James B Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 Hi All, I got a bit crazy last week and ordered up the 1/350 scale TB1 and Launch bay, then I saw the TB2 container bay in the same scale, got too excited for words, purchased that, then went on the hunt for a reasonably priced TB2 and TB4 to sit in it. Needless to say, when I find 1/350 TB3 with launch bay at a fair price I'll probably snap that up to. Obviously I encountered the stare of death from the wife, accompanied with the fabled; "And where are you going to put them all?!" I feel like I'm seven again (and that's an achievement considering how many years ago it was). Which one do I start with??? I just don't know. For now, the boxes will have to suffice as I need to finish my FAA Corsair first, but that's hopefully going to be completed this weekend. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhouse Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 Quite a project! I love the way the final box has the pods displayed: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 😁 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picard Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 F.A.B! Now that's what I call "shopping". Nice one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 oooo - this will be a FAB build to follow - good to see some more (and in your case, quite a lot) Gerry Anderson back on the work benches on the forum again. I can just imagine your wife's cod face stare when you fessed up - mind you, I'm sure she would happily spend the same on herself without even a second thought, so don't go feeling too guilty just because you chose plastic over her choice of Louis Vuitton leather or what ever wives spend "our" money on! looking forward to seeing how the collection moves along here. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 Here you go for the TB3 with launch silo: https://hlj.com/product/AOS01024 Postage will be about another £9, however you are then into the price region where HMRC might try to play silly bu... people. Alternatively there is Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/350-No-14-Thunderbird-launch-base/dp/B00JOYVKE8 or eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AOSHIMA-1-350-THUNDERBIRD-1-LAUNCHER-MODEL-KIT-FIRST-TIME-UK-STOCKED/292285214625 All seem to be priced around the £40 mark. The TB3 kit is excellent as are the TB1 and TB4 kits. I've got the TB2 kit in the stash but never built it yet - I've built the Imai 9" and 22" TB2 kits but not the Aoshima one yet. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James B Posted October 28, 2017 Author Share Posted October 28, 2017 (edited) 1st coat of gloss is drying on the Corsair in prep for decals and weathering, so what else am I to do but start these! Trouble is I couldn't decide what to do first. In the end I opted for going in numerical order (although that will cause issues for TB2 and the container dock, not sure which to do first. All the little vehicles for the pods look so cool. Anyway, TB1 and its launch bay first. To get the ball rolling, here's the obligatory shots of the sprues. Not much to this set, so should go together pretty quickly. Not sure yet how, or in what order I'll paint things... Edited October 28, 2017 by James B spelling 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James B Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 (edited) A Sunday of activity. I have TB1 and the launch bay assembled and primed. (Photo below is pre-primer and the guard rails are missing from the photo as I'll paint them prior to assembling). It all went together very easily, but there was an awful lot of injection holes (not sure if that's what they're called) that needed filling in awkward places. Each of the rails (not shown here) had 6+ small injection marks on them. Edited October 29, 2017 by James B spelling and clarification 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 Nice. How many people know that the circular thing on the wall was a lemon squeezer? Anoraks! (Oh, just me then?) 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James B Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 3 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: Nice. How many people know that the circular thing on the wall was a lemon squeezer? Anoraks! (Oh, just me then?) or that the new semi-CGI Thunderbirds also used one as a little easter egg for us 'anoraks'? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James B Posted October 29, 2017 Author Share Posted October 29, 2017 On 10/27/2017 at 11:36 PM, Kallisti said: Here you go for the TB3 with launch silo: https://hlj.com/product/AOS01024 Postage will be about another £9, however you are then into the price region where HMRC might try to play silly bu... people. Alternatively there is Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/350-No-14-Thunderbird-launch-base/dp/B00JOYVKE8 or eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AOSHIMA-1-350-THUNDERBIRD-1-LAUNCHER-MODEL-KIT-FIRST-TIME-UK-STOCKED/292285214625 All seem to be priced around the £40 mark. The TB3 kit is excellent as are the TB1 and TB4 kits. I've got the TB2 kit in the stash but never built it yet - I've built the Imai 9" and 22" TB2 kits but not the Aoshima one yet. Thanks for these. Unfortunately, (as far as buying models) I'm based in NZ so the Amazon and eBay options get very expensive with shipping included. I've not heard good things about HLJ and so have always avoided ordering from them, is that unfounded? If it is, that's a good option as it would come in not much more than half what I've found it in country for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 I've bought quite a few things from HLJ and never had a problem 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picard Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 6 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: Nice. How many people know that the circular thing on the wall was a lemon squeezer? Anoraks! (Oh, just me then?) Purchased from a local Woollies with a load of Airfix stock back in the day, according to legend and the brilliant Gerry Anderson TV 21 documentary. And yes indeed, good to see it back in place in the awful CGI redo, in my humble opinion only of course folks. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James B Posted October 30, 2017 Author Share Posted October 30, 2017 A bit or pre-shading done this evening, ready for a neutral grey base coat. That will however, have to wait as I'm out of town for the next couple of days. