Aoshima 1/350 Thunderbird 3 begins

I've been following the progress of a modeller on the Eagle Transporter forum as he builds the model (and the Round House disguising the launch silo)... and it's got me itching to start on mine.

So here is the progress do far... and apologies for the iPhone photos. 

Here I have placed the model on the instructions' alignment template for the engines... 

Also on the photos you can see the white docking ring. The kit comes with three of these but they all have a join within the detail which needs to be tidied up, some of them being more difficult than others. I chose the ring with the least complex detail, so being easier to tidy up. 

I've gone as far as I can until I get the orange spray paint. 

Toys used in Supermarionation - again... and some musings...

In my last post I showed some of my (rather battered) toy vehicles which had also been used in the likes of "Thunderbirds" and "Stingray".  For this update I thought I would show a couple of screen-grabs from the "Thunderbirds" episode: "Sun Probe" which show not only the Matchbox Intercontinental Freighter lorry, but also the Husky Citroen Safari Ambulance.

Firstly, a reminder of the lorry...

Here it is as used in the episode with a single trailer and the rear portion painted blue...

And with both trailers, flashing light and new 'Air Freight' decals in place of the stock items...

Notice the Citroen is woefully out of scale, but who cares?  I don't think the late Derek Meddings and his team were worried about what viewers would be thinking about his work in 48 years time.  Looking at the background models never bores me... so much to see.

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I am also now seriously thinking about tackling a diorama for the Imai 1/350 Thunderbird 2 and F-Toys 1/350 Thunderbird 1, and while watching "Sun Probe" I thought this would make a fantastic background model.  It wouldn't be very big, but would look perfect in capturing the feel of the series.

 

Oh, and for interest's sake, here are the TB1 and TB2 models.  TB1 needs stripped, tidied up and repainted, while TB2 needs to be completed.  I have two each of these, and will complete them in different configurations: TB2 with legs and open pod/TB2 closed up and TB1 landed/TB1 flying.

Thunderbird 2 is very accurate... much more so than any previous Imai version, and is a proper model kit... no wheels, no springs and no missiles!  TB1 comes as a prepainted kit, giving you the option of fixed wings with landing legs, or moveable wings and no legs.  It's also pretty much in scale, as it should be.

FAB!

Toys used in Supermarionation: Part 1

Another side of my interest in the Supermarionation side of Gerry Anderson's productions is sourcing some of the more interesting toy cars used in scenes with Derek Meddings' amazing models.  These are now quite hard to find at decent prices, in good condition anyway... so I have bought some in, shall we say rather sad condition...

First off we have the mighty Matchbox Interstate Freighter set.  This set (M9) consists of a cab, two trailers and a connector bogie.  My example of this large toy (truck is about 1/100 scale) is missing the decals and rear doors to both trailers.  I can replace the doors, and I already have replacement decals...

In "Thunderbirds" the lorry was normally seen at airports, fitted with a large blue flashing light on the cab in place of the horns.  I can't bring myself to do that.  Sometimes it was seen with just the one trailer.  Other times the decals were replaced with black markings, the circular section having a white number in it.

Next we have the BP Autotanker, also by Matchbox.  In "Stingray" it was shown in its BP colours, and at other times with a 'skirt' wrapped around the lower section, covering the wheels and giving it a hovertruck appearance.  In "Thunderbirds" it was seen as either the BP version or painted red with a ladder on top.  On at least one occasion it had the rear section cut away to give a different appearance for a fire tender.
Mine is in the middle of being restored, hence the exposed metal.  I will add a Plastruct ladder to the roof, paint it red and have it as a fire tender.  I may get another and restore it to a BP version.

In a couple of episodes of "Thunderbirds" episodes the Husky Citroen Safari ambulance made an appearance, such as falling though the earth as the ground gives way while moving the Empire State Building in "Terror in New York".  Mine needs a bit of a tidy, but it's in decent condition for its age.

Also seen in "Thunderbirds" airport scenes is the Alvis 6x6 Airfield Fire Tender, or the Foamite Fire Tender as Matchbox called their version.  Mine is very ratty... missing the plastic text on the sides and the ladder, but they are fairly easy to replace.  The real vehicle was designed for RAF use.

There are still a few more I need to get so I can start trying to make them screen accurate (where they were altered) or as good as new.  I will update with a part 2 entry when I have enough of them.

As well as die cast toys the SFX team at the studios also used small plastic cars by Triang, as part of their Minix range designed to go with Hornby train sets.  These are quite easy to find, but as they are quite brittle they are very fragile.  These were used sparingly, normally in airport backgrounds.  I can't say if any of the following were used, but certainly the Vauxhall Victor Estate and Simca were (which of course I don't have).

Ford Anglia

Vauxhall Viva HA

Ford Corsair V4

 Ford van

Hillman Minx

Morris 1100

Triumph 2000

Sunbeam Tiger

The cars above are a mix of 1970s and 1960s versions.  Those with silver wheels and bumpers are from the sixties, while those with black wheels and white bumpers are from the seventies, and were normally used as cargo in Hornby train sets.

