Kallisti Posted October 27, 2018 Share Posted October 27, 2018 (edited) About a year ago I built the Takara Tomy kit of the new version of Thunderbird 2 and 4 from the Thunderbirds are Go TV series: My intention was always to then build the Aoshima kit of the original version of this pair, eg I've decided to have a go at a quick build of this to get it complete by Telford in 2 weeks time (gulp) to allow me to display these side-by-side! SO here goes!!! Its not a complex kit, but the TB2 model is a much better shape than the similarly size Imai kits. Here are the sprue shots: Looking close up, it has some nice moulded detail in the pod cavity It also has a basic cockpit Finally, it has a Thunderbird 4 that looks tiny but neat Calling International Rescue... Ahh Vix... Edited November 4, 2018 by Kallisti 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted October 28, 2018 Author Share Posted October 28, 2018 (edited) First progress report, we have a tiny Thunderbird 4... There are a lot of pieces to build this 2cm long model - look at this: and this is missing two tiny exhaust ports that go on the ends of the engine outlets at the back. Needless to say this took a bit of very careful building, using tiny amounts of tamiya extra thin Here you can see the two small parts I mentioned that go on the ends of the engine outlets. Here it is finally assembled Finally, its been painted yellow - I have a standard reddish-yellow mix that I keep specifically for painting Thnderbird 4 lol - this will be the 5th Thunderbird 4 model I built of various scales!! I also used this colour as JCB yellow on the Hitachi excavator earlier in the year! The instruction expect you to PAINT the red stripes on the nose and body eg I'm not sure this is a good idea so I've been looking through my decal box and I think I've found some red stripe decals that might work better... Edited October 28, 2018 by Kallisti 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 28, 2018 Share Posted October 28, 2018 Hey, I'm first here! A sun lounger near the refreshment stand for me then. (Notice I didn't say the B word. It was a children's show). It must have been the Imai kit I built, It contained the Mole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted October 28, 2018 Author Share Posted October 28, 2018 I think there is a version of this kit with the mole - this one comes with TB4 and the excavator! Things have moved along with the rest of the build, particularly for the TB 2. First off the pod interior... well all I can say is oh dear... Look at those ejector pins and sink marks!! So a bit of filler and sanding later... ...and after some paint and adding the launch ramp for TB4 Still need to paint the details on the floor and the sides. I'll paint the inside of the pod the same grey and there are some spare decals I can use to make the inside look more interesting. Now compare that to the detail in the Takara Tomy kit of TB 2 & 4 : Then again there are probably at least 20 years between these kits Now to the cockpit which has some nice decals available to make it interesting However, when assembling the main fuselage of TB2, which comes as two main pieces plus inserts for the front and rear of the pod bay, however there are problems with the fit and so lots of filler was required... so that will hopefully fix it once dried and sanded! The tail has been assembled and cleaned up. The legs have been painted with Mr Metal Color Brass Finally TB4 has had its decals applied and is essentially finished There has been a lot of sanding as the parts have lots of mould lines but its coming together! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted November 3, 2018 Author Share Posted November 3, 2018 A big update from the week's work: first off the pod was assembled which involved a considerable amount of filler! This was then sanded down, primed and painted with my favourite Thunderbird 2 colour, Tamiya XF-5 Next we turn to the jet exhausts. I'm pleased to say that this kit doesn't have the awful red polythene parts that the Imai kits usually have. This kit has proper plastic parts that assemble properly and accept paint. First coat XF-56 Metallic Grey Then the kit comes with two decals that wrap around with a bit of fiddling and if done carefully fit remarkably well! In this pic you can see the line of the join of the decal ends on the rightmost exhaust - in RL its barely noticeable and I'll be able to position it to minimise its visibility. Finally in this update, the main TB2 fuselage has been painted XF-5 and the intakes masked and painted red I've just given it a Klear coat ready for the rest of the decals and then I'll apply a minimal amount of weathering and pick out some of the details inside the front pod indent shown earlier. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Nice pod. And I don't say that to people very often. The green looks good too. Red polythene parts. Those were in the one I built. Not nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 Decals are on, along with some extra spots of colour to represent some other markings on the TB2 models. I've also given it a dark wash which modules the colour a little. Now its just waiting for the wash to dry fully before I add the matt varnish Finally, I've painted the detail in the forward pod compartment bulkhead Nearly finished... 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElectricLightAndy Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Fantastic stuff, I look forward too seeing your builds in the 'plastic' at Telford this year, it's my first time going so me and m'lady are quite exited Andy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 This build will be on the IPMS Farnborough table along with the TB2 + 4 from earlier in the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 So I think I can say that this is complete! The matt varnish went on well and then the masking fluid was taken off the windows. There was some paint flaking around the edges which then had to be touched up. then I realised I'd forgotten to paint the 4 'windows' in the sides of the nose, so I picked them out with gloss black paint. using some masking tape to get nice sharp edges. So here it is... and here it is next to the 1:144 Takara Tomy kit of TB 2 and 4 from the newer Thunderbird are Go These will be on the IPMS Farnborough table at Telford next weekend 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 Wow, that was quick. And a great result too. I think I still prefer the original over the new design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted November 5, 2018 Author Share Posted November 5, 2018 The new design looks very utilitarian whereas the old one has classic curves. It wasn't a complex kit and I wanted to get it finished for Telford Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarkas Posted November 11, 2018 Share Posted November 11, 2018 On 11/4/2018 at 11:28 PM, Kallisti said: [The original and re-imagined TB2s and 4s] will be on the IPMS Farnborough table at Telford next weekend They were, and they looked great -- both lots. Nice work.👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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