Galligraphics Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 (edited) I actually finished this model last year but never got around to posting an RFI for it. So after a couple of prompts, here it is. Sadly there aren't many WIP shots but I'll see what I can find. Even though these aircraft only appeared in one episode of Thunderbirds ("The Uninvited"), they were such an unusual design that I was determined to make one. Here's the inspiration: The original studio models were based on the F-104 Starfighter, with an engine from a B-58 Hustler slung underneath. As it so happened, I had an Academy Starfighter in the stash and, given that it is not a very good model of a Starfighter, it was an ideal choice to chop about and convert to a model of a fictitious aircraft... Firstly, the finished article, on the display stand I made for it (the studio model doesn't have undercarriage so it was either this, or build the rather complicated launch platform seen in the episode). Pyramid from a shaped polystyrene block covered in filler, sand is chinchilla dust, "palm trees" are tiny bits of lichen: The build - firstly the pilot figure was painted to represent a Zombite: ...best looked at from a long distance away... and then hidden in the cockpit. The cone-shaped protrusions on the intake splitter plates were removed and the area made good, the tail fin sawn off, and halves of the external fuel tanks glued to the top of the fuselage: The B-58 Hustler engine I used was slightly too small - I know - but it was the only one I had at the time and I'm happy with it. No more WIP photos, sadly. The elevators from the top of the kit tailfin were cut to form the top/bottom supports for the curious ringed tail. Said ring was a slice from a paint spray can lid (finding something of the correct diameter was one of the biggest holdups to the build). The Academy canopy shape is notoriously wrong and it just didn't look right to me, so there was quite a lot of filling and sanding around the rear of the canopy to get a better (if not entirely accurate) profile. The two little dorsal fins were shaped and profiled from plastic card, as was the tiny aerial immediately behind the cockpit. The nose probe was the needle from a Revell liquid cement bottle. Markings were a mixture of stencils, from the original kit and the spares box, and home-designed and printed logos and letter/numbering on both clear and white decal paper (probably more stencilling than the original studio models but they only had to appear (fleetingly) in one episode, and my model sits in plain sight on a shelf...). Thanks for taking an interest - cheers, Nige Edited May 2, 2022 by Galligraphics Typo... 56 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestar12chris Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 Cracking job Nige, well done, love it. All the best Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 Very cool! I really like the forced perspective of the base 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur_Dent Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 Very cool, I'm a huge fan of Thunderbirds and it's great to see such an obscure subject brought to life instead of the usual TB2 or Mole builds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_W Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 Very nice. I seem to recal their "secret base" was inside a pyramid with a massive hinge on the "hidden door". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted April 21, 2022 Share Posted April 21, 2022 Lovely build and a great subject, another bit player from Gerry Anderson's shows brought back to life. The more I look at that ring tail the more I like it. It's odd but it works really well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Lambess Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 Beautifully done ....I wonder how they landed them ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galligraphics Posted April 27, 2022 Author Share Posted April 27, 2022 18 hours ago, Neil Lambess said: Beautifully done ....I wonder how they landed them ? Good question... A cutaway drawing from a Thunderbirds comic of the 2000's showed conventional undercarriage but this was never seen on tv and of course there were no runways around the Lost Pyramid of Khamandides... . But then a lot of the Gerry Anderson craft seemed to defy logic and physics... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur_Dent Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 6 hours ago, Galligraphics said: Good question... A cutaway drawing from a Thunderbirds comic of the 2000's showed conventional undercarriage but this was never seen on tv and of course there were no runways around the Lost Pyramid of Khamandides... . But then a lot of the Gerry Anderson craft seemed to defy logic and physics... I'm assuming this is the cutaway you're referring to? I used to love those cutaways in the comics back in the 90's and had them all blu-tac'd onto the walls in my bedroom. They really should release the series of drawings in book format, I'll bet there'd be loads of potential inspiration for modellers to build their own cutaway versions of the vehicles featured in the show in it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 A great scratchbuild and I like that cutaway too. I wonder if there was one in TV21. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galligraphics Posted April 28, 2022 Author Share Posted April 28, 2022 1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said: I like that cutaway too. I wonder if there was one in TV21 The cutaway that @Arthur_Dent mentioned is the only one I found when gathering reference material for this build . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Graham Bleathman was the artist who did many Anderson illustrations including cut aways, and he has a Thunderbirds illustrated book on Amazon, haven't read it but it looks promising 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur_Dent Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 1 hour ago, Uncle Monty said: Graham Bleathman was the artist who did many Anderson illustrations including cut aways, and he has a Thunderbirds illustrated book on Amazon, haven't read it but it looks promising I'll need to have a look for that, I've just finished Marcus Hearn's "Thunderbirds: The Vault" which has some fantastic images of the International Rescue vehicles and equipment as well as a lot of information about the production of the series and some of Anderson's other work too. It's well worth a read. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 world of books wob.com 14 quid https://productimages.worldofbooks.com/1842224115_thumbnail.jpg 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Nige, IMMACULATE build and the photos are very good. Hovering in the garden a clever way to show it off !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maginot Posted May 2, 2022 Share Posted May 2, 2022 FAB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted May 6, 2022 Share Posted May 6, 2022 Wonderful, from my favourite episode! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yg Models Posted May 8, 2022 Share Posted May 8, 2022 cool modify, half of the plane is DIY from zero 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galligraphics Posted May 18, 2022 Author Share Posted May 18, 2022 On 5/8/2022 at 6:19 AM, Yg Models said: cool modify, half of the plane is DIY from zero Thanks for the kind compliment - however I'd say 95% of the plastic came from existing kits. The only "extras" were the tail ring (from an aerosol can lid) and a couple of fins from plastic card. Oh, and the nose probe from a glue bottle needle. The decals WERE mostly home-produced and printed, so I'll accept that element was DIY... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 Just found this: what a fantastic build! My eldest, when he was small, was absolutely captivated by Thunderbirds, and his favourite episode was The Uninvited, or "One in the sand!" as he called it! Brilliant! Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 II find it to be a master's exemplar of the master copy. Without you telling us it was "cobbled" together, I'd have asked which producer did this kit. Extremely well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carts Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 Well that's just brilliant👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted May 8, 2023 Share Posted May 8, 2023 Congratulations on a great model ,looks the double of the original well done 👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted May 8, 2023 Share Posted May 8, 2023 Love it! These guest vehicles were always fun to work out what the source materials were! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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