THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO! NEW GERRY ANDERSON SERIES COMING IN 2015

UK toy company Vivid Imaginations is to release models and toys for the new Thunderbirds are Go! series, having signed up as master toy partner.


Vivid’s Thunderbirds are Go! items will be wide-ranging, with planned figures, vehicles, construction, diecast, play sets, role play and dress up, construction, board games and puzzles. Products will see a UK launch in 2015, to coincide with the series premiere, 50 years after its first TV debut. The various model and toy lines will then roll out to international markets.

Toy line link-up
Paul Weston, CEO of Vivid, says: “We are delighted to be partnering again with ITVS GE (ITV Studios Global Entertainment) on Thunderbirds as master toy partner. The collective expertise of ITVS GE, Pukeko Pictures, Weta and Vivid make this a compelling must-have toy line for our retail partners across the world."

About Weta
Weta Workshop is the hot item for SMN readers, as it’s the special effects workshop that has brought New Zealand into the forefront of the movie industry - The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong, Avatar, and more - all have come from the FX magicians at Weta. There's plenty to see at Weta's site, including the tasty combat vehicle below.

About Pukeko Pictures
Founded in 2008, the movie company is located in Wellington, New Zealand. With a connection to the world-famous Weta Workshop, Pukeko Pictures is at the southern epicentre of world-leading movie entertainment, using global talents and leading-edge production processes.

About Vivid
* Vivid was started by a team of people who used to work for Matchbox Toys.

* Vivid started making toys in 1993, the first big hit being Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, the top selling boys’ toy for Christmas that year.

* Vivid is Britain's biggest toy company and claims to be the 20th biggest toy company in the world - it’s now called Vivid, as very young children found it difficult to say "Imaginations"

* Vivid’s Gerry Anderson lines have included well-known names like Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Stingray, Joe 90.

SMN take
It’s looking good for the new Thunderbirds are Go! Just so long as the scripts and acting match the near-guaranteed quality of Weta’s down-under FX miniatures team.

Weta here.

Vivid Imaginations here.

Thunderbirds at SMN here.

Thunderbirds Soundtech Tracy Island here.

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO AGAIN: NEW GERRY ANDERSON-BASED PROJECTS KICK OFF WITH A NEW LOGO AND TEASER VIDEO

The British design studio IDO has revamped the logo and website for the estate of the late Gerry Anderson, creator of cult TV sci-fi series such as Thunderbirds and Space 1999.

The logo is built around a simple letter ‘A’ with a rocket blasting off inside - a sure-fire reference to the space-age machinery that starred so strongly in Anderson’s work. As for the video, it’s short but well worth watching - and crank up your speakers to listen to the excellent sound track.

Retro legacy
According to the designers, “We opted for flat colours and an illustrative style, giving a slightly retro look that would sit well with the legacy shows but at the same time look to the future and a new audience to convey that a new, exciting adventure was beginning.”

New look
The style revamp is extensive, and covers online and social media channels to coincide with information that brand-new Gerry Anderson productions are in the works. The bold graphic look is designed to look as good on the website as on memorabilia and collectibles - cards, T-shirts, posters, and other merchandise.

Crystal Ball
What’s coming in the new-wave Anderson future? We don’t know full details yet, but it’s looking good on all fronts. Meantime, we’ll make do with wishing and hoping to see series like Thunderbirds Century 22, or perhaps Space 2099.

Models to come
The Japanese in particular have been busy with Anderson kits and collectibles over the years, and doubtless when new products hit screens big and small, they’ll be there to turn the high-tech machines into stuff that sci-fi fans will just have to add to their collections.

Yes please
If SMN had one request, it’s for more common-scale items, so that (for example) a Thunderbirds fleet could be displayed next to same-scale model aircraft.

NEWSFLASH
David Jefferis (aka ‘Mr J’) will be at the upcoming SMALLSPACE 2 model on Sunday 7 July, 2013. He’ll be showing unpublished works, original art, and signed edition prints from a little-known Gerry Anderson space series from the late-1970s called STARCRUISER. Be there!
 
Gerry Anderson kits and collectibles here.

REVOLTECH THUNDERBIRD 2 FROM KAIYODO, JAPAN

SMN report:
This is an addition to the ongoing Kaiyodo Revoltech science-fiction range. This time it's the ‘green bean’ Thunderbird 2 heavy-lifter from the classic Gerry Anderson TV show.


The Revoltech TB2 is a ready-built, not a kit, but it still features plenty of detail, including a four-part display stand, detachable cargo pod with same-scale Thunderbird 4 inside, and multi-position landing gear. The pod door opens to reveal the TB4 waiting for action, plus a fair amount of detail inside the pod, which shows that Kaiyodo designers have been doing their homework.

Adding visual value
More than some others perhaps, this TB2 would really benefit from a model kit-builder’s attention to extra detail, by giving it a hefty dose of weathering and dirtying down. After all, TB2 is a fly-anywhere machine, and the pod is designed to be dropped in all sorts of unusual places, so an oily-grease look would suit its fictional uses very well indeed. It will also take away the smooth and shiny, somewhat toy-like appearance of the basic product.

