Airfix kits used in Thunderbirds

[Hroth]

2 hours ago, Ben B said:

 

I've seen that vid before, it's fascinating :) You have to wonder how many of some kits just ended up never getting built, but added to piles in VisFX workshops...

 

I used to be a member of a model-making forum with a lot of Gerry Anderson fans, trying to recreate certain iconic vehicles from the various series. Certain old 50's and 60's toys are now insanely expensive and rare, just because of Anderson fans hoovering them up to build replicas. It's like the stories of how rare and pricey a certain kind of flash gun for SLR cameras is now, because they were used as a basis for Luke Skywalkers lightsabre, and fans bought them all up make their own.

 

I guess at least nowadays there's 3D printing to recreate some of those rare old parts.

 

Not so much SLR cameras, they were the flash guns for 50s 5x4 press cameras, made by MPP. The long tube held a number of U2 (now D cell) batteries with a proper flash bulb, about 30mm diameter, in a reflector shell.  The story is that the bod who was tasked with designing the light sabre spotted a basket of them outside a photo shop, going cheap and bought the lot.

 

If you have an original MPP camera, you can now get REPLICA working flashguns as the originals are now virtually unobtainable/cost bl@@dy silly money!

 

[Invicta Informant]

The Airfix girder bridge kit is mentioned in this video uploaded by the official Gerry Anderson channel (run by his son Jamie) on YouTube. There is plenty of other videos of interest on the channel.

 

[Kirby Uncoupler]

Unless i'm dreaming, I have a vague recollection of a scene with the Tracy family off-duty in a restaurant, and instead of waiters, the food and drink was served by model trains (Tri-ang Hornby?). Not sure if it was one of the TV episodes, or perhaps more likely, one of the film spin-offs, like "Thunderbird 6"? Does anyone else recall this, or know of a link for a video clip? Knowing the scale of the trains, will indicate the size of the puppets.  No need to (financially) tip the train after the meal. 

                                                                                            Cheers, Brian.

[Kirby Uncoupler]

I've found one: Spotted a black B12, and a Caley Single doing well with a heavy load. There may be other clips? My kind of restaurant.   

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube+thunderbirds+restaurant+trains&oq=youtube+thunderbirds+restaurant+train&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBECEYoAEyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigAdIBCTIyNjQ1ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:62c871cd,vid:m8O7mVCcs-o

 

BK

[Ben B]

After all this talk of Anderson productions, I've given in ;)

 

 

Not sure of the provenance of this kit, but it's been a lot of fun to build! The catapult actually launches the Angel jets :)

 

Speaking of, I've also a quartet of the much sought-after Airfix Angel Interceptors up in the loft...

[ejstubbs]

4 hours ago, Ben B said:

I've also a quartet of the much sought-after Airfix Angel Interceptors up in the loft...

 

Are they really much sought after?  Blimey, I built one of those when I was about 10 or 11 years old - I recall that I made a pretty good job of it, too, though it wasn't a particularly complicated kit.  That was before I'd even seen the series on TV, so I had little idea who the Angels were, or what they were doing flying around in futuristic fast jets.

 

I remember my pals at school having the Corgi Dinky models of the SPV and Patrol Car, the former at least of which I thought was pretty cool, and I probably read comic strip Captain Scarlet stories in TV21 comic at around the same time or a bit later, but I don't recall seeing the actual programmes until we moved up to Derby in 1970 and I watched the (innumerable) repeats on ATV.  Which is a little odd, since I'm pretty sure I saw Thunderbirds on its first release, when we were still living in Sarf London, and Stingray before that.

[Ben B]

3 hours ago, ejstubbs said:

 

Are they really much sought after?  Blimey, I built one of those when I was about 10 or 11 years old - I recall that I made a pretty good job of it, too, though it wasn't a particularly complicated kit.  That was before I'd even seen the series on TV, so I had little idea who the Angels were, or what they were doing flying around in futuristic fast jets.

 

I remember my pals at school having the Corgi Dinky models of the SPV and Patrol Car, the former at least of which I thought was pretty cool, and I probably read comic strip Captain Scarlet stories in TV21 comic at around the same time or a bit later, but I don't recall seeing the actual programmes until we moved up to Derby in 1970 and I watched the (innumerable) repeats on ATV.  Which is a little odd, since I'm pretty sure I saw Thunderbirds on its first release, when we were still living in Sarf London, and Stingray before that.

 

Apparently the Airfix Angel is out of production- the chap who ran the model shop in Haworth told me they were becoming collectable, he'd had problems with people trying to buy his last few by trying to haggle with him for them cheap, he'd then spotted them selling them online later at a large cut (or so he said).  A quick look on Ebay this evening has a pair of them for about 50 quid each...

