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Bachmann reboxing Aoshima Thunderbird kits for the European market


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It’s handy that TB1 can be built with either the wheeled or skid style undercarriage to allow different configurations, including the reversed main gear legs of ‘type A‘, seen in 9 episodes, including ‘Trapped in the Sky‘ and ‘Pit of Peril’, to be built, (although you’d need to source another ‘Thunderbird’ decal for the fuselage underside). You also get enough decals in the box to cover several versions, (according to Thunderbirds Fandom, there were some 15 variations of the craft seen in the TV series, many probably remodelled earlier versions). Most of it came down to using different fonts, changing the position of the TB1 and centre-line markings, adding a hatch window and the two black rings around the forward fuselage. Different versions would appear in the same episode so consistency wasn’t a thing they worried about back then.  All in all a lot of fun.

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There were multiple different scales, all with slightly different markings. With Thunderbirds give up all pretence of building an 'accurate' version as there is so much variation. The perennial argument about the colour of Thunderbird 2... Its green!

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9 hours ago, Kallisti said:

. The perennial argument about the colour of Thunderbird 2... Its green!

 

 

...and shape, between the two filming minatures.

 

Not to mention the effect the studio lighting had on both changing colour hues and washing out the weathering. Then there is the film versions.

 

Tommo.

Edited by The Tomohawk Kid
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14 hours ago, general melchett said:

It’s handy that TB1 can be built with either the wheeled or skid style undercarriage to allow different configurations, including the reversed main gear legs of ‘type A‘, seen in 9 episodes, including ‘Trapped in the Sky‘ and ‘Pit of Peril’, to be built, (although you’d need to source another ‘Thunderbird’ decal for the fuselage underside). You also get enough decals in the box to cover several versions, (according to Thunderbirds Fandom, there were some 15 variations of the craft seen in the TV series, many probably remodelled earlier versions). Most of it came down to using different fonts, changing the position of the TB1 and centre-line markings, adding a hatch window and the two black rings around the forward fuselage. Different versions would appear in the same episode so consistency wasn’t a thing they worried about back then.  All in all a lot of fun.

 

Aoshima originally marketed them as two seperate kits (film and Tv versions). However, all the parts one needs are in either boxing to build both variants if one grabs the appropriate refererences.

 

The screen time of the TB machines in reality was quite limited and all at the time would have watched the episodes on a low grade CRT B/W screen (Thunderbirds was not aired in colour in the UK until 1976, and that was in the Yorkshire region only). There was no thought what so ever, to longevity or repeat viewings on hi-def BD, therefore any variation in the filiming miniatures was not a huge concern. The masterstroke however, was to have all the Anderson and Century 21 productions filmed in 35mm - therefore they scrub up amazingly well in BD. I have the long OOP Japanese BD set and the picture quality is truly astounding/astonishing and one can spot the differences!

 

Tommo.

Edited by The Tomohawk Kid
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Even down to being able to read the herb names on the back of the fire hose boxes on the fire engines that appear in several episodes and also the many repairs to the large TB2 models which had a habit of breaking at the joint just behind the engine intakes

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At the risk of thread drift, I would throughly recommend Stephen La Rivère’s definative history of the Anderson's puppet series "Filmed in Supermarionation". Other than being an absolutely fantastic and balanced read - it is chokka full of photos, many unpublished, so therefore it is a fabulous reference resource.

 

https://shop.gerryanderson.co.uk/products/filmed-in-supermarionation-book-hardcover-with-slipcase?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjPaCBhDkARIsAISZN7RT98LDbzqG12mS0H4uIBzkqdMELLjhOE2d1EMI5AGDY4N4Koe9K24aAn6yEALw_wcB

 

I believe this is the updated and expanded edition that was originally part of the fab and long out of print and much sought after "Filmed in Supermarionation" box set. That came complete with the 2BD documentry of same name and a whole slew of HD remastered Anderson Supermarionation programmes and emphera such comics, post cards et al.

 

Tommo.

 

 

Edited by The Tomohawk Kid
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14 hours ago, The Tomohawk Kid said:

At the risk of thread drift, I would throughly recommend Stephen La Rivère’s definative history of the Anderson's puppet series "Filmed in Supermarionation". Other than being an absolutely fantastic and balanced read - it is chokka full of photos, many unpublished, so therefore it is a fabulous reference resource.

