Bandai Thunderbird 2

[triumphfan]

Coming along nicely Nigel. I'll bet that brittle green plastic is a right so and so to work with, especially re-scribing.

Atb, Steve.

[Martian]

Nice work Nigel! Can you make sure she gets a really good polish before I move in?

"Good idea! I can nick them all then and the Thunderbirds will be mine, all mine! The Hood"

Just remember, we do know which pyramid you live in if you do indeed succeed, and whatever you do everyone, just don't look into his eyes...........

Nice one Martin.

I certainly wouldn't look into my eyes today. I was at a co-conspirator's house for dinner last night and got totally wasted!

The Hood

Edited May 13, 2016 by Mike
Removing large photo-quote

[Nigel Heath]

I'll bet that brittle green plastic is a right so and so to work with, especially re-scribing.

Now you mention it I had been thinking the plastic was a tad more brittle than normal kit styrene.

[Nigel Heath]

On the brittle plastic, during rescribing operations the glazing bar I had thinned down broke off and there is also a crack at the top of the forward window:

I probably thinned it too much TBH. I glued a strip behind it and built it up with super glue and talc mix, fettled back it looked like this:

I also got the windows on the other side finished. Then in readiness for some primer I gave everything a wash in soapy water and then masked some critical mating surfaces:

Then I did some airbrushing, getting white primer on the exhaust nozzles and grey on the rest:

The white is a bit translucent and will need more coats but it has highlighted issues that need fixing first - amazing how primer does that.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[CedB]

Transformed. Nice work Nigel

[Martian]

What primer are you using on this Nigel?

Martin (pretending not to be the Hood)

[Max Headroom]

Land rover with a fold down windscreen - anyone remember those?

I had a ready built TB2 with that. The Landy (it was red) lasted decades longer than the carrier!

Nigel this is a real nostalgia trip!

(You don't have a Stingray knocking around do you???)

Trevor

[Kallisti]

(You don't have a Stingray knocking around do you???)

I have

Built Stingray a couple of years ago here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234925341-stand-by-for-action-we-are-about-to-launch-stingray/

and the terror fish last year for theNon-injection moulded GB: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234987203

[Martian]

I have

Built Stingray a couple of years ago here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234925341-stand-by-for-action-we-are-about-to-launch-stingray/

and the terror fish last year for theNon-injection moulded GB: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234987203

I'll pinch that as well! Much more roomy than TB4!

The Hood

[Kallisti]

This is what you REALLY want to pinch

[Pete in Lincs]

'ello 'ello. Wots goin' on 'ere then?

[Nigel Heath]

What primer are you using on this Nigel?

Alclad grey and white primers. I don't have a Stingray but I do have an Eagle kit in the stash.

[Martian]

This is what you REALLY want to pinch

Like I said The Hood will pinch anything removable, it all fuels my plan of world and galactic domination!

'ello 'ello. Wots goin' on 'ere then?

Nothing you need to worry your head about Mr Policeman.

Alclad grey and white primers. I don't have a Stingray but I do have an Eagle kit in the stash.

Thanks Nigel, you mean you did have an Eagle in your stash!

Much Love,The Hood

[Nigel Heath]

Today I tackled the defective areas revealed by the primer, filling first with Squadron white putty and then carefully sanding back:

All the other parts got the same sort of treatment and I could then apply some colour coats

The green was the best colour match I had and I'm quite pleased with how it looks.

Next I started masking the aluminium engine intakes noting that the outboard ones are narrower than the inboard ones by over a millimeter (they are all supposed to be the same I think):

The masking for the outlets at the back needed masking with a 3mm hole punched in them:

That was finished with some liquid masking:

I thought the best approach for the cockpit glazing was to start with a card template:

That wasn't quite right but helped with the second iteration:

A bit more checking and trimming was then required:

The template also let me practice some clamping arrangements:

The shape was transferred to some thin clear sheet and a few more adjustments made. I had thought I would be gluing this in with five minute epoxy but decided that would end in a sticky mess and instead proceeded with extra thin superglue. In the end it was glued in progressively using a combination of finger pressure and this tool:

Not pretty on the inside but I think looks OK from the outside:

Next job is the lower glazing but that can wait until tomorrow.

Bye for now,

Nigel

[CedB]

That green looks great Nigel. Good work on the Windows too - glass act (see what I did there?)

[Martian]

A touch of Klear on those transparencies should finish things off nicely.

The Hood

[Nigel Heath]

That's a good idea Mr Hood, thanks for the tip off.

[Kallisti]

One of the intersting things about TB 2 is nobody can actually agree on its exact colour, for very good reasons...

Edited May 2, 2016 by Kallisti

[triumphfan]

Pheww!! In the first pic the red is so washed out it looks like a yellowy green.

I think the real trick is getting the 'weathering' correct, get that close and the shade of green is less critical imo.

Atb, Steve.

[Nigel Heath]

Agreed, I think the weathering will be the key to the making of this model.

[CliffB]

Nice work with the glazing Nigel - not an easy one to deal with.

Following on from the discussion on the colour, I seem to recall that some sci-fi models are difficult to model because there were actually different versions of the originals produced (e.g. special versions for close-ups etc.), and these sometimes varied in detail. I was just wondering whether this was an issue with TBs, or did they always look the same?

Cliff

[Andy Moore]

Lovely work on the glazing Nigel

Andy

[Nigel Heath]

I was just wondering whether this was an issue with TBs, or did they always look the same?

There are definitely several versions of the original, for example some have a yellow stripe around the red engine intakes and some don't.

[Kallisti]

There were 3 different sized TB2s during the TV series and several larger close up pieces. Most of the TB2 models had slightly different shapes and paint jobs. Mention has been made previously of the different sized "2" on the side of the nose in different models as can be seen from the photos I posted earlier. In addition there were two differnt "stuido scale" models built, neither of which were the same! The movie TB2 is subtly different from the TV series.

So in reality there is lost of scope to finish the model how you want and not get hung up (like some do!) on the exact colour of everything.

For example on my 22" TB2 I deliberately avoided the heavy panel line streaking that is seen on some large scale models as I think that is unrealistic and overdone. Instead I want for panel colour variations and a few patches of dirt as these were rescue machines and WOULD get dirty.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Kallisti

[avro683]

The original shade of green used on Thunderbird 2 was a bespoke mix. When they ran out, it couldn't be replicated exactly, hence the different shades.