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.
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.
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