saturnapollo Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 (edited) Imai 1/350 Thunderbird 3 launch bay. Not anywhere near as accurate as the previous Aoshima TB1 and TB2 launch bays. Apart from the plastic lower bay parts, the detail of which bear no resemblance to the photo of the studio model on the box, the upper walls are just cardboard with ludicrously thick black lining etc with 2D detailing. So the cardboard was replaced with 60thou plastic card and detail added with plastic strip, rod and spare parts. Topped of with a scratchbuilt roof and silo opening. TB3 is accurate but the method of attaching the mid body fins and black "blebs" on the outriggers leaves a lot to be desired. The fins especially are so thin (as they should be) superglue or plastic glue have little surface area to keep them in one place. Eventually managed it! Undercoated with Tamiya Grey and the top coat is Humbrol Satin Red which is more orange than anything so quite a close match. Keith Edited June 12, 2021 by saturnapollo 47 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Absolutely brilliant. Could have sworn they were screen shots. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Simply wonderful. Great details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Belbin Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Superb - very convincing! Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carts Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 6 hours ago, John_W said: Absolutely brilliant. Could have sworn they were screen shots. My thoughts excatly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturnapollo Posted April 29, 2021 Author Share Posted April 29, 2021 Thank you very much indeed, guys. Most appreciated. That now completes the set. Only taken about 25 years!! Here are the earlier TB2 and TB1 launch bay kits which have been re-released in the last few weeks. Interestingly the TB3 launch bay kit has not been re-released - the ONLY Thunderbird kit not to be, yet the most recent. Keith 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tomohawk Kid Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Cracking build of a cracking kit. Whilst the launch bay may not be as accurate as the others, the TB-3 itself is by far the most accurate of the TB machines thye make. Not that others are too shabby. Tommo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Ah, the mystery of how TB2 lowers itself on to a pod, with no room for the wings either side... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturnapollo Posted April 29, 2021 Author Share Posted April 29, 2021 (edited) And no space between the forward legs and the rear ones for the pods to pass under! And yet we never noticed that when we were kids! Edited April 29, 2021 by saturnapollo 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitewolf Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 9 hours ago, John_W said: Absolutely brilliant. Could have sworn they were screen shots. Yes, they really look like it! You've done a superb job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince1159 Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 Stunning... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 8 hours ago, John_W said: Ah, the mystery of how TB2 lowers itself on to a pod, with no room for the wings either side... 8 hours ago, saturnapollo said: And no space between the forward legs and the rear ones for the pods to pass under! It was simply by the magic of Supermarionation. In Space 1999 the same slight of hand allowed a gantry crane to pass straight through a solid wall 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturnapollo Posted April 30, 2021 Author Share Posted April 30, 2021 (edited) Again thanks very much folks. Some standalone TB3 shots plus one suggested by a friend at the local IPMS, Luc Alviani. Edited April 30, 2021 by saturnapollo 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Congratulations on a very realistic piece of work, looks great 👍. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted August 11, 2021 Share Posted August 11, 2021 Great TB3 silo! Love the realistic weathering I have this in the stash and one day I'll build it to go along with my TB3 launching through the roundhouse I built quite a few years back to build up the launch sequence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 Superb modelling and photography. A real trip down memory lane as well, as soon as I saw the first picture the countdown started in my head! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted August 31, 2021 Share Posted August 31, 2021 This works for me, I love all things Gerry Anderson. The space photos are excellent, they absolutely showcase the model. Ah the memories! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarkas Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 (edited) On 4/29/2021 at 2:44 PM, John_W said: Ah, the mystery of how TB2 lowers itself on to a pod, with no room for the wings either side... I had an idea about that, based on what we see on screen and what we don't. Maybe the "conveyor" that carries the pods is made of separate sections for each pod which can move individually or as part of a group. The pods move across until the correct one is beneath TB2, and then the pods on either side move apart -- if, say, pod 3 is chosen, pods 1 and 2 move further to the right as we look, and pods 4 to 6 mpve back to the left -- until there is room for the wings and TB2 lowers itself onto the chosen pod. As for saturnapollo's point about where the legs are... well, that one's not so easy. Except that we have seen the pods move past on screen, so your guess is as good as mine as to how it works. And then there's the fact that the vertical jets used for VTOL (and hovering in episodes like End of the Road) also come out of the leg positions. Guess that was where the model was strengthened and so it was used for everything -- kinda like Stingray's nose, where the depressions were used for searchlights and sting missiles, and were supposed to be intakes for the hydrojets (!). Ah, the marvels of 2060s technology... 😁 Edited January 21, 2022 by Tarkas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Lambess Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 I just want to know why all the launch bays are labelled with BIG signs saying stuff like "thunderbird 3 launch bay " do the Tracys suffer from short term memory loss ? Love it tho ....😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturnapollo Posted January 28, 2022 Author Share Posted January 28, 2022 Like the Batcave where everything is labelled!😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maginot Posted February 9, 2022 Share Posted February 9, 2022 Outstanding modelling and photography. F-A-B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglierating Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 On 1/26/2022 at 10:36 PM, Neil Lambess said: I just want to know why all the launch bays are labelled with BIG signs saying stuff like "thunderbird 3 launch bay " do the Tracys suffer from short term memory loss ? Love it tho ....😉 Night watch were bored....so they got hold of the dynamo machine...door ,phone,deck,deckhead,fridge .....Thunderbird 3 launch bay....obvious really 😆😆 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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