Tragic News

I have only recently heard (within the last half hour) that Gerry Anderson has died... he passed away this afternoon according to the BBC, at the age of 83.

Gerry's series were such a big part of my childhood, and made me want to make models.  As a child I had the Angel Interceptor from Airfix, as well as the Dinky toys from Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and UFO.  His series introduced me to science fiction (as well as Dr Who and Star Trek).

Rediscovering the Supermarionation series thanks to video in the '80s rekindled my love for Gerry's creations, so much so that I have never lost interest in them since then.  Indeed I am now a bigger fan of his work than at any point in my nearly 49 years on this planet.


Thank you for adding such a HUGE part of the soundtrack to my childhood... many millions of fans the world over will be feeling upset today, but we should rejoice in the fact that you leave us with a legacy that will never age, will never lose its magic.

Rest in Peace, Gerry.

JR21 Thunderbird 3 conversion update

After ordering some prezzies after work I decided to try and fill the gaping hole in the side of the JR21 Thunderbird 3's lower hull.  Using copious amounts of Plastic Weld followed by superglue I was able to insert plastic card into the cavity, blocking it off.  I then added a couple more layers to bring the level up closer to the surface ready for my first layer of Revell Plasto filler.

Apologies for the photo - taken with my mobile late at night.

I am now much more confident that this is going to work, and I can have a decent-size model of TB3 without forking out for an expensive resin kit.  Old broken toys can have their uses too.

Very brief update

I was unable to sleep last night so I got my razor saw out and started trimming the area around the hole left by the motor on the JR21 Thunderbird 3.  The ABS was easy to deal with and just needs some sanding to leave a flush surface.  Now I just have to figure out how to cover the hole.
Originally I was going to remove the engines from the lower cylinder and replace it, but that's too risky.  Instead I need to find a plastic cylinder of the same size and then cut out a shape roughly the same shape as the hole.  Once that is secure I can fill and sand until the fit is seamless and I have a complete unit.

I was wrong about the docking ring and arms being softer plastic... they also appear to be ABS, albeit rather slippery ABS.  That's good as it means I can sand off rough areas, and also tidy up where I cut the nose wheel from the docking ring.
I will also have to use filler on the tip of the nose and sand to shape... or a blob of superglue, which may be stronger and less likely to 'plink' off as I sand it to a point.

All in all I am very happy with this old toy.  Comparing it to profile photos I can see that the main body could be a little longer, while the lower cylindrical bulge could be a little shorter, but I'm not complaining, it was a toy, after all.

From what I've seen of the other JR21 toys, I think they are all pretty good likenesses, so much so that they were used in the Thunderbirds Christmas episode "Give or Take a Million" albeit with some minor changes such as TB1 with legs and with its wheels removed.

(photo copyright ITC Entertainment)

That photo actually makes TB3 look a bit dumpy for some reason... could be the second version which was slightly different from mine.

The State of Play

I thought I would show where my models are in their progress so far, in particular the Mole, Thunderbird 1 and Thunderbird 4.

Here is the Comet Thunderbird 1.
As you can see the shape is perfect, this is undeniably TB1... but also notice the amount of filler needed.

The nose is just taped on while the main rocket engine block is just push-fitted... despite the excess filling this is just a beautiful model in the making.

Here is the Bandai TB4... the impeller 'blocks' are glued on as is the tail, but the hull halves are just taped together, while the canopy is just push fitted into place... notice it's clear rather than the usual tinted plastic used by Imai for their Anderson kits.
The nose needs reshaped, and the detail replaced... this is a hangover from its previous incarnation.
The shape is nice... not as accurate as Comet's TB1, but there are nearly 25 years between the two.

In the photo below notice the lack of wheels, and even wheel holes!

Finally for the model kits, the Mole.

This is one of the nicest Anderson models I have ever seen... it's big, it's mostly accurate and just oozes quality.  The actual Mole unit is just taped together while the tractor unit just needs some minor detailing before I can paint it.

The tracks, while a pain to assemble, actually look really very good... if only they had thought of this in the '60s we could have had a decent Mole long ago.

In addition to the kits, here is the old 1960s JR21/Rosenthal Thunderbird 3.  It's moulded in ABS plastic with a few parts in a softer material.
Shape-wise this is spot on, but the gaping hole will be a challenge to repair... but thanks to Plastic Weld I can mix different plastics and hopefully end up with a good looking model at the end of it.

