Just opened Menard's Army flat with the helicopter

No pitchers?

I assume it's this one?

The Blackhawk, to me, seems ridiculously undersized. a Real one is over 60 feet long from nose to tail...

Then there's the issue of the rotors, how's it supposed to go down the rails like that?

In a word, "Meh".

Here are some photos.

As I mentioned in my original post, I have no idea how accurate or realistic this helicopter is.  What I do know is that it is well made and looks terrific.  Wish I had asked Santa for a few of them. 

"The Blackhawk, to me, seems ridiculously undersized. a Real one is over 60 feet long from nose to tail...

Then there's the issue of the rotors, how's it supposed to go down the rails like that?

In a word, "Meh"."

For a guy that has an oversized billboard advertisement for On3, Lee sure has a habit of spending a lot of time over here, basically criticing everything. Take a clue and hang out more at the On3 forum if you are so worried over scale fidelity.

Here's a another clue for you: Lionel has basically meant non-scale for well over 100 years. It's only been in the last 15 years, that the scale side of the hobby has garnered as much interest as it has. AND YET it is still a small part of the 0 gauge market.

PS: Another clue... look at Ed's photo and that'll show you how it will go down the rails.

Or to borrow a quote... "Meh!" 

Better than the stuff Lionel and AF came up with in the late 1950's.

The flat looks great. I think Menard's is doing a great job releasing nice trains at great prices. I'm looking forward to Menard's releasing these flats in U.P.

The helicopter is a decent representation of a UH-60A or L, albeit a little underscale.

Ed, I know you are happy with the helicopter as is. For those that may want to more accurately replicate a Blackhawk on a flat car, here is a little info that may be of interest. The main rotor blades and stabilator would be removed and transported in shipping crates.

Very cool! I missed this one, never got around to ordering it.  Oh well, they should be reissuing it before next Christmas. 

I like it. I think that the chopper is borrowed from some tooling used for the bags of toy soldiers you can buy from toy stores, which would explain the size. The chopper to car ratio looks like the same as the toy choppers on Lionel's 6311 type flatcar.

Just Opened Menards Army Flatcar With Helicopter

A little humor, was the helicopter damaged while using it to open the flat car?

I think it looks good.

Don

I think the Menards flat car with helicopter is great. That, I believe, is the Menards flat car that is closer to scale. I think that flat is supposed to represent a car that is about 64 feet long. I am building my own helicopter flat car and I will post photos so you can see what I have done. I have found a way to fill the holes in the deck of the Menards flat car so that they, essentially, disappear.

Very cool looking car indeed. I saw these (army version and coast guard version) in the store by me and they look great.

Scrappy,

   Definitely a serious piece of rolling stock, mine drifts thru the 031 inner loop with ease.  I really like all these newer Menard's long wood type Flat Cars with the different loads, got to admit the long Copter Car load, is one of my favorites and stays on the tracks most all the time.  

PCRR/Dave

Ed Walsh posted:

Here are some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned in my original post, I have no idea how accurate or realistic this helicopter is.  What I do know is that it is well made and looks terrific.  Wish I had asked Santa for a few of them. 

I'm thinking any kid is going to love getting this, looks great. Guess you'll have to be extra nice all year!

This is how the Navy folds them up. I would guess it might look similar to this on a train car.

Scrapiron Scher posted:

I think the Menards flat car with helicopter is great. That, I believe, is the Menards flat car that is closer to scale. I think that flat is supposed to represent a car that is about 64 feet long. I am building my own helicopter flat car and I will post photos so you can see what I have done. I have I   a way to fill the holes in the deck of the Menards flat car so that they, essentially, disappear.

I can't wait to see what you did to the deck !!

A while back I ordered one Canadian helicopter, loved it, odered another one and two coast guard heliocopters, loved them. Couldn't get two army versions so ended up getting the four pack and not sorry I did. Very impressive consist! The grandkids and I love it! I don't worry about accuracy, pretty sure the grandkids can't even spell prototypical yet, so it's all good!

Scrapiron Scher posted:

I think the Menards flat car with helicopter is great. That, I believe, is the Menards flat car that is closer to scale. I think that flat is supposed to represent a car that is about 64 feet long. I am building my own helicopter flat car and I will post photos so you can see what I have done. I have found a way to fill the holes in the deck of the Menards flat car so that they, essentially, disappear.

I've added wood to the deck of the flatcar for my military cargo so I'm really looking forward to  your photos and explanation regarding filling the holes.

brianel_k-lineguy posted:

"The Blackhawk, to me, seems ridiculously undersized. a Real one is over 60 feet long from nose to tail...

Then there's the issue of the rotors, how's it supposed to go down the rails like that?

In a word, "Meh"."

For a guy that has an oversized billboard advertisement for On3, Lee sure has a habit of spending a lot of time over here, basically criticing everything. Take a clue and hang out more at the On3 forum if you are so worried over scale fidelity.

Here's a another clue for you: Lionel has basically meant non-scale for well over 100 years. It's only been in the last 15 years, that the scale side of the hobby has garnered as much interest as it has. AND YET it is still a small part of the 0 gauge market.

PS: Another clue... look at Ed's photo and that'll show you how it will go down the rails.

Or to borrow a quote... "Meh!" 

Well, in all humility, I know military stuff like 'Hot Water' (Jack) knows steam stuff. I do writing and consulting for books, movies, TV shows and magazines on the subject. I also used most of the modern stuff as a US Army Captain (though I must admit that feels like a lifetime ago now)...

Someone brought up the subject and someone else wanted to know what it looked like.

If you don't like my answer, you don't have to read it.

Gentlemen,

   No doubt about it the Menard's Copter Car is a great addition to any Military O Gauge Train.

PCRR/Dave

P51, 

    Each has his own point of view, and I spent my Military Career risking my life, so that all US Citizens, especially military personal, may speak freely, never tell another man where to spend his time, or speak his mind.   I do understand your point off view however.  It's always good to remember these are all children's toys, no matter how much some people want to make them more realistic, they are still only children's toys.  As OGR members it's always good to keep that fact in mind.  If Rich Melvin, the Boss here believes someone is out of bounds, I am sure he will let them know.

Myself I like the job Menard's is doing, selling this new rolling stock at reasonable prices, and I will keep on purchasing what I like from their sales inventory, I live by the quote at the end of each of my posts, I hope others can also.

Happy New Year!

PCRR/Dave

Goshawk posted:

This is how the Navy folds them up. I would guess it might look similar to this on a train car.

FWIW. I believe this is just flight deck stowage and not transport configuration. When we ship our Blackhawks, the main and tail rotor blades and the stabilator are removed and crated. The tail pylon is not folded for ground transport. The Navy may do things differently, though I would imagine the configuration as pictured above would not be practical for ground transport.

I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to hijack this thread, just trying to put out some info for those that may be interested in modeling things like this more accurately.

Michael D,

    Never worry about a suposid hi jacking, all this makes for a great discussion, on the subject of the Copter.  You are correct the Copter is at rest on the flight deck, and would be in a different configuration for  ground transport.

PCRR/Dave