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’!
https://mikeburrowsphotography.co.uk/