Thunderbirds Mole

[Will Vale]

I did a bit more on the tracks and crawler body during my lunch break - adding some wear and highlights, and muddying the underneath. I'm finding it hard to capture this stuff on camera though - it seems pretty obvious to the naked eye, so I'm wary of adding more grot. Still plenty to do though.

(click for bigger)

I also took some slightly better pictures to illustrate bits I did yesterday:

Cheers,

Will

[GordonD]

One thing about the Mole as seen on TV, which your model seems to support, is that there's no sign of a hatch to let them get in and out! The only thing I can think of is that the entire back end swings open like a bank safe door, but as the stubby dark cylinder in the middle is shown to be a rocket motor to give the vehicle some positive forward thrust, that seems unlikely.

Of course the programmes were aimed at kids, who wouldn't have thought of that kind of thing. The problem is that the shows were so damn good that adults enjoy them too - adults who should have better things to do with their time than pick holes in them!

Now if you'll excuse me I'm just off to complete my thesis on what provided the motive power for the Magic Roundabout.

[Will Vale]

One thing about the Mole as seen on TV, which your model seems to support, is that there's no sign of a hatch to let them get in and out!

I have a theory about that for your consideration. There's a close-up shot (I think in Pit of Peril) where Virgil is recovered by the Mole. He enters what looks like a red sliding double-door in the cylinder wall. This is sort-of present on the model in the form of the red decal with the panel line down the middle below the portholes, but I suspect it wraps under the model a bit too far. I think Aoshima did the best they could here - their door decal is about man height, but on TV the close-up set probably has less-than-scale curvature so it looks less odd.

They'd still have a bit of a climb to get to it while the Mole is on the crawler though

Now if you'll excuse me I'm just off to complete my thesis on what provided the motive power for the Magic Roundabout.

Whatever it is, I suspect it's highly illegal

Will

[Kallisti]

Does the kit include the two, err, protruberances on the front of the tracked body? See here

(taken from here http://www.starshipmodeler.com/rv/dr_mole.htm )

They were always featured in the close-up/swirly shot in the closing credits...

[GordonD]

Now if you'll excuse me I'm just off to complete my thesis on what provided the motive power for the Magic Roundabout.

Whatever it is, I suspect it's highly illegal

Will

Explains why Dylan was always hanging about...

Some years ago a guy I used to work with discovered that 'Dougal and the Blue Cat' (the original MR film) was showing at the Edinburgh Filmhouse. He wanted to go and see it but was a little concerned that he would be the only adult in a cinema full of kids.

When he arrived, it turned out to be full of ageing hippies who cheered every time Dylan appeared on screen!

[GordonD]

Does the kit include the two, err, protruberances on the front of the tracked body? See here

(taken from here http://www.starshipmodeler.com/rv/dr_mole.htm )

They were always featured in the close-up/swirly shot in the closing credits...

I believe those are supposed to be TV cameras so they could see where they were going when driving along.

[Will Vale]

Does the kit include the two, err, protruberances on the front of the tracked body? See here

It does, thanks for the reminder. I've painted them but I need to wrap red decal stripes around them so I thought I'd better leave them off until that was done.

I still can't decide if I should silver the fences I'm also really tempted to add some rust - I love rusty yellow:

...but it doesn't seem very Thunderbirds-ey What to do?

[avro683]

GordonD said:

One thing about the Mole as seen on TV, which your model seems to support, is that there's no sign of a hatch to let them get in and out! The only thing I can think of is that the entire back end swings open like a bank safe door, but as the stubby dark cylinder in the middle is shown to be a rocket motor to give the vehicle some positive forward thrust, that seems unlikely.

Of course the programmes were aimed at kids, who wouldn't have thought of that kind of thing. The problem is that the shows were so damn good that adults enjoy them too - adults who should have better things to do with their time than pick holes in them!

Now if you'll excuse me I'm just off to complete my thesis on what provided the motive power for the Magic Roundabout.

In the episode "Pit of Peril" Virgil enters the Mole via a siding door in the side. ITC were clever in that they only showed this in extreme close up so the precise location on the vehicle is unknown, to me at any rate.

Tony

Edited March 13, 2019 by avro683
Typo

[Kallisti]

Rust! On a Thunderbirds vehicle!!! Blasphemy!!! Scorch marks, dirt and the odd scratch or dent all acquired in the line of duty, but Brains would NEVER let anything get rusty!!!

[Smiffy]

That's looking really good.

[Will Vale]

I think I'm just about done, so these are some proof photos to check for errors. I already spotted the blob of paint on the drill and scraped it off, and I think I may need to do more touch-up on the now-silver fences. Pretty happy with the rest though

(click for biggerer)

I decided to fit the jet nozzle because it's cool, although this is a bit apocryphal since you only see it in the digging shots (when presumably they stick a firework in its bottom) - maybe the fiction is that it retracts? Regardless, I wanted to do a bit of burnt metal so there it is.

I took note of the comments about the rust, but I couldn't resist just a tiny bit on the skids which slide down the crawler's rails. I assume Jeff would overrule Brains' concerns about fielding scruffy equipment when lives are at stake

Most of it can't be seen when the Mole is on the crawler anyway!

So maybe a bit of tidying up, plus I want to find some glazing for the portholes and then a post in RFI beckons. Woo-hoo - done in under 2 weeks!

Thanks for following along, it's much appreciated!

Will

[Smiffy]

Well done. Fantastic job.

[avro683]

Derek Meddings would have really liked that Will. Unfortunately mine is the Bandai kit, which is more of a toy than a model. I must search out thae Aoshima one.

Tony

[Kallisti]

That looks the business! Just dirty enough I reckon so brains won't mind, it shows its been in use doing that it does best!!!

I've now ordered a kit from the Kallan Partners link you posted a while ago so look forward to a time when I might be able to build it (on current stash estimates in about 5 years time!)

[Will Vale]

Thanks folks, very kind of you. Kallisti, I'm glad you managed to get one, it's a lovely little kit for for a decent price (especially considering all the worky bits). I've really enjoyed mine as you can probably tell.

When you get to building it (and don't stashes work on a last-in-first-out basis?) it's worth taking some time to test and sand the bits of the "bridge" that slot into the crawler so that it folds and unfolds smoothly. I also rubbed them with pencil lead as a non-sticky lubricant, which seems to have worked pretty well. The retaining pins on the bridge that keep the Mole in place are worth slimming down a bit too.

Cheers,

Will

[Will Vale]

I couldn't find anything to serve as the porthole glazing, so I bought some 1/8" acrylic rod, sanded the end round, polished it, then sliced off the little dome that resulted. After sanding and polishing the backs and repeating 4+ times (one was too thin, two broke while being parted off, and I lost one) I had four little lenses to install:

They aren't super-tidy but they do provide what I was hoping for - a bit of contrast with the dirty bodywork, and a catch light to draw the eye. They're held in place with Klear.

These are again not particularly canon - I think the studio model just has black paint in the portholes, and the interior set

shows green flat glazing when viewed from the inside - but I think they work well-enough.

Cheers,

Will

[Dan]

You really did this one proud! Loved Thunderbirds as a kid and this is one very cool model!

[Will Vale]

Thanks Dan!

This is definitely done now and I've taken some proper pics - see the RFI post here.

Thanks again for following along

[avro683]

On 5/6/2012 at 12:03 AM, Dan said:

You really did this one proud! Loved Thunderbirds as a kid and this is one very cool model!

I still do 😀!