More updates later ^__^

More models

Over recent days I've managed to get models such as the Bandai version of Thunderbird 4 and a broken JR21/Rosenthal Thunderbird 3.

The 1992 Bandai TB4 is a retooled Imai kit from 1966, and is now basically a static model.  Gone is the clockwork motor and the wheels, and farewell firing missiles.  What we have now is a smooth lower hull, and a nose which looks rather strange.
I will be going into more detail on this kit when I do blog about building it.

(Photo from eBay)

However, a brief review won't do any harm.
Shape-wise it isn't 100% accurate: the nose has a weird angle change 2/3 of the way along, the windscreen should be more curved, the sides are too vertical and the rear of the hull should bulge more.  However, once built and with some slight reworking it DOES look like Thunderbird 4, and that's what really matters.  There were several models used in the series, each with detail and shape differences, so as far as I am concerned this is a nice model... although I will have to scratchbuild a cabin interior and rework the nose as it's really quite wrong.

The other item is the broken JR21 Thunderbird 3 toy...

(Photos from eBay)

In mint condition these are worth hundreds of pounds, I won this for £5 plus postage.  It is a shade over 8" long and is moulded in styrene, so can be rebuilt as a static model.

As you can see the rear mounted friction drive motor has long gone, as has the front wheel, not that I'm bothered about them.  This is an accurate shape and was even used in the TV episode "Give or Take a Million" as one of the T'Bird toys given to the little boy who won the prize of visiting Tracy Island.

Scale wise that would make it a shade smaller than 1/350 scale, so can match the Imai accurate TB2 and the F-Toys TB1.

There was a second version of this toy, but it suffered from a shorter body for some reason.

My intention is to tidy up and repair the rear section so that it is a complete unit, remove the front wheel mount and then repaint the craft as a model.  This will be a challenge, but I will end up with a nice model at the end of the process.  Compared to the smaller Imai and Bandai models, this is a much more impressive base model.

Finally, I was able to get the Comet Miniatures Thunderbird 1 kit.

Unlike the Japanese model kits this one comes in the form of simple injection-moulded parts and vac-formed forward fuselage and wings, and white metal landing legs.
The plastic used for the bulk of the parts is quite brittle and, on my one anyway, covered in release grease and dirt.  The vacuum formed parts are accurate in shape, but detail where present is soft.  My one also has one half 2mm longer than the other... which wasn't too good.  It reminded me of Comet's old Fireball XL5 kit (shudders).  The metal legs on mine are also bent, so quite useless.

As with any limited run kit like this it needs a lot of work to get the best out of it... I've built a few kits like this in the past, so it doesn't really put me off.  I think unless you are used to ill-fitting parts and some scratchbuilding keep away from this old kit... and go for the Aoshima one, which is practically the same size.
Talking of size... this model is NOT 11" long... just under 9 inches is more like it.  Using the most common length of 115 feet that makes this around 1/150 scale... half the 1/72 scale listed on the front.
I've seen one or two of these beautifully finished so I am confident that something great can come from it.

Better late then never!

Well, it's about time for an update.

After my shoulder got better it was time for me to prepare for my holiday... and work had become manic over the past few weeks!  Anyway, all that's behind me now... and I am now on holiday in Japan... yay!
The land of short skirts, 20 degrees centigrade in November and AKB48 all over the place... however, it's also the home of the best plastic kits in the world.

I have been here for 5 days and have so far managed to buy the Aoshima reissues of the final Imai FAB1 and Mole.

FAB1 is the updated Imai produced before they went bust.  They had produced such accessory sets as turned metal wheels and resin figures of Lady Penelope and Parker.  Sadly the Aoshima version does not include the resin figures, but it DOES have etched metal dials and number plates.
It's also nice to finally have a large (1/32 scale) FAB1 with an accurate shape and a clear canopy... the older one was really an unbuilt toy with a clear blue canopy.  The retool not only corrects the shape, but also includes a full set of headlights and tail lights, with optional machine guns and harpoons.

One oddity with this kit is the box, which clearly states that this is a 1/350 scale kit.  That's some mistake!
I was expecting to see Imai's old artwork, which was always exciting and beautifully done.  This one tries to look retro and ends up looking a bit weak.

