Friday, 26 May 2023

ROB'S SPECIAL IMAI THUNDERBIRD 2 BUILD

Woodsy,

Here at long last is my attempt to build the iconic Thunderbird 2, based on the 1/350 scale Imai model kit called “TB-2 Special.” Originally from the late 1960s I think, I managed to snag one of the 1995 reissue US imports by Imex on eBay about ten years ago.

This is one of those kits that took me twice as long as usual to assemble and paint, and looks half as good as my usual! This “Special” Thunderbird fought me all the way. I swear, some models do not want to be born! Speaking of swearing, I won’t even mention some of the horrible things I called this kit.

No weathering or panel line washes or any of that, just an out-of-the-box “New Toy” version.

Two of the telescopic legs broke during final assembly, and are wobbly as you can see. As a final insult, I neglected to carefully prefit the pod before painting, so it does not fit into the main fuselage! Thus, no “flying” pics...

Cool Excavator for Pod 6, though!

Rob C
USA


16 comments:

  1. Nice. I think that's the same kit that comes in the launch bay set that I built this year.

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    1. Did you have a time getting the pod to fit? Of course, you probably remembered to prefit everything before painting, which I did not!

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  2. Wow. I don't even watch the Tbirds, but that looks awesome.

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    1. Much obliged for your kind words!

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  3. Paul Adams from New Zealand5/27/2023 6:32 am

    It may have been a difficult kit to build, but the results are beautiful. A great job.

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    1. The photos show its best angles! Believe me, there are more gaffes in this bird than you can shake a stick at!

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  4. Great work ! This kit first came out in 1992 and was designed to be more accurate than the toy like versions that had been produced in the 1960s. IMHO the nose is till slightly wrong but it's an improvment on the older kits. Here's a detailed breakdown of the various TB2 kits that were manufactured over tne years: https://thunderbirds.fandom.com/wiki/Construction_Kits_of_Thunderbird_2#Thunderbird_2_Specials and https://thunderbirds.fandom.com/wiki/Construction_Kits_of_TB2_Specials

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    1. Whoa, many thanks for these links, I had NO idea there were so many Thunderbird 2 models released. It is the great iconic design though, so I’m not really surprised. The TB-2 Special I built was better in detail than the smaller Imai kit I built circa 1968, but much, much harder!

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  5. Looks fabtastic Rob! You"ll get on Tracy Island with that no probs!

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    1. Blood, Sweat & Tears on this one, Woodsy!

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  6. thats a stunning build Rob - I can never achieve results like that. The green finish is especially fine. If I had shelf room, I'd snap it up myself!

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    1. The body finish is one of the few things I’m happy with - it’s a spray varnish I put on top of the green. Many thanks!

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  7. Fantastic work, Rob!

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  8. That turned out great - love it!

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    1. Much obliged! It’s the hardest I think I’ve ever worked on a model...

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