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Nice that they've represented the toy periscopes on the back wall of the hanger so nicely as well as the lemon squeezer. I reckon there should be more Airfix Girder Bridge parts though - the tunnel from the upper hanger was lined with them... Keep it up 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 This build is looking very interesting. That's quite a lot of plastic you get there on the T1 set. Will T1 be posed on the launch cradle or blasting off? Looking forward to the next instalment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 9 hours ago, Kallisti said: Nice that they've represented the toy periscopes on the back wall of the hanger Now I didn't know that! Ta. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 22 hours ago, James B said: or that the new semi-CGI Thunderbirds also used one as a little easter egg for us 'anoraks'? I saw an episode at the weekend that used live lizards as "giants" I had to explain to my son what was so funny. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picard Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 14 hours ago, Kallisti said: Nice that they've represented the toy periscopes on the back wall of the hanger so nicely as well as the lemon squeezer. I reckon there should be more Airfix Girder Bridge parts though - the tunnel from the upper hanger was lined with them... Keep it up Blimey Kallisti, toy periscopes? Iv'e not heard that one before. I know those brilliant chaps raided toy, model and hardware shops all over the place when given a brief, I guess the famous lemon squeezer stole the head lines on that brilliant fact. Nice one as always sir. Cheers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 They used all sorts of kit parts and toys - you can see a Jonny Seven toy gun in several episodes as a grapnel gun in TB2 Several Pod vehicles were built around the Vickers Vogor toy tractor These included The Mole, Firefly, Transmitter trick, Recovery vehicle, Excavator and Domo. The Mole itself is an Airfix Girder bridge upside down on a Vicker Vigor tractor with decorations from the Aurora B-58 Hustler and handrails from the Faller Round Restaurant - here is my build of the Aoshima Mole from a couple years back... 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James B Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 (edited) 18 hours ago, Kallisti said: Nice that they've represented the toy periscopes on the back wall of the hanger so nicely as well as the lemon squeezer. I reckon there should be more Airfix Girder Bridge parts though - the tunnel from the upper hanger was lined with them... Keep it up Well, I too didn't know. I've been toying (excuse the pun) with the idea of adding more details, but then I look at other examples of this set painted and they do come up quite nice, and I'm not sure I have the skill to do what would need to be done to right the wrongs, and once I started... For example the control area/bridge is far too two dimensional, as well as having an incorrect number of windows. The coloured rectangles above it are also too great in number, and the wrong widths. The walkway is too narrow, and the girder section in the top left hand corner too two dimensional also. It's a really nice display to sit TB1 in, and not detract from the subject I think. Therefore, I'm condoning not spending a lifetime rebuilding the who;e thing from scratch. Hopefully it's the right choice. Also, just FYI, that Mole is beautiful. Absolutely stunning. Is that a very well executed non-metallic metal finish, or just the lighting giving it that effect? Either way the model and your paint job blows me away. 17 hours ago, Gimme Shelter said: This build is looking very interesting. That's quite a lot of plastic you get there on the T1 set. Will T1 be posed on the launch cradle or blasting off? Looking forward to the next instalment. You raise an excellent question, that I hadn't considered. I guess I thought it'd just sit there, but it wouldn't be too hard to have it blasting off, and a flickering led tea light could sit in the cloud of smoke to give it some life. Hmmm Edited October 31, 2017 by James B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beefy Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 3 hours ago, James B said: Also, just FYI, that Mole is beautiful. Absolutely stunning. Is that a very well executed non-metallic metal finish, or just the lighting giving it that effect? Either way the model and your paint job blows me away Having seen the model in the flesh so to speak the non metallic finish is Alclad and is all down to the skill in painting by Kallisti, having seen a lot of his Sci Fi models his build and painting skill are FAB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 4 hours ago, James B said: Also, just FYI, that Mole is beautiful. Absolutely stunning. Is that a very well executed non-metallic metal finish, or just the lighting giving it that effect? Its Alclad - that model won a Bronze at Telford a couple years back and that kit is superb, I heartily recommend it, its a lovely kit and not expensive! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tomohawk Kid Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 On 29/10/2017 at 20:10, James B said: Thanks for these. Unfortunately, (as far as buying models) I'm based in NZ so the Amazon and eBay options get very expensive with shipping included. I've not heard good things about HLJ and so have always avoided ordering from them, is that unfounded? If it is, that's a good option as it would come in not much more than half what I've found it in country for. I have been shopping at HLJ for longer than I can remember and thier service I would rate as exceptional. They only made one mistake over all those years, sending me a wrong kit. They let me keep the kit they had sent in error and I had the replacement kit delivered expedited delivery. Thomo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I've used HLJ too and had good results. If only I had the time to build what I received! 18 hours ago, Kallisti said: Airfix Girder bridge upside down on a Vicker Vigor tractor That I knew too. I didn't know about the Johnny seven gun. I lusted after one of those fifty odd years ago! I did have the Airfix FN rifle though, until the barrel broke off. I recently rediscovered a stash of bullets for it in a model box! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I had a Johnny Seven and it was my most prized possession when I was five 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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