, and/or to be targets for insurgents, who plan to cripple them on the tarmac of the local airbase.

thanks for the info there is just not much out there in the way of civilian aircraft. But I will keep on looking.

How about using WW2 planes, but painting them up like racers. Don't P-51s get used for that sort of thing these days? Or Hueys, or the smaller utility choppers used in Vietnam (or those girder-work ones from M*A*S*H*.) IIRC, they all had civilian versions (as does the Kiowa, I think). In 15mm, the differences are probably small enough to ignore, if you leave off the guns and rockets and the like.

Using more obscure designs might also work better. It depends on the knowledge of you and your opponents – if none of you are WW2 avaiation geeks, you could use some obscure Hungarian artillery spotter and no-one will be any the wiser!

Matchbox at Target (the other evil empire), has a floatplane, and a small helo that are about 15mm scale. The latter is an older variant – one of the cheap ones, that you frequently see flying around (it has the tall mast that the rotor blades are attached to).

$3.00 USD each, or so, and quite nice looking.

GFI has an N-gauge (1/160) Piper cub in its WW2 range.
All us Flames of War 15mm dudes use 1/144 or 1/160 planes for our air power.

Well, at least I do.

@ Black Bull – well remembered! I have one of their Cessna 337s in my Vietnam collection, I just forgot all about it!

Let's see here: Battlefront does have a Piper Cub mini: L4 Aerial Observation Post, but that's 1/144

Minicraft makes some civilian aircraft, but I don't remember the scale (possibly 1/144, not likely to be 1/100).

The difference between a UH1 and a Bell 206 is paint (literally), and there's little difference between a 206 and a 212 (UH1D versus UH1H, I think). A UH1N is the Bell 412. You could certainly get an early UH1 'slick', like a -B or -C, and use it as a Bell 204 or 205. There are still some of those old birds flying today, even bought as military surplus.

You might want to check out your local airport for a pilot's shop or any other similar shop that specializes in pilot's and aviation supplies. They frequently carry children toy airplanes that are no bigger than your palm. A Cessna 172 has a wing span of 11 meters which at 15mm scale – roughly 1:120 – works out to about 9 cm wingspan. Other similar single prop general aviation aircraft (e.g. a Piper Archer) would be similarly sized. Use this as a guideline for you to judge if it is the right size for you.

Also, for helicopters, the US OH-58 Kiowa Warrior is equivalent to a civilian Bell 206A Jetranger (frequently used by media outlets as a camera platform). Just remove all the military bits – weapons pylons, sensors, extra antennas, etc. – and it should be ok.

Err, should be no difference between a UH1H and a Bell 205. Musta been tired when I typed that.

I've also seen some JetRangers (ie, Kiowa Scouts) with the wire cutters fitted. Come to think of it, most of the helos I've seen have wire cutters fitted (that's the forward-swept blade antenna-looking thing just ahead of the rotor mast).