 

https://shop.gerryanderson.co.uk/products/filmed-in-supermarionation-book-hardcover-with-slipcase?gclid=Cj0KCQjwjPaCBhDkARIsAISZN7RT98LDbzqG12mS0H4uIBzkqdMELLjhOE2d1EMI5AGDY4N4Koe9K24aAn6yEALw_wcB

 

I believe this is the updated and expanded edition that was originally part of the fab and long out of print and much sought after "Filmed in Supermarionation" box set. That came complete with the 2BD documentry of same name and a whole slew of HD remastered Anderson Supermarionation programmes and emphera such comics, post cards et al.

 

Tommo.

 

 

I had a Kindle edition of that book, went to read it last year, got the message 'this book has expired'. I now see it's available if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Sneaky.

 

Paul.

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54 minutes ago, Paul Thompson said:

I had a Kindle edition of that book, went to read it last year, got the message 'this book has expired'. I now see it's available if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Sneaky.

 

Paul.

...and THAT is why I'm not interested in books on Kindle... they can't change the terms and conditions on a printed book once its in your hands!

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10 minutes ago, Kallisti said:

...and THAT is why I'm not interested in books on Kindle... they can't change the terms and conditions on a printed book once its in your hands!

To be fair(-ish) that was the only time I've had that happen, although when something does go pear shaped with Amazon you have to jump through a number of hoops to contact a genuine human.

 

Anyways, in the spirit of the thread title, I just took delivery of the Thunderbird 1 kit, which will be the first model of it's kind I've built in over 20 years. Looks very nice, and I suspect the hardest part will be settling on which particular studio model to try to replicate.

 

Paul.

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Great news on these, but something I haven't seen mentioned, are the decals the same as in the original kits or have they been revised? Particularly if ones have been done for the tiny vehicles in the TB2 pod bay set.

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On 23/03/2021 at 12:31, Kallisti said:

Just to say these are all fabulous kits, I've built pretty much all of them except FAB1 and TB5

 

Check the links in my profile to previous build: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/profile/7869-kallisti/&tab=field_core_pfield_11

 

Some pics from the past:

DSCF8052.JPG

 

DSC_0111.JPG

 

DSC_2759.JPG

 

DSC_4680.JPG

 

DSC_1411.JPG

 

DSC_2661.JPG

 

DSC_6267_001.JPG

 

 

 

Hi. What colour did you use for Thunderbird 4 as it looks bang on. Has a red tinge to the yellow. Thanks. 

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On 28/03/2021 at 22:30, Mox said:

Great news on these, but something I haven't seen mentioned, are the decals the same as in the original kits or have they been revised? Particularly if ones have been done for the tiny vehicles in the TB2 pod bay set.

 

 

The same.

 

Tommo.

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This thread had me reaching for the Japan BD set at the weekend. I watched both 'Sunprobe'  and the 'Edge of Impact'. The clarity is stunning, it is possible to work/make out that the nose cone of Sunprobe is carved from wood as the wood grain is visible.

 

Tommo.

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No time to check if already mentioned, and too doddery to remember, so at the risk of repeating, a Thunderbird 5 just arrived here and it still has the motor and lighting originally included. Also multi-coloured plastic, which is less pleasant (tinted transparancies are a nice idea, but only when a plausible shade). Altogether a very nice package though.

 

Paul.

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1 hour ago, Paul Thompson said:

No time to check if already mentioned, and too doddery to remember, so at the risk of repeating, a Thunderbird 5 just arrived here and it still has the motor and lighting originally included. Also multi-coloured plastic, which is less pleasant (tinted transparancies are a nice idea, but only when a plausible shade). Altogether a very nice package though.

 

Paul.

 

 

It has the motor included?  Thats an upgrade on the Aoshima boxing, as one had to buy that seperately - so a giant thumbs up to Bachmann.

 

This is my favourite Aoshima TB kit, the additional sprues make a HUGE difference to the accuracy and fidelity to the finished model. Although, the included TB-3 is woeful - it is a shame Aoshima could not have included new sprues for that too.

 

Tommo.

