1/25 car kits in TVs Thunderbirds

[mike delamar]

Hi Guys

I thought you may be interested in seeing some of the model kits used in the 1965 tv show Thunderbirds.

some screengrabs, Im not sure of all the cars and kits, Id imagine you guys will know it was set 100 years in the future but they used lots of 1960s cars. Im not too familiar with American cars, mainly british I know.

I love this show, I build replicas of some of the vehicles from it, using as many original kits and bits I can find.

I love how they brought these model kits to life.

they were pulled along on a wire, with sponge suspension, filmed fast so when played back it look realistic, and a dust trail from underneath

these are either revell, amt or monogram kits

anyway, enjoy...

AMT silhouette and Stingray

Ford Thunderbirds as Police cars

Cadillac with bubble dome roof, not sure what model or kit

the jaguar on the right is a mk10, I believe it was a friciton toy rather than a kit, the other cars are 1/25 kits.

can post more if you guys are interested

cheers

Mike

Edited June 21, 2010 by mike delamar

[trogdor]

I'd like to see more

[Tony T]

Wow, one of my favourite shows growing up, er, when I was a kid, er, when I was younger...(Never growing up, still a kid)

I'd love to see more!!

[mike delamar]

thanks guys,

some more pics.

I believe the basis for this ambulance was a AMT 1/25 ford f100 pick up, although Im not sure, anyone recognise the grill?

it had a bubble dome over the windscreen, a rear part made, and the sideskirts where a bomb part from a Aurora B-58 bomber kit....

can make out the distinctive forward sloping window/door and moulded door handles.

some more of the AMT silhouette as a police car, the rear headrests have been stuck on the roof

some more Ford Thunderbirds.

and this is a rare photo, showing the AMT silhouette police car, cadillac police car(maybe a johan kit?), and Fire engine which I have built a replica of using the exact toys,kits and household items they used...

Mike

Edited June 22, 2010 by mike delamar

[mike delamar]

I love this car park set up..

does anyone recognise the blue pick up on the right??

if you want to see what happens, watch this clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q68kNVn9gQ8

Mike

Edited June 22, 2010 by mike delamar

[Guest]

Talk about a blast from the past, that is classic tv! Thanks for the memories!

[puddingwrestler]

Ah, the Aurora B-58... you know you're watching Gerry Anderson when you see parts of the Aurora B-58...

I did somethign similar to those ambulances earlier this year without realising I was using a GA technique. I used Grumman Avenger fuselages and a 1/32 Mazda three wheeler truck, the inspiration came from the very first Nemesis The Warlock story.

Always loved the cars turning up in Thunderbirds. YEars ago I read '21st Century Visions' by Derek Meddings, the special effects guy on the series who talked about how they made the 1/25 model cars behave like life sized versions. The suspension were made from pencil erasers if I recall correctly (I was only about ten when I read the book in the mid 90s)

Edited June 22, 2010 by puddingwrestler

[LUKE'57]

Just got the two original movies with all sorts of extras and the later live action movie at Big Lots for $3 each. Haven't watched the movies yet but the extras with all the background stuff is really great.

[mike delamar]

thanks Guys,

Owen, I know what you mean about that book, I got it about 3 years back and it was brilliant, learned so much.

I had these toy amphicars in the loft for years, as I knew they where used in Thunderbirds,I wanted to use them to make replicas.

when I got it on DVD I was able to do screengrabs and try and work out all the bits they used. and use the pieces I knew to measure up and do plans.

they used lots of airfix model railway kit bits which where easy enough to get hold of, revell custom car parts which were a bit tricky to find, and plastic spice canisters and a ladder from a toy fire engine which took about 2 years to work out and find,lot of frustration.

the trailers were built from scratch out of wood with model aeroplane wheels. the other fire engine started life as a toy bus, with sideskirts added, kit bits, and the roof of a friction toy mini cooper

how it started. original 60s toy amphicar

theyre nearly finished now, going to weather them like the originals were

theres a few more Im in the middle of building, the big yellow one from the same episode. just want to work out what chrome 1/25 kit bits they used on it

can see the fire engines, and the 1/25 cars from above in this clip...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS-eJjQ2b8Q

cheers

Mike

Edited June 22, 2010 by mike delamar

[John Goschke]

Wow! Amazing stuff! Never watched the show as a kid, could never get past the marionette weirdness of the whole thing, but these sets and props are really cool. I like how everything's just detailed enough to work in the film, but in the stills looks a little rough.