The Mole  is again a late Imai model and is a 10" long model in a nominal 1/72 scale, which is VERY handy for dioramas where HO buildings and cars can be used... time to hit the model railway shops methinks haha.

The model is intended for motorisation and includes all the wiring and battery connections... I find things like this make the model weak and compromises detail for accessibility.  I will simply add a flashing red LED to the top of the Mole, with the battery being accessed through the rear plate.

This is a pretty accurate model by anyone's standards and includes such gems as individual plates for the tracks... you glue each plate to a rubber track.  As mine will be a static model I will fix the track in place then  add the plates after spraying them a basic steel colour.  After that they can be weathered along with the rest of the model... and boy will it be weathered!
The tractor unit faithfully captures the shape and detail of  the original toy tractor used in the series as well as the Airfix Girder Bridge used as a support cradle and the Atlas rockets used as detail parts.  Wonderful stuff.
If only Imai had seen fit to do the same with their horrible Firefly and Recovery Vehicle models we could have had some really nice large pod vehicles as plastic kits at decent prices.

Talking of prices, these aren't cheap. FAB1 was ¥2100 and the Mole was ¥3185, both of them coming from Yodabashi Camera, a giant electronics shop. I got the Mole in the Ueno branch (near the station) and FAB1 in the Akihabara megastore.
The last of the kits I'm after is the 1/144 scale Thunderbird 1, which I think is an Aoshima original, but I could be wrong.

Ouch!

I haven't been able to update this for a few weeks due to a trapped nerve in my upper back... it made doing pretty much anything very painful.  The nerve is now free and I am mostly back to normal.  My right arm still hurts quite a lot, but it's getting better... the muscles feel like they've had cramp for all that time.

Hopefully should be back to modelling in a few days.

WASP Arrowhead Fighter - Part 4

While I wait for the weekend to do some more work to the model, I thought I would upload some screen captures of the Arrowhead as it appeared in "Stingray".

This is a nice profile shot of the aircraft:

Under the rear-mounted wings is what appears to be a structure, such as air-intakes for the atomic rocket engine, but no.  What the modellers did was to glue the entire wing sub-assembly (wings and central fuselage with wheel wells/doors under the tail.

This is a nice shot showing the markings and the white/black diced band on the wings.  You can also see the yellow tip to the very dark grey 'missile' - in actual fact the belly-mounted fuel tank.  The cockpit canopy is missing because Troy Tempest (flying to save Phones, Marina and Lt Fisher trapped from a crippled Stingray) has just ejected.

An unfortunate shot here, as you can clearly see the hollow underside of the wing centre-section behind the tail, and the gaps where the wings don't meet the fuselage.  Had I gone the route of an accurate studio-scale model (using either large scale Aurora or Hawk models) I would have one very naff model!
You can also see that the diced band is only on one wing... the model was only finished on one side for filing.  Well, I suppose it saved time...

Here's Troy at the controls... as you can see the instrument shroud is dark blue-grey and there's this weird white thing on top... possibly a radar or gunsight.  The mesh texture on the rear panel is nice, and I can recreate that.  The seat is silver with blue cushions and head rest.  Nice.

Finally, the beast prior to take off... this just looks ungainly...

My model will be less like the actual prop, and more like what the real aircraft would have been like - so finished on both sides, no gaps in wing roots and certainly no exposed hollow sections of the model.

Next update should be the cockpit interior and the painted pilot/chair.

WASP Arrowhead Fighter - Part 3

Just a brief update today.

I decided to go with a normal Airfix pilot, but I'm going with a Revell Scorpion's ejector seat.  It doesn't look like a modern seat and has a wonderfully retro look to it.

So I'll make up the cockpit interior, paint it up and then paint up the pilot and seat.

Incidentally, I decided NOT to go with placing the air intakes under the tail.  I can't find a reference for their position, and they looked silly anyway.  I have the "Stingray" DVD box set on the way from Amazon, so I will pay close attention to any of these which grace the screen... Stand by on Pause Button!

While looking through my Stingray annuals, I came across this full-page illustration in the 1966 annual (for 1967)...

Interestingly it isn't called an Arrowhead fighter, it's called a Mercury, and has VTOL capability.
Er... how?
Anyway, nice to see that they featured in one of the annuals at least.

