.jpg)
Thunderbird 6, the second of the two cinema ventures for Andersons Thunderbirds, has been flagged up here before. Not however, for having probably the least exciting vehicle design in the entire series, or for including a much more realistic mannequin of Cliff Richard like its predecessor, but for a rare display of raw emotion from the normally placid Brains. After getting the thumbs down for the third time from big Jeff after presenting yet another unique design for his approval for an extension to the Thunderbirds fleet, Brains finally loses it and dashes the gorgeous model to the workshop floor in an uncharacteristic fit of lab-rage. The beautiful red rocket crashes onto the floor, smashing into pieces - or does it...After examining the evidence of this apparent atrocity on YouTube, Special Investigator Paul Vreede reveals that Brains was in fact acting very much in character and did not actually destroy all 'his' hard work at all, but a special doppelganger model!
Paul explains: "The model that does hit the floor was purpose-built to fall apart. As you can see from its first and final descent, it's already doing so even while going down. No glue holding the bits together, so the front and rear are twisting loose while it falls (shadow in last picture shows that it hasn't hit the floor yet at that point) and the white unpainted bits on the two tail tubes are already visible too." He exhaustively examined the clip and has pointed out the major differences in the two models which would be lost to the casual observer.
Presumably, Brains retained the pro model and passed it onto Tarheel/Durham Industries to be used as the basis of the wonderful NOVA III toy (bottom). The other two toys from this small line are more identifiable, as one is a mutation of Tbird3 crossed with Probe Force 2 and the other is a large version of the Spacex Rocket Ship Hawk. (See side bar >).
It begs the question as to what the other two of Brains rejected designs went on to become ? I find the silver jet-like craft to be oddly familar, but cant place it. Has it appeared in Tv21 since ?
Yeah, that silver jet sort of looks like an angels interceptor. great research Paul. Those Century 21 modelmakers were kept busy!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for posting this. I've been very interested in this particular TB6 concept. The film gives no indication what type of craft this is, but it seems like a space vehicle. It's a great looking design.
ReplyDelete