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Thunderbirds

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This idea for a Lego set is based on Gerry Anderson's classic Thunderbirds television series. The show follows the exploits of International Rescue, a secret organisation run by the Tracy family from an island in the Pacific Ocean. Whenever disaster strikes, whenever people are in danger, the family leaps into action to save the day using incredible machines capable of pulling off any rescue - be it in the air, on land, in the sea or deep in space. Originally broadcast in 1965, it remains a joy to watch over fifty years later, and is still a personal favourite twenty five years after I first watched it with my parents.

This set includes all five of the Thunderbird craft, depicting them as they appeared in the 1965 series. Designed with both play and display in mind, the models incorporate several fun features:

  • Thunderbird 1 measures over 16 cm long and features opening wings!
  • Thunderbird 2 measures over 25 cm long, over 15 cm wide and over 7 cm tall. It can be raised on four detachable landing legs, then a lever can be pulled to drop the pod and allow you to deploy the vehicle inside. For your rescue missions, you can either load up Thunderbird 4 or take the Mole! The Mole measures almost 6 cm long and can be detached from its trolley for burrowing underground.
  • Thunderbird 3 measures over 15 cm tall and can be docked with Thunderbird 5!
  • Thunderbird 4 measures over 6 cm long, and includes a moveable searchlight.
  • Thunderbird 5 measures over 22 cm long, and over 19 cm tall on its included display stand.

However, no collection would be truly complete without Thunderbird 6, the Tiger Moth biplane that was introduced in the fabulous 1968 movie. Measuring just 4 cm long, it can be carried in Thunderbird 2's pod!

Also included is a model of FAB 1, the futuristic Rolls Royce owned by International Rescue's London agent, Lady Penelope. The model measures over 10 cm long, and is deliberately oversized with respect to the other Thunderbird vehicles in homage to the die-cast Thunderbirds toys that I played with as a child.

Finally, you can recreate International Rescue's first ever mission! The new supersonic airliner, Fireflash, is trapped in the sky. Its landing gear has been sabotaged, and its fuel is running low. Help the International Rescue crew guide the plane to a landing on the roofs of the three included elevator cars. Will they bring the plane to a standstill before running out of runway?

5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Thunderbirds Are Go!

 

The models use a total of 1655 pieces. They were designed in Lego Digital Designer, and exported to Mecabricks. Over fifty custom decals/patterns were created and added for the final image renders, which were performed using the Blender software on the Mecabricks render farm.

A selection of model files and instructions are now available for free download:

Thank you for your support and consideration.


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