[mike delamar]

yeah a lot of it does look rough, especially now with it released on bluray, you can see brushmarks etc.

main reason I always liked it, not so much the puppets, but that we knew they where toy and kit cars being blown up and looking realistic

although it was only meant to be seen quickly on the screen in the days of black n white not scruitinised like I do

theyd build these very quickly, and throw things together,

theyd always weather and dirty the models too to make them look more realistic, not like a shiny toy.

I think its cool that they used these plastic kits, the same stuff we like to build and play with now

Mike

[Tony T]

Thanks for adding more pics Mike. Fantastic!

[mike delamar]

cheers Tony

Ive got a thread in the help section. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=32471&pid=324271&st=0&#entry324271

Im trying to work out what kit these 1/25 dragster exhaust parts are from, hoping someone might recognise them.

Mike

[ZIL 111V]

Gerry Anderson's best show, T-Birds was the best concept in it's "SUPERMARIONATION" series.

Seen those picks, nice to see in closeup those 60's AMT & Johan car kits(& AMT Parts packs!!!), Nicer are the "scratchbuilt" ones (vehicules/planes/boats/space ships),designed & made by the talented modelers of the Anderson team, sure would be nice to see how those where made back then....some working & emergency stuff was really kool

[mike delamar]

a lot of the main Thunderbird vehicles and main aircraft,fireflash etc were specially built by a specialist model making firm,usually out of fibreglass.

reason they had them specially built was they had the most film time and had to look good.

the rest was all made in house, rescue vehicles such as the mole and firefly etc. although these ones usually had 1/25 car kit bits stuck on to give different shapes and chrome bits to shine.

the later programmes such as captain scarlet the cars,vehicles and sets got bigger and more realistic.

although theyd still usually use different scale cars and vehicles in the backgrounds to give perspective.

in the background here we can see corgi cars, such as the corgi ambulance.

id like to build some 1/25 ford thunderbirds,cadillacs and ford galaxies, and paint them up as the police cars, does anyone know what kit they would be? Ive already got a silhouette to do as a police car

Mike

Edited June 22, 2010 by mike delamar

[Jim Gibbons]

Looking at the third photo in your first post, the two police cars on the right are Oldsmobiles (not sure what exactly what year... pretty sure they're '63s) and could be Johan. The Ford Thunderbird police car on the left is likely the Monogram '58 Thunderbird. One of the side view shots of the red TBird convertible with the blue interior shows a slight misalignment of the door, which would be right as the Monogram model had operating doors. It looks like they added side windows of their own design.

I'm having fun following this as I grew up watching Supercar, Thunderbirds, and Captain Scarlet. Thanks for the memories!

[mike delamar]

thanks Jim,

I can see what you mean about the doors,

Ill give the monogram kit a go, are these particularly rare kits? I always try and go for later releases if possible.

would you say the police car based on the thunderbird is the monogram kit too? lots of the Ford Thunderbirds turn up, just wondering if they could have used more than one kit make?

heres some more 1/25 car kits...

Mike

Edited June 22, 2010 by mike delamar

[Jim Gibbons]

The second photo in your last post is a Buick Riviera. It's a little hard to tell, but it looks like there are headlights on the grille that would make it a '63 or '64 annual, I think from AMT. The closest you'd find is the fairly recent reissue of the '65 Riviera which doesn't have the exposed headlights. It also looks like they added sheet plastic to make it look like a station wagon (estate) style.

The Monogram '58 TBird should be fairly easy to find as it has been reissued many, many times. It could also be built as either a hardtop or convertible, so that made the variations possible. The size of the wheels/ tires makes me think it is the Monogram; that kit is 1/24, and looks large in comparison to the Oldsmobiles, plus the kit had white plastic whitewall inserts that the TV show models have. The only version to avoid of the Monogram TBird is the TV show "Elvira" version, as I recall, they tooled a "spiderweb" grille along with other changes to make the horror movie hostess version. Other, more knowledgeable modelers might know if they butchered the original tool for that.

[mike delamar]

thanks again Jim

just been doing a bit of a google search and I think the monogram one is the one to go for, as you say, the wheels, opening doors and the fact they had different build variations in the kit, which they seemed to have used ,hardtop for the police car, convertible for the woman driver who causes the crash

you also get a futuristic bubble dome with it.