Edited by The Tomohawk Kid
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Tommo, there's a bag containing separately bagged nylon or plastic cogs and brass rods, 4 screws, a motor, and a bag with a wire, another wire ending in a wheat-ear bulb, 2 terminal strips, a terminal block, 2 battery terminal ends (one with spring) and a sachet of grease, plus yet another bag with 2 nylon cogs and 4 nylon cylinders. Oh, nearly forgot, 2 round magnets so thunderbird 3 can be mounted removably.

 

Paul.

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8 minutes ago, Paul Thompson said:

Tommo, there's a bag containing separately bagged nylon or plastic cogs and brass rods, 4 screws, a motor, and a bag with a wire, another wire ending in a wheat-ear bulb, 2 terminal strips, a terminal block, 2 battery terminal ends (one with spring) and a sachet of grease, plus yet another bag with 2 nylon cogs and 4 nylon cylinders. Oh, nearly forgot, 2 round magnets so thunderbird 3 can be mounted removably.

 

Paul.

 

Ah! Its the same as the Aoshima boxing.

 

If you want the TB-5 itself and the radar dish to rotate and lighting to function you will need to buy a motor.

 

I have just checked my boxing and glazing sprue is clear.

 

Tommo.

Edited by The Tomohawk Kid
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7 minutes ago, The Tomohawk Kid said:

 

Ah! Its the same as the Aoshima boxing.

 

If you want the TB-5 itself and the radar dish to rotate and lighting to function you will need to buy a motor.

 

I have just checked my boxing and glazing sprue is clear.

 

Tommo.

I'm not trying to be funny but I'm confused now. What's the motor I mentioned for? The only one shown in the instructions is to rotate the model and the radar, and although there is no info printed on the motor itself it looks like the type 130 illustrated.

 

There are 2 clear sprues, one untinted for small bits, and one with the 2 side windows and the large finned dome on the top. The latter are tinted a deep blue.

 

Paul.

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13 minutes ago, Paul Thompson said:

I'm not trying to be funny but I'm confused now. What's the motor I mentioned for? The only one shown in the instructions is to rotate the model and the radar, and although there is no info printed on the motor itself it looks like the type 130 illustrated.

 

There are 2 clear sprues, one untinted for small bits, and one with the 2 side windows and the large finned dome on the top. The latter are tinted a deep blue.

 

Paul.

 

 

You will require a Mabuchi RS-540SH motor (or UK equivalent) to motorise the model and make the lighting work:

 

https://www.hlj.com/mabuchi-motor-rs-540sh-mab50654

 

The kit includes the mechanics and wiring/lighting, but not the motor.

 

Mine has two clear glazing sprues, but it is an original Aoshima boxing, not the Bachmann one.

 

Tommo.

Edited by The Tomohawk Kid
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  • 1 year later...
On 4/5/2021 at 4:19 PM, The Tomohawk Kid said:

The kit includes the mechanics and wiring/lighting, but not the motor.

 

I am not sure if there is another thread about this, but I have just built the AiP TB5, and the kit comes with the motor included and he 'transparencies' are blue and not clear.

 

As an aside, Scalemates has this as the ex-Aoshima and therefore ex-IMAI kit, originally released in 1967. Aoshima may have updated the moulds (eg the meteor deflector ring) but many of the parts are lumpy-bumpy and several have large mould mis-alignments.

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I was looking at these in Hannants London the other day. They looked nicely moulded, but I thought the prices were a bit steep. Having said that, my interest in T/birds is pretty casual. Other users experience will almost-certainly vary.

 

Cheers.

 

Chris.     

Edited by spruecutter96
Correcting a typo.
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  • 5 weeks later...

There are a variety of lineages here, and I don't 100% trust the Scalemates chronology. Some of these kits are relatively new tools, eg TB1, TB3, TB4 and the Mole, while some are old reboxings. Some of the old kits are quite ropey but the new ones are very good - I've built most of them as Aoshima boxings over the years. The Mole is my favourite, its a beautiful kit that can be motorized - I did a version with it burrowing through rock strata - check my profile for links.

 

Its wonderful to see these kits reboxed for the UK market, I am seeing so many new TB models at shows now, having been one of the few people displaying these models for many years :)

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