Edited September 7, 2023 by Ben B

[Johann Marsbar]

On 07/09/2023 at 12:34, Ben B said:

After all this talk of Anderson productions, I've given in ;)

 

 

Not sure of the provenance of this kit, but it's been a lot of fun to build! The catapult actually launches the Angel jets :)

 

Speaking of, I've also a quartet of the much sought-after Airfix Angel Interceptors up in the loft...

 

Japanese produced kit by IMAI.   They seem to have produced quite a range of Gerry Anderson related models ( Definitely Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds and UFO) and I picked up quite a few of the different ones from the range about 30 years ago when large numbers suddenly put in appearances on sales  stands at Airshows like RAF Waddington & MIldenhall.

 

The Interceptor launch mechanism doesn't shoot them too far though - not as far as the two rather large missiles mounted under the front of the flightdeck!

[Rugd1022]

On 03/09/2023 at 23:59, Darlington_Shed said:

On a related note, the wonderful Adam Savage has talked about how there are parts of model kits "on every spaceship you've ever seen in the Star Wars universe". Well worth a watch here:

 

 

Edit: For those who don't know, Adam was a modelmaker at Industrial Light & Magic.

 

Somewhere in the house I still have the souvenir magazine I bought for 99p when Star Wars was released in December '77, in it is a photo of the model shop at IL&M with stacks of kit boxes in the background - cars, planes, ships, you name it, they used it.

 

(Edit : a minor claim to fame - a distant relative of mine worked on the film in the optical department at IL&M)

Edited September 10, 2023 by Rugd1022

[Hroth]

 

My claim to fame:  My aunt worked for Gerry Anderson on Thunderbirds as a puppet operator and "wardrobe" mistress for one of the puppets and occasional "hands" in shot when something had to be manipulated by a puppet.

 

[Rugd1022]

I fear this thread could be a rabbit hole from which I may never return - I'm a huge fan of Gerry Anderson's work, in particular Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and UFO and have always been fascinated by the behind the scenes stuff. A lot of the road vehicles in these were more or less scratch built starting with balsa wood blocks and modelling clay to arrive at the basic shape and outline, but the details were often added using kit bashed parts and household bits and bobs, while with the airborne craft they used a lot more out of the box stuff. Here are some original studio models and replicas built by some very talented modellers...

 

 

 

 

 

I spy a tank hatch on the front of the rather handsome Shadomobile...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nobody seems to know where the perspex dome on the UFOs originated from, and the smaller models used for long shots were quite crude...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[andyman7]

On 07/09/2023 at 21:18, Ben B said:

 

Apparently the Airfix Angel is out of production- the chap who ran the model shop in Haworth told me they were becoming collectable, he'd had problems with people trying to buy his last few by trying to haggle with him for them cheap, he'd then spotted them selling them online later at a large cut (or so he said).  A quick look on Ebay this evening has a pair of them for about 50 quid each...

The Airfix Angel was reissued about 15 years ago so the tooling is still about. But with any kit of this nature, when it's in production supplies are plentiful and prices low, Once it has been deleted and stocks exhausted the prices rise again. The most collectable version is the very first release circa 1970 in the classic 'red stripe' box - not at all easy to find. Later issues can be picked up easily if you are happy to fork out the money - once again emphasizing that 'rare' and 'collectable' have separate meanings.

Edited September 11, 2023 by andyman7

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

In amongst Nidge's pictures there's a job I'd like to apply for, operating Destiny Angel with my hand!

 

Mike.

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

In amongst Nidge's pictures there's a job I'd like to apply for, operating Destiny Angel with my hand!

 

Mike.

 

I'm not sure that it could be televised before the watershed...

 

[PeterStiles]

I see we get a Corgi Angel Interceptor and SPV this week!

[Rugd1022]

Some more bits and bobs...

 

 

I think I spy a lorry wheel on the rear of the Shdomobile's chassis...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 'use whatever is available' ethos also applied to the full size props and vehicles used in UFO, for example the six wheeled personnel 'jeeps' were based on Mini Mokes with extended rear subframes, the old fashioned door handles of which were from the Austin / Morris parts bin, while the front bumper was from the then new Mini Clubman...

 

 

The hub caps on Ed Straker's and Paul Foster's cars were nabbed from a brand new LHD Porsche 914, only a few very early examples had these fitted, the car was imported into the UK in 1969, the hub caps were removed to be used on the other two cars and standard hubcaps fitted in their place, the car was then used in an episode called 'Psychobombs'. In some shots these two cars appear without the hub caps in place which looks a little odd. Some people have suggested the hub caps are from the Rover P6 but they're not the same size and in any case they didn't appear on the P6 range until late 1971, by which time the series was already in the can and being broadcast around the country...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Rugd1022