Scale
The Kaiyodo Thunderbird 2 measures some 210mm (8.25in) long, giving it a scale of around the 1:360 mark. That’s somewhat off-standard, but near enough to be displayed with the 1:350 scale Aoshima H-IID space launcher kit without too many misgivings.

1:350 scale fantasy fleet?
There are other T-Birds available to 1:350 scale, including kits from Aoshima. And if you’re into a fighting fantasy ‘ships of sea and space’ display, there are plenty of 1:350 scale combat craft out there, including Japan’s mighty battleship Yamato from Tamiya.

About Kaiyodo 
The company is focussed primarily on figures and garage-style kits, mostly Japanese-market anime characters, but better-known subjects are creatures from the movies, such as King Kong and Godzilla.

Creature museum
Visitors to Japan could include the excellent Kaiyodo Figure Museum in their travels. As you can see from the pix, the interest starts outside the entrance, and not forgetting that Kaiyodo’s HQ has giant-sized critters lurking on the roof!

What does Revoltech mean?
The nifty moniker Revoltech comes from the product description, ‘revolver technology’, referring to the revolving joint articulation used by Kaiyodo. Each joint has three components - two half-spheres and a pin that locks the assembly into place - which give figures a wide range of realistic movement and stability.

Model subjects
Not that TB2 has moving arms, but the series name suits it. In fact, the Revoltech range has four main types - Real Robot, Super Robot, Humanoid and Creature. Now it’s the turn of an emergency rescue craft, in the form of Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbird 2.

Summation
This Thunderbird 2 ready-built looks good, so for Gerry Anderson fans, it’s one to put on the wanted list. The Kaiyodo Revoltech TB2 is due to be released in May/June 2013.

Available for pre-order from online stores including Hobby Link Japan.

'THUNDERBIRDS' GERRY ANDERSON DIES

Gerry Anderson, creator of a host of children's TV series, including classics such as Stingray, Thunderbirds, and Space 1999, has just died, at 83 years old.

More on the Anderson legacy at our sister site Starcruzer.

TIME TO MUSE MORE WITH AOSHIMA VARIATIONS ON THE HAYABUSA MUSES-C SPACE PROBE TO 1:32 SCALE

MAT IRVINE REPORTS
On August 14, 2010, SMN featured a 1:32 scale kit of the Aoshima Japanese Hayabusa asteroid sample-return mission space probe, originally known as MUSES-C. Since then, Aoshima has issued two variations of this model.


The first kit adaptation came as the Next Generation Asteroid Probe Future Creation Model (pictured top) a title that may roll off the tongue better when spoken in Japanese! The NGAPFCM is a future mission concept that uses the Hayabusa bus (‘bus’ being the general name given to the main body of a satellite or space probe), and the kit is more or less identical, the only real difference being that it lacks Hayabusa’s large high-gain antenna.

New parts
The original Hayabusa kit has some 40 parts, moulded in light grey, as shown in our previous article. The NGAPFCM has a new runner with just three new components, two of these being for the new stand. Size is around 200 mm (8 in) across the solar panel ’wings’.

Hayabusa movie
There’s also a third variation (above) from Aoshima, this time with a movie connection. It is basically the same as the first-issue Hayabusa, but the box also features a large image of the Japanese actor, Ken Watanabe. He is best known to English-speaking audiences from appearances in such movies as Inception, Letters from Iwo Jima and Batman Begins. Here however, he stars as the lead scientist in the release Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home, released earlier this year.

Long voyage home
The movie is a dramatization of the Hayabusa mission, following the seven-year flight of the probe to the distant asteroid 25143 Itokawa, and its sample-return trip back to Earth. Japan is rightfully proud of the probe, and the mission has spawned at least three Japanese films: one documentary and two features. However, the only real kit-movie connection is the box design, plus a postcard slipped inside!

Sample kits courtesy Hobby Link Japan.

SMN Note
If you like LEGO, here are pictures and instructions on how to build a blocky-look Hayabusa.

Aoshima Hayabusa Muses-C available here, as well as heaps of other Aoshima stuff including (drool) a rather pricey but fascinating diecast Zero-X spacecraft, as seen in Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.

MORE FROM SMALLSPACE - THUNDERBIRDS PUPPETS FROM DUNCAN WILLIS

The smallspace show displayed UK science-fiction models at their best. And for nostalgic fans of the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation TV shows, the puppets of Duncan Willis took some beating.

Early TV shows

Duncan is seen above, with three of his replicas, Steve Zodiac, Lady Penelope, and the chauffeur Parker. In Duncan’s words: “I am a lifelong fan of Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation shows, with my first proper memory being of watching Fireball XL5 on TV, although I can just about remember watching Torchy, a Torchy annual being one of my most-read bedtime books.”

