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My First SciFi GB entry: Thunderbird 2! *** COMPLETE ***


Kallisti

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My FIRST entry for this GB (I have so many thing I want to build that I'm going to take this opportunity to have a go at them)

Will be created from the following components:

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Its an average kit, with a good shape for TB 2 but poor fit and a pod that is supposed to have wheels and an electric motor. That will of course go.

This isn't all of the planned build though, there has to be something for the model to sit on:

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The pontoon bridge might give a clue, especially these bits

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Can you tell what it is yet? Oh maybe that's not a phrase to use in polite company anymore...

Edited by Kallisti
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Just built this one. The paint is drying now.

I've built it with a fixed pod & no wheels.

The bottom of the pod is easy enough to

fill/sand/fill/sand etc to lose the wheels.

I also filled in the lower side windows &

am just using black paint to represent them

as they were very recessed & didn't look right.

The cockpit windows are also just black paint.

The tail tip booster box needs filling at the joints.

The fuselage joint does disappear after some filling etc.

The bottom of the fins to fuselage joint needs filler too.

Compared to pictures there is something wrong with the

yellow band around the fuselage forward of the pod.

I think the pod is too far forward?

As the band is aft of the intake but forward of the pod joint.

If you mask this the band looks too narrow.

The width wide trenches on top of the pod seem too deep.

I stretched sprue & glued it into them. They melted & filled

the trenches just enough (I think anyway).

Built 'Legs up' You need feet to fill the holes in the booms.

I used tank idler wheels (Panzer III I think) as they have nice detail.

Also, the kit box shows landing thrusters in the same location.

The big red 'jet nozzles' at the rear are softish plastic.

I'm not yet sure how they will take paint.

This one is built for a mate to go with his collection

of Corgi aircraft that he worked on in the RAF.

The scale seems about right.

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Thanks for the heads up Pete. I think it will need quite a bit of work to make it look as good as I'd like - I'm toying with the idea of opening up the cockpit windows and the observation ports and doing something behind them, but I'll think about that as I get closer to that stage. However first off I want to make some progress on the launch platform and base...

So this afternoon has been a fun time watching rugby and chopping up plastic!

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This is the pontoon bridge with half of one of the on-ramps joined to it and the bracing panels suitably extended. If I turn it over you can see more...

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You can see the joint on the left. I've built up the sides with 1mm thick plastic strip as there will be a platform built on top of this made from this:

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I've joined several balsa wood panels together with white glue to create the runway. Once this is fully dry and flat, I'll give it a coat of filler to remove the wood grain. Then once that is dry, the elevated platform can be measured and cut out. In the meantime, I've cut up some polystyrene insulation to create the base

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This is where the runway will be placed and gives an idea of the size of the elevating platform. I've collected some tubes which I can use to create some sort of mechanism in the pit. I don't think we ever saw what was in the pit so I'll be using some artistic licence here.

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Finally, these turned up yesterday... 6 of them ;)

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Edited by Kallisti
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A great start.

One slight suggestion if I may. One thing that helps set off a dio is to make sure nothing is square to the sides. Even just a slight offset to the ramp/runway would look good.

But then again, it is your model, build it how you want.

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Don't the bits of sticky-out polystyrene at the sides give you a bit of wiggle room? It doesn't have to be much but it adds a lot of life to the composition.

Will

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BTW, The green paint.

I'm using Humbrol enamels.

I put some No83 light olive (matt) into

a mixing bowl & added No3 Brunswick

green (gloss) until it looked about right.

Of course then you get a semi gloss finish.

It does need another coat at the moment.

It's a little dark but not too far off.

Polished up with old T shirt it looks alright.

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So more progress on the base, I've built up a box using plastic card that fits in the hole that I've cut in the polystyrene:

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The main section is the pit for the raised launch ramp, while the smaller pit is for the pop up exhaust vent. It was then a matter of finding some suitable bits and bobs to fill the pit up with interesting bits:

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So I just need to spray some primer on that and it'll be ready to paint. In the meantime, work has begun on filling the holes in the bottom of the pod:

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:popcorn: need to watch this as I have the same kit...my wife suggested I did this one...too chicken to go for it in public!

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There has been some progress but I havn't got any photos today, but I did do some calculations and it turns out that TB 2 is supposed to be about 250 feet long and this kit is 9" long that gives a scale of 1:333 and I found this set of 1:333 scale seated figures

http://modelshop.co.uk/Shop/Model-Detail/1-333-Scale/Item/1-333-figures-seated-Pk10/ITM5820

which means I will have a Virgil Tracy figure available so I can definitely now have a go at opening up the windows and building a cockpit!

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Good luck with that then!

I finally got another coat airbrushed on.

Same two greens with added gloss white.

Still a bit dark but hey ho.

(Have a look at hobby link Japan. They

have a painted one coming out. The price!)

I'd masked the yellow stripe with Tamiya tape,

buffed etc but the green still crept under it. Darn.

I'm letting it dry for a few days then Klear & decals

can go on.

The TB4 came out OK but I won't bother with the Mole

or the other vehicle. No tracks, just wheels?

BTW, My TV21 Thunderbirds album shows that TB2 can

go up into orbit. I don't think it ever did on the TV?

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The comics aren't considered "canon"... there was never any mention in the TV series that TB2 was capable or orbit. It just can't go fast enough - most tech specs mention 12,000 mph, but the escape velocity from earth is 25,000 mph so without extra boosters there is no chance of gaining orbit...

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Yep, The old Comic get out clause came into play.

"Virgil operated the rarely used emergency rocket units""

I just checked. This of course used up all the fuel.

But yet again...

TB3 was launched & docked with TB2 (by sticking it's

nose up TB2's back end (as it docks with TB5) and

new fuel was transferred. See they think of everything.

In this strip a large USAF aircraft got too close to the island

and launched a rocket at TB2. Hence the orbital escape.

BUT, TB1 shot down the USAF a/c, the crew were given

sleeping/memory loss gas, TB2 recovered the a/c from the sea,

it got rebuilt by Brains & was launched again, whereupon the

crew woke up, etc....

Clever eh?

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Lol some of the comic strip plots stretch credulity to the limit.. .then again the Zero-X comic strips were surreal in the extreme! A planet of living dinosaur bones lol!!!

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