Before I dismantle the diorama I put together for my WASP aircraft photos, I thought I’d sneak a few pics of the Model Space part-works Thunderbird 2 toy and some of its rescue vehicles.
Taking its lead from the old Takara toy, I think it’s fair to say that the Thunderbird 2 was not the success I’d hoped it would be. To begin with at first look the cockpit windows aren’t right, and the nose is too rounded. Its biggest let down, though is the motorised gears that raise and lower the legs which are nylon rather than metal, and one side of the toy at least, is prone to slip on the gear cogs tilting the model to one side.
I did contact their customer services about this problem but it didn’t resolve anything. I’m told that placing a felt washer under one or more of the gear cogs can solve it, but as I’ve never tried that, I don’t know.
The part-works toy followed a short testing -the-waters trial run, with a complete re-release during September, 2017, as subscription only covering around 80 issues at a tenner a piece for each instalment. There was no magazine and the assembly instructions were on-line.
So, what’s this huge 1:144 scale toy good for, and was there any benefits for the eager Thunderbird toy collector.
Well, it’s a fair sized display toy (For those who prefer plastic kits, AIP are bringing out a similar sized model kit, soon), and after completing all the instalments it does have two detailed pods, and a fine set of pre-painted 1: 144 scale Rescue vehicles, which are certainly a plus point. I did go on to dirty down a couple of mine.
The larger ones are best, which include all 4 Elevator Cars, the Mole, the 2 Recovery Vehicles, and the Firefly. There’s even a Thunderbird 4, with its own Pod 4, and a tiny FAB 1.
It’s certainly has plenty of play value, and it’s easy to create all your favourite action scenes, and if I was back to being a kid of seven it would be my best Thunderbird toy, but for the older me, after paying out all that dosh, and finding its major feature just doesn’t even work properly without constantly taking it apart and trying to work out why, it’s almost the ‘the end of the road’, and ‘a day of disaster’ and possibly a candidate for ‘the pit of peril’!
Well, warts and all, the beast sure photographs well! Probably my favorite overall Supermationation craft of all. SFZ
ReplyDeleteProbably my favourite Thunderbird as well , Zigg
DeleteI've really enjoyed all the models that have showed up on that diorama base Scoop! Waaaay cool!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it, Ed. Sadly, I don't have the space to keep these temporary dioramas for too long as they all get created on a bench in my garage/workshop. A new one, probably a moon surface will be appearing soon. : D
DeleteThe TB2 looks OK to me.
ReplyDeleteSome versions are rounder fronted than others.
But I saw the prices online and thought 'too much for me'.
I heard that Derek Meddings' once said that after they created the first Thunderbird 2 prop , the others that followed never had quite the same shape.
DeleteMasterful photos though Scoop.
ReplyDeleteFabulous depth of field !
Cheers Mish. As you'll well know the bigger the model, the better, although I like to play around with the depth of field. I do prefer to see a slightly blurred background on the smaller models.
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