Early Anderson inspiration

Torchy the Battery Boy was the second TV series produced by Gerry Anderson. Fifty-two 13-minute episodes were made, for airing in 1958-1959. Predating Torchy were the Adventures of Twizzle, the very first Anderson series.

  

Recycled materials

Duncan adds: “I have been making puppet replicas for around six years, and like to make scratch-built props for them to sit on/in. The props are mostly made from recycled waste materials which I get from friends in the building trade. I am presently hoping to make a living as a self-employed model-maker.”

For more information, visit Duncan Willis at his Facebook site, Superpropreplication.

SMALLSPACE - MODEL SHOW REPORT

The new model show smallspace was a huge success - outside the hall, Daleks rampaged the streets, while inside model-makers showed off their skills.

Thunderbirds are Go

Gerry Anderson’s famed puppet and live action TV series were a popular subject at smallspace, so here’s a first burst of pix, to give you an idea of the beautifully made models on display.

More to come

There’ll be more to come throughout this week - enjoy!

Neat 6-wheel Rolls-Royce, with Lady Penelope under the wide canopy.

Tasty red markings sported by Thunderbird 3.

The Meta probe (above) looked a serious design for a deep-space craft.

Plenty of Thunderbirds collectibles and models available here.

2012 INCOMING - GORGEOUS STEAMPUNK KITS FROM FICHTENFOO AND INDUSTRIA MECHANIKA

SMN report:

Boy, there are some enviable kit-producing talents out there, and they are not just working with the mainstream companies, either. US modelmaker and web designer Michael Fichtenmayer is among those talents, and his FichtenFoo and Industria Mechanika websites bring us all manner of science-fiction delights, including this limited-edition model kit of Ralph McQue’s Remora, a sort of anti-gravity floating cargo ship. Orders are being taken now for this very limited release.

Cool designs

A top priority with Industria Mechanika (IM) models is to: “Produce and promote really cool original model designs.” So no Star Wars and Star Trek knockoffs from IM, and in our view, that’s a very good thing indeed. In IM-speak: “Everything seen here is original designs by their original creators. We help modelers turn what might have been a one-off project into original products that everyone can enjoy.”

Promoting originality

Industria Mechanika’s aims are clear: “We take original masters, produce them into top-notch resin kit releases, design print materials, pack, sell and ship worldwide. The artists get a share of the profits and recognition for their works and everyone can get something uniquely cool to build.”

Steampunk Remora

Ian McQue’s Remora is a bullseye shot for any sci-fi model fan who is into the neo-Victorian brand of science-fiction called Steampunk. The ‘parallel universe’ backstory around this kit tells the tale: “ Remora was built in ’73 by J.Dowling & Sons, out of Wearland. An Imp-Class light rigger, it served for 19 years at Crabden Port in Thamesmouth as a cargo loader for the East Island Trading Company. After being sold for scrap, it was purchased and refitted by MacNeil Haulage and put to work as an island hopper, under the command of Captain Jerome Bale, making short-haul provision runs for the mining communities of the Jayamena island cluster. It has a net tonnage of 16 and a lift tonnage of 38. It is powered by a single-turbine Hütter-Schneider Mk.V gravity engine and has a top speed, free-floating, of 27 knots.” To which the SMN crew can add just one word: “Wow!”

Scale matches military model kits

The Remora is to military-standard 1:35 scale, making it ideal for dioramas, or for including in scenes with other sci-fi models such as those from the Maschinen Krieger (Ma.K ) stuff we like so much. The Remora kit has 62 resin components, six of them moulded as transparencies. 

In charge of the ship

There’s a seated figure of the ship’s Captain, with a scurvy crew due for sale separately soon. Fine detail and markings are taken care of with a photo-etch fret and waterslide decals. The Remora is a multi-material kit, with various parts supplied in metal rod, rigging string, and coated wire form. Industria Mechanika has also supplied full-colour instruction details. This second-edition Remora kit is limited to just 45 for public sale, so order online now if you like the idea of an anti-gravity airboat in your life.

There’s more...

Further editions of the Remora will follow when this run is finished, but there are more delights when you go along to Industria Mechanika. They include the tasty ‘FichtenFoo’s Fantastical Fish-shaped Submersible’ (F4S2), a nice design which echoes something of the flavour of Gerry Anderson’s 1960s TV series ‘Stingray’. And of course, the F4S2 makes a cool undersea match for those Disney-inspired Jules Verne Nautilus submarines out there.

...and more

Keep watch for the upcoming Orbship, an original design by the super-talented Scott Robertson. As planned, it’ll likely be a 1:48 scale kit, which opens up all sorts of hugely interesting possibilities. And if you’ve got a great idea for a model design, whether that’s a figure, a robot, vehicle or spacecraft, if it’s considered to be something that people will want to build, then Industria Mechanika can work to get your original design into production and on sale to sci-fi modelmakers around the world. How cool is that?!

Visit FichtenFoo here.

Visit Industria Mechanika here.

Maschinen Krieger future combat trooper kit available here.

Another view of the F4S2 (above), with a four-view of the Captain, and also some special-issue plant life (below).