My intention is to one day carry out some photo shoots using Thunderbird 1 and 2 (and some other kits) to try and replicate a typical scene from "Thunderbirds".  One day...

Imai Mini X-Car

If you remember a few posts back I got the unusual Excavator kit by Imai based on Ron Turner's design in a comic strip in the 1966 "Thunderbirds" Annual. That kit was originally motorised but had been retooled as a static model.

This latest kit is a smaller model. Like its larger brother it features a bust of a driver in the cockpit and claw arms. The maw, like the larger kit has been retooled to represent a rubber curtain similar to what you find at airport security scanners. 

Rather than rubber tracks this one has rolling wheels... I can add tracks from an old 1/76 or 1/72 tank. 

Apologies for the photos but I thought I would use my iPhone for a change. 

As you can see from the instructions it's a pretty simple model, but it does look good. 

I wish we could have more off-screen models from various Thunderbirds comics and annuals. 

Thunderbird 3 is here!

It's a good day today... my Aoshima Thunderbird 3 kit arrived from Hoby Link Japan today.

 

This is a brand new model (well, 95% is new) and is moulded in a variety of appropriate colours.  Here are the parts:

 These are the cooling fins and the ribbed parts on the support arms.

 Main parts of the body.  The parts are cleanly moulded, although the nose cone and cooling fin section have obvious seams to clean up.  There are recessed areas for the rockets, allowing them to fit perfectly.

 Three identical sprues for the engines, support arms and the lower part of the cooling fin section.  Only one of the latter is needed, the other two are spares.

The white parts are for a choice of three docking rings and the upper & lower parts of the rockets.  The dark parts are for the bottom of the main hull and the retro-rocket ring.  The support part for the stand is also on the dark sprue.

The display stand is an old friend, having first appeared with the Imai Thunderbird 5 kit.  It was later included with the 'flying' version of the 1/350 Thunderbird 2 kit.

Construction is actually fool-proof, with the parts being keyed, so it's basically very difficult to build the thing the wrong way.  You can see the flat edge to the raised portion on this part of the kit.  This is a feature of practically every part.

The decals are cleanly printed and make finishing the model a snap  The long blue parts are for the cooling fin section, while the yellow chevrons are for the ends of the fins.

To allow correct engine alignment the instructions provide a template...

This will now wait until the cold dark winter nights for me to start building it.

Imai X Car Mini

Followers of this blog will know that I recently got the Imai Excavator kit based on the machine featured in one of the comic stories in the 1966 "Thunderbirds" annual: a curious tracked machine with claws, an open maw and a bubble cockpit. This was roughly 1/48 scale and was a nice looking if weird kit.

This latest purchase is for the smaller version, hidden wheels instead of tracks and less-detailed claws.  I will post a full photo review when it arrives, comparing it with its larger brother.   I wonder if it will get here before the Aoshima Thunderbird 3 kit?

This is the eBay vendor's photo of the kit I have bought.

Parker retains his voice

Big news this week concerning the new "Thunderbirds" series which is in production... and David Graham is to reprise his role as Parker!  This is wonderful news and will allow us to have a tangible link back to the original Supermarionation series.  Of course he will sound older (it was nearly 50 years ago after all) but to hear Parker drop 'is haitches and transpose them onto words beginning with vowels will be lovely.

In case you have been living on the Moon, the new series is being made jointly by ITV, Weta and another company (I've forgotten their name... apologies) as a part physical/part digital production: the characters will be CGI but the sets will be live models.  How they will do this is a mystery, but with Weta on board (they handled the effects in "Lord of the Rings" most notably) it should look pretty spectacular.

I still have some lingering worries though... and these hark back to the big pile of robo-poo that was the 2004 live action "Thunderbirds" directed by Jonathan Frakes.  While Thunderbirds 1 and 3 at least bore some similarities to their 1960s counterparts they were too small.  Thunderbird 5 was a good design, but too far removed from the station in the original and TB2 was just awful.  TB4 was a pointless total redesign, as were the Mole and Firefly.  As for FAB1... don't even get me started on that!
What I'm dreading is that the new series has craft which are even further removed from the originals.

In 2004 there was an attempt to remake Thunderbirds for the TV, but when the rights were sold to the film company the series was aborted.  There IS a glimpse of what it could have been like in the form of this teaser...

In this remake the characters were still puppets, but more like the "Team America: World Police" type with flexible faces.  TB1 in this clip is even less like the craft I grew up with than the film version... not nice.
Hopefully the new designs will be modern, yet faithfully close to the originals.  The current USS Enterprise from the recent "Star Trek Into Darkness" film is undeniably the same ship we saw in the 60s.  Everything has been redesigned, but it retains the shape and beauty of the original.  I hope we get something as kind as that... and not like these reimagined horrors from another British institution:

(Image from http://dalektricity.wordpress.com)

Thunderbird 2 was also redesigned for this aborted series, but all I have seen is this model made by a fan:

LINK  While it's a beautiful model there's something about it I just don't like... I think it's the whole nose section.

Anyway... fingers crossed that in 2014 we can have a new series of "Thunderbirds" to make us all smile... rather than throw things at the TV when THIS appears...