Natter Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 Hello All, Sci-fi is not my usual genre but I was passed this kit to build as a tribute to a late club member. This is AiP's Thunderbird 5 with Thunderbird 3 kit, Thunderbird 5 is motorised, the motor being supplied in the UK issue of the kit despite it being reported in some places that you have to source your own motor. You will have to find your own AA battery, The motor and gearbox are almost entirely housed in the main body of Thunderbird 5, which makes it very 'nose' heavy. I added 30g of steel offcuts right up against the inside of the read bulkhead, and I think I should have added a little more. The rod on which the Thunderbird 5 part of the model is supported has a considerable mount of free lateral movement and if you are going to build this kit I would suggest providing some internal support like a tube to prevent this. With the motor switched on Thunderbird 5 rotates slowly about the mounting rod, the underside antenna rotates, the twin upper antennae rotate and a wheat-bulb in the blue dome flashes intermittently. The contacts for the flashing light are poor and I have struggled to get this to work consistently; but work it does. In contrast, Thunderbird 3 is simply held on to the base by a magnet in the bottom of the main rocket body and a magnet under the base. According to Scalemates this kit's origins can be traced back to the 1967 IMAI release, later upgraded by Aoshima. The age of some of the moulds shows as the fit is poor in places and there are significant mould misalignments in some parts; Thunderbird 3's lower body in particular needing a lot of work. The kit provides two bases, one a representation of the Earth from western Europe to Greenland and the other a representation of the Moon. I have not completed the Earth base yet and have not fixed the Thunderbird 5 mounting rod so I may transfer between the two once the other base is painted. Without further ado, here it is: 28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 It looks good to me. Nice work on this old kit. Got any more Sci Fi planned? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldieplod Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 Love it .... Seeing this has ispired me to get one of mine out of my stash .... Probably open the box look at the age old parts and put it away again ... Yours is finished superbly . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted August 4, 2022 Author Share Posted August 4, 2022 3 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: Got any more Sci Fi planned? None at all Pete. This was almost certainly a one-off. 1 hour ago, Baldieplod said: Probably open the box look at the age old parts and put it away again Once you have seen the mould misalignment on T-3's that may well be your reaction. If you do decide to take the plunge, be warned that the gearbox is very noisy when it's switched on. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 I'd like to see it all in motion! Well done for making it work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted October 3, 2022 Share Posted October 3, 2022 I picked this kit up years ago in the Aoshima boxing then sold it again as I thought it looked awful. Now I've gone and picked up another one in the AIP boxing and twice the price You've done a good job here - would be good to see a video of it in action (hint hint :D) Several of these old kits can be motorised, I usually don't bother when I build them except when I did my second Mole model and put it burrowing through the earth. That is a VERY noisy model, currently consigned to the loft in storage 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donkeychomp Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 That is a superb effort! I too am making this kit and have no end of problems with the quality and fit of parts. Plus my gearbox was seized solid so I rewired it so I can just have the light on instead! No issues with the little TB3 apart from the 'Thunderbird' decal is in the wrong font. Very disappointed with this kit as I have already made lots of the AIP kits, TB1, 2 and 3 and FAB 1 and they were very good kits indeed. One other thing is it pays to shop around. TB5 is almost £80 from AIP. I got mine for half that! Alex 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted August 19, 2023 Share Posted August 19, 2023 Yeah its a pretty poor kit, one of the ones Aoshima acquired from Imai which were not known either for their accuracy or ease of build. They liked to manufacture 'toy' models which usually had spurious spring loaded missiles added, like the Joe 90 car I built earlier in the year. I've never really been interested in Thunderbird 5 as it doesn't really do anything and the kits were rubbish. i did like the re-imagined TB5 from Thunderbirds are Go a few years back. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted August 19, 2023 Author Share Posted August 19, 2023 20 hours ago, donkeychomp said: TB5 is almost £80 from AIP Yep. I only built it as a tribute, I certainly wouldn't shell out the full asking price for one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamS Posted August 24, 2023 Share Posted August 24, 2023 Nice. The thing about Thunderbird 5, is that as a youngster, I could never work out why it had two hospital beds on the outside. Graham 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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