Id like to know if possible, the basis of the cadillac with the bubble dome.

which theyve probably got from one of these kits. any idea what year, possible kit manufacturer etc that the cadillac is?

cheers

Mike

[Jim Gibbons]

The Cadillac, you'll have to get info from the more informed. The original issue (in other words, big money) of the '58 TBird had the custom parts such as the bubbletop, but you won't find that in the later issues from the mid '70s on; they can only be built stock.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Jim Gibbons

[ZIL 111V]

From what I can see Police cars are based on AMT(SMP),Johan & Monogram kits:

-AMT '63 0r '64 Riviera coupe annual kit or Promo

-AMT '64 OR '65 Buick Electra 225...annual Kit/Promo

(both kit transformed as Station Wagon with Lincoln Continental wagon kustom parts?..Could also be scratchbuilt.

-Johan '63 Olsmobile Starfire coupe annual kit or promo.

-Monogram and... AMT (SMP)? '58-60 t-BIRDS?

-AMT '64 Silhouette show car.

The blue pickup in garage looks like an annual AMT/SMP kit or promo of the '59 0r '60 El Camino.

The Cadillac "Bubble top" police car looks like an annual Johan '65 Cadillac Deville kit (front steerable wheels)....tough to get.... your best chance is Hasegawa '66 Curbside kit.

....Any close pics of the BIG machines used in different episodes

[mike delamar]

The Cadillac "Bubble top" police car looks like an annual Johan '65 Cadillac Deville kit (front steerable wheels)....tough to get.... your best chance is Hasegawa '66 Curbside kit.

....Any close pics of the BIG machines used in different episodes

Thanks Paul,

If the Johan kit is rare, is there any pics of the contents on the net? basically because I may recognise a part from it I need, or if theres nothing in it I need, can cross it off the list.

what Machines would you like?

I can bore you guys with the ones Im building next....

this tractorcat vehicle,which got rescued from a cliff edge in one episode.

Ive got nearly all the bits for it, including marx toy tractor parts, model railway bits and some chrome trim which was from the amt silhouette and revell custom car parts pack.

but Im not sure on some of the other chrome bits, in particular the chrome wheels in the centre

big yellow fire engine, it was originally built as a rocket carrier for another episode, then canibalised and made into this fire engine, probably why the scales are all out

basis for this will be wood, but the kit bits on it were hard to find (revell rocket,airfix ship and aurora b-58) as was the old fashioned hozelock garden hose connector and rimpax model aeroplane wheels, which are 2 1/2" diameter.

also has soda syphon canisters stuck on

has been quite a journey trying to work out what all these bits are and then get hold of them.

can see the bits for the tractor, and the yellow fire engine lined up in this shot.

and finally another big un, more famous than the others dont know if Ill be making a replica of this one, but I do like it.

cheers

Mike

[ZIL 111V]

..."Path of Destruction" star: "CrabLogger" the HUGE yellow monster...one of the koolest machine of the series, totaly awesome! (including "junior" workhorses in episodes!)..Think was used in other episode too.

And..."Pit of Peril"..."Sidewinder" "Walking" beast.

On highway Lady Penelope heavily Kustomied 6 wheeler RR.... (Silver cloud ?) was also pretty far out! (wasn't a real one made in the 60's?)

Remember got a few Japanese IMAI kits back in the 80's of the Tracy familiy machinery, long gone!

As for the Johan Caddy really pricey & rare check.... eBay, from time to time to get content pics.

...Jaguar are brit kits or Corgi/Dinky Diecast?

[mike delamar]

..."Path of Destruction" star: "CrabLogger" the HUGE yellow monster...one of the koolest machine of the series, totaly awesome! (including "junior" workhorses in episodes!)..Think was used in other episode too.

And..."Pit of Peril"..."Sidewinder" "Walking" beast.

On highway Lady Penelope heavily Kustomied 6 wheeler RR.... (Silver cloud ?) was also pretty far out! (wasn't a real one made in the 60's?

thanks again

heres some behind the scenes shots of the crablogger before filming in 1966...

the sidewinder was a huge model too, I dont think theyres any behind the scenes shots of it..

the helicopter is around 12" long, so that gives some Idea of the size, also the arms are metal cake tins

some more big uns. big Thunderbird 3

and puppet size Fab1 Rolls royce, I think this one looked the best, they did build a full size one but it didnt have any of the shapes and curves or a proper bubble dome roof, there was a few smaller scale ones too, 1/25 and a larger one of about 15inches.

sorry if this is going wildy off topic of 1/24 plastic car kits

cheers

Mike

[ZIL 111V]

WOW!

Nice "behind the scene" pics...Crablogger is HUGE even in scale form! "big toy" indeed!

Nice work on your replicas, demands a lot of patience & research any future plans for a RR FAB1?

...Wondering where are all those models now in 2010 (from the police cars to crablogger, sidewinder, etc???)

Thanks for sharing, really kool