Fun with bits

Back in the 1960s the APF and Century 21 special effects teams under Derek Meddings would construct background (and even star) models from assorted model parts.  The most popular items for background dressing seem to have been the Airfix (now Dapol) OO/HO model railway structures.  

So, since I intend to photograph my models in appropriate settings I decided to start building some background models.

This is a non-descript building with a helipad on the roof.  I built it to 1/350 scale to match the Imai accurate Thunderbird 2 and the F-Toys TB1.  It will also be in the background of larger scale models, giving the impression of distance.

I built this from the flat sections in the Dapol girder bridge, a couple of supports and plasticard.  Detailing was in the form of some Gundam parts, a pair B-58 Hustler landing gear supports and a spare dish from the Round 2 1/1000 USS Enterprise.  Some plastic strip was also added.

It will be painted in various grey hues.

WASP Arrowhead Fighter - part 2

I have sanded all of the filler down and attached the wings and canards to the aircraft... now it's starting to look like something.  I still have some filling at the wing roots to do, and tidy up the canards but as far as the conversion goes that's it.

Some people build this model with the air intakes moved from the sides to under the tail... I'm not sure why.
In this photo from a TV21 cover you can see there IS something under the tail, but it's the centre section from the wing assembly.

Like the smaller Airfix kit the Aurora model had the wings attached to the centre piece.
I could have done this but I felt it was clumsy, and not really showing the plane off to it's best advantage.  So I will attach the intakes under the tail.

So here is the Arrowhead as she is at the moment:

Since I'm building an in-flight model I need a pilot... I will be using a later Airfix helicopter pilot with an old Frog pilot's head.  The seat is from my spares... I think it's from the Airfix Buccaneer.

I still need to build a basic tub and side consoles but that's a fairly painless job... after the filling and sanding on this relic that'll be a pleasure!

To be continued...

WASP Arrowhead Fighter - Part 1

The World Aquanaut Security Patrol is an elite arm of the World Navy and is based at Marineville, on America's Pacific coast.  As well as a surface and underwater presence, WASP also operates a fleet of fighters and bombers.
There are the sleek fighter jets, the Arrowheads, and the atomic bombers, the powerful Spearheads.  This post is about me starting to build an Arrowhead fighter.

This is based on an Aurora F5 Freedom Fighter prototype, but my version is based on the Airfix 1/72 scale production version.  Basically, the wings are placed at the rear, the tail-planes where the intakes should be, and the intakes under the tail!  Easy ^_^

The Airfix kit is actually a bit of a mess.  The parts fit where they touch, the nose is too wide for the forward fuselage, and the rear fuselage section is misshapen.

First step is to clean the parts up and then assemble them, including the wings and tail-planes.  These were then cut off, their mating surfaces to be reshaped to follow the contours of their new locations.

Here is the plane as it stands at the moment...

The next stage is sanding all of that filler down and removing the raised panel lines.  I'll add new panel lines with a pencil.  The cockpit interior will be kept relatively simple as the pilot will conceal most of the detail in a model of this size.

The Arrowhead has diced bands on the wings, and I thought these were going to be a problem, but then I found an old Scorpion fighter which had these decals, so that was a major problem solved very easily.  Never throw old decals away!

Part 2 soon...

Welcome to 2065

From Fireball XL5 to Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Gerry Anderson's 1960s Supermarionation (puppet) TV series presented a 21st century full of amazing machines, wonderful craft, and brave men and women ready to fly off into space, dive under the sea, rescue helpless people from seemingly impossible situations, and defend the Earth from vengeful aliens able to recosntruct objects and people after destruction.

Although Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet were all stand alone series, Gerry Anderson's weekly comic, "TV Century 21" brought them all together, inhabiting the same continuity, and even crossing over occasionally.  These stories were as action-packed as the TV versions, but weren't hampered by budget or technical issues.  They were magical...

This isn't a blog about the various TV series, but rather building models of craft and characters based on, and inspired by those series, and also of the world of "TV Century 21".  Whether it's a star craft like Thunderbird 2, or a guest model such as the Arrowhead fighter I will do my best to recreate these from kits and conversions.
I won't be attempting to build studio scale replicas... I just don't have the space for models like that.

So, whether your call sign is PWOR, FAB or SIG I hope you will join me as I delve into the spares box, shake the bits about and build models.