THUNDERBIRD 2 READY FOR TAKE OFF AT FAB WORLDS

There was a lot to see at this year’s Fab World of Anderson, which took place at Leicester’s National Space Centre. It was certainly true when it came to scale models
( which I’ll try to cover as many as I can over some forthcoming series of posts here), but one diorama did dominate the main display area – A working 40” Thunderbird 2 complete with hangar, runway and rising launch platform, that did everything apart from take - off and fly around the Space Centre. 

This ambitious undertaking was built by Ben ten Westenend, a brilliant scale modeller who hails from the Netherlands. He and his assistant Robert Zijderveld brought this and several other models for display, all the way by car.

The Thunderbird 2 model is actually 4” longer than the original studio prop which was apparently 36”.

The secret cliff door descends into the ground, revealing the hangar door. Once it’s open, the mighty Thunderbird moves forward as the palm tree fall to the side.It is fully lit, with cockpit, observation windows and flashing navigation lights.

Even the Cliff House is illuminated. All the gadgets are operated by a hand held remote control.

The removable pod has rollers and contains an electric motor which carries the model to and from the launch platform.

Once it’s in position, the launch platform rises and the engine exhaust extractor flips up. All this to the sound of the engines (I believe the original engine sound was from an Avro Vulcan)

It was used constantly throughout the Saturday, and sadly towards the end of the day the pod motor had a minor breakdown. Ben checked it and found a broken ‘o’ ring was the culprit, which meant Thunderbird 2 was grounded at the end of the runway for the rest of the day.

Thankfully, on the Sunday Ben managed to find and fit a spare, much to everyone’s relief.

The detail is truly remarkable. The hangar lighting looks exactly like what we see on screen.

Considering the logistics involved I don't know whether Ben and Robert will decide to display the whole set up in future, but I and everybody at the event was certainly pleased to see it.