Bandai Thunderbird 2

[Nigel Heath]

Here is the glazing for one of the lower pair of windows, as there is a tight curve to conform to I pre-bent it to the right curvature:

Then following Mr Hood's suggestion I coated all the windows with Klear inside and out:

Next I fitted the engine fronts and using a variety of templates installed a black plasticard cockpit floor and a light baffle to prevent seeing straight through the model:

Next I masked up the rollers and installed them with five minute epoxy for extra security:

With those jobs done there was nothing preventing the joining of the halves of the pod and main craft:

Next I masked up the windows first adding 1mm tape tabs to make removal easier later:

Finally I glued the fins to the engine assembly (here just resting on the model while the glue drys) and started the extensive filling operations required:

Bye for now,

Nigel

[roymattblack]

Funnily enough, I heard years ago that when TB2 came back from the company that made the model - G Anderson and co farmed that work out - they were gobsmacked that it was green!

Apparently, the drawings they sent over from Meddings and co were coloured with colour pencil to be a blue-grey.

The guy in the modelshop - I kid you NOT - was colourblind and told the paint dept to do it green!

G A was horrified, but Meddings liked it, dirtied it down and green it was thereafter.

Years later, it was Meddings who told this tale.

I love all these old urban legends.

Roy.

[Hockeyboy76]

Lots of TB trivia & the builds good too.

[RichO]

Brings back a lot of memories, Thanks.

[Nigel Heath]

Before filling the seams on the main body I thought it would be a good idea to get the exhaust nozzles to fit. The were rather tight and quite a bit had to be sanded off to achieve a nice snug fit, I also drilled a hole on the end face so that no plastic could be seen through the nozzle:

The joints on the engine pylon weren't great and Milliput was the best way to sort them:

While all the filler was hardening up I had a go at knocking up the feet which also double as rocket nozzles. I decided to make a complete one as a proof of concept:

This is how I made the rest. First I punched out some 8mm discs from brass shim stock (0.12mm):

I felt that was a thick as my punch set would handle. Next after some cleaning up a 1mm flange was bent at the edges:

Then I "centre punched" them with the tip of a file on my cutting mat:

Holding them to drill out a 2mm hole was tricky until I came up with this arrangement:

The holes were then opened up and centred with rat tail files until a nice snug fit was achieved on some drilled out plastic tube:

I left the burr on the back face as it would be hidden and could contribute to the joint's strength:

Finally tube and foot were united with some extra thin superglue:

Here they are all finished ready for some paint:

This gives an idea of what they should look like in position except the feet should be nearly flush with the pad but they are quite a tight fit and don't want to risk breaking them:

Tomorrow I forsee a lot of sanding.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[Pete in Lincs]

Nigel,

Nice work as always, Mate.

May I suggest a piece of plastic card (with a hole)

slipped over that, superglued into place it would

make for a stronger joint.

It could then be chamfered down to the edges

to make it visually thinner.

Regards

Pete

[Nigel Heath]

Today I have been knuckling down to the not very exciting task of sanding all the filled joints but first I stashed away the parts I'm not using and could not resist having a look at the diminutive tube of glue supplied with the kit. After 30 years in storage it has almost completely dried out and I was surprised to find the tube was made of lead when I cut it open:

There were substantial gaps on the underside of the wings which were best dealt with using Perfect Plastic Putty:

That gap was so wide a shrinkage crack developed and it needed a second application, here it is sorted:

A couple of my panel lines did not match up very well so I filled and rescribed them:

With all the main joints done I could now glue on the tail assembly:

That revealed several gaps including this whopper:

That was again sorted with PPP:

The final job of the day was to get some white primer on the areas that will be red:

Clearly the seam in the intake needs a bit more work first.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[roymattblack]

Great stuff here!

It's inspired me to search out the 40" garage kit that's being developed...

Roy.

[Nigel Heath]

After sorting out the joint lines in the engine intakes with Perfect Plastic Putty and lots of careful sanding I got the red applied:

As this is a gloss finish I am going to leave it for at least an overnight cure. That leaves me with nothing more I can work on on this model so I had a look in the stash for my next project. I came up with this.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[Martian]

Nice work all round! The greatly improved clear parts will help me see where I am going.

The Hood

[CliffB]

This one's progressing beautifully Nigel and looking FAB.

Cliff

[Tomoshenko]

Yes that red looks good enough to eat.

[Martian]

This one's progressing beautifully Nigel and looking FAB.

Cliff

This one's progressing beautifully Nigel and looking FAB.

Cliff

FAB? FAB1? That has long since taken up permanent residency at Hood Towers!

Much love

The Hood

[AlexN]

Coming along very nicely indeed . Completely off-topic, we played a concert band arrangement of the Thunderbirds TV theme in rehearsal this evening: good arrangement which played well .

Cheers,

Alex.

[Kallisti]

Its a very stirring piece of martial-style music.

I assume you meant the original not the ridiculous version used in the new TV series which uses some of the original motifs, including the initial build up and then takes it nowhere but into some twiddly nondescript arrangement which leads nowhere, unlike the original which has a superb build up and climax.

[Pete in Lincs]

FAB? FAB1? That has long since taken up permanent residency at Hood Towers

That's Ok for the car, but if you hotwire the puppets they will melt!

[infofrog]

Nice progress Nigel ..

Rick

[Martian]

That's Ok for the car, but if you hotwire the puppets they will melt!

Quite right! They did! Still I won't be bothered by Lady Penelope and that Parker again, I poured them into moulds and they made excellent candles for my chandelier at Hood Towers.

The Hood

[AlexN]

Its a very stirring piece of martial-style music.

I assume you meant the original not the ridiculous version used in the new TV series which uses some of the original motifs, including the initial build up and then takes it nowhere but into some twiddly nondescript arrangement which leads nowhere, unlike the original which has a superb build up and climax.

No, the original. Someone was telling me that there was a new series as I was handing the music out. Thanks for the warning about the new, traduced version of the theme tune - for such time as I mght catch up with it. Presumably the new series is in the "3D" animation style that sadly seems to be the rage these days. I would prefer the old puppets - or marionettes - if that's the case. That was a big part of the charm of the original. Like Doctor Who and its wobbly sets.

Those cockpit windows look absolutely excellent, Nigel - very fine work indeed.

Cheers,

Alex.

[Martian]

Is it ready for nicking yet? I hate to be pushy but I do have a rather heavy schedule of evil plans ahead of me!

The Hood

[Nigel Heath]

No Mr Hood it's not ready for nicking and never will be. Please place your plans for world domination on permanent hold.

Masking the red bits - I used punched out 7mm discs of masking round the rockets on the underside:

Those were finished off with 3mm discs and some liquid masking:

Next I masked up the rocket exhausts and decided that the tricky masking round the engine inlets was best aided with a card template:

I started with a 2mm disc and then the custom piece:

Here it is finished off with a blob of Blu Tack:

Now it's all ready for primer and top coat in the morning.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[Harley John]

Brilliant work. And some FAB memories!

[Pete in Lincs]

Well that's the lippy on,

now for some eye shadow.

[Martian]

World domination? Me? I won't settle for anything less that the galaxy! And Zaphod Beeblebrox needn't think that that wheel clamp he put on the Star ship Heart of Gold is going to stop me either!

The Hood

[Nigel Heath]

World domination? Me? I won't settle for anything less that the galaxy!

At least you are not delusional, good to hear Mr Hood.