# Aoshima's New Tool Thunderbird 4



## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

Has anyone seen decent pictures of the assembled & painted prototype that was shown at the 2015 All Japan Model & Hobby Show? There's a thumbnail on HLJ's page from the show, but when you click on it it takes you to the ordering page where just the previous photos are shown. It's shaping up nicely (and comes with lighting kit!), but there were some criticisms of the proportions. It'd be great to see new photos from different angles to get an idea of the finished product.


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

Ah, glossed right over the Hobbylink photo page for the show:

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/uploads/686/alljapan2015aoshima-9.jpg


http://photos.hobbytalk.com/uploads/686/alljapan2015aoshima-11.jpg

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/uploads/686/alljapan2015aoshima-10.jpg

And Hobbylink's video coverage with Brian at about 37:05. No mention of the previously announced lighting element. Nice base:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=171&v=waIOADS5TUI


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## kekker (Mar 20, 2011)

Just.... Wow.

I'd love to see all the originals as kits of that standard!


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

I don't have their Thunderbird 3 or Recovery Vehicle kits yet but from I've seen they're on the same detail level as TB4, but possibly with smaller parts counts. They were really good about providing detail options on TB3. I'm really looking forward to TB4 as it provides for such a larger scale. I think previous Imai and Bandai 4's were somewhat smaller. Really got my fingers crossed for a 1/24 FAB 1. It's great that they've returned to Thunderbirds. They were doing so well with TB1 and the Fireflash, and the the "hiatus" started...good to see it picked back up!


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

RB said:


> I don't have their Thunderbird 3 or Recovery Vehicle kits yet but from I've seen they're on the same detail level as TB4, but possibly with smaller parts counts. They were really good about providing detail options on TB3. I'm really looking forward to TB4 as it provides for such a larger scale. I think previous Imai and Bandai 4's were somewhat smaller. Really got my fingers crossed for a 1/24 FAB 1. It's great that they've returned to Thunderbirds. They were doing so well with TB1 and the Fireflash, and the the "hiatus" started...good to see it picked back up!


Don't forget that the 1/350 Thunderbird 2 was essentially a new tool compared to the '60s IMAI kit, and I'm not sure what to make of the 1/350 TB1, maybe it was a reworking of a 'bonus' kit included with something else. 

I'm a bit confused by the 'intent' of this new TB4. The sellsheet calls out both a motor and lighting elements, I can't figure what you'd need a motor for unless there was the option of old-school wheels poking out the bottom, or it was meant to actually be able to put in water and run about.

And I click on the other pic link and there's my answer. It DOES have a 'running on floor' option, but it's not pick one or the other, it can be swapped out! Oh, good grief is that 'bump 'n go' random motion I see in the front wheel?!

It seems the lights are mainly for the 'light trough' in front. I guess that explains the 'non-canon' wire wrapped around the supports.

Man, those are serious old-school firing missiles they have there. Maybe they retained the original ability in two of the tubes? Whups, yep, there's the launcher parts. Huh. 

That IS a really nice base there. 

Plenty of room in the cockpit, and they do include the basics. Might need some aftermarket add-ons. 

Looking at this picture of the parts http://photos.hobbytalk.com/uploads/686/alljapan2015aoshima-10.jpg I see LOTS of potential. 

Now they need to get that Firefly kit they showed a couple of years ago made. I'd like to see kits made of everything that used that toy tractor caterpillar unit. 

(actually, I'd like them to make a kit of JUST the caterpillar carriage with remote to encourage people to make their own International Rescue machines. That's a crazy thought, I know.  )


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

I forgot about the motorization. Good to see that you can eliminate that if you want for an "intact" presentation.


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

RB said:


> I forgot about the motorization. Good to see that you can eliminate that if you want for an "intact" presentation.


I never have understood the need for some Japanese kit manufacturers to add wheels to models of spaceships that never had wheels to begin with. I had a Thunderbird 1 from the late 1980's that was nothing more than an unassembled toy with wheels, from above the model sort of looked like the TB 1 ship but from the side, it was so obviously a toy. The Japanese Eagle (don't remember the manufacturer) model had wheels with rubber tires on the Passenger Pod and little plastic wheels embedded in the footpads. Even the USS Enterprise was not immune to such treatment, not only did the Midori Enterprise have wheels, it had a propeller that stuck out of the shuttlebay!


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

BWolfe said:


> I never have understood the need for some Japanese kit manufacturers to add wheels to models of spaceships that never had wheels to begin with. I had a Thunderbird 1 from the late 1980's that was nothing more than an unassembled toy with wheels, from above the model sort of looked like the TB 1 ship but from the side, it was so obviously a toy. The Japanese Eagle (don't remember the manufacturer) model had wheels with rubber tires on the Passenger Pod and little plastic wheels embedded in the footpads. Even the USS Enterprise was not immune to such treatment, not only did the Midori Enterprise have wheels, it had a propeller that stuck out of the shuttlebay!


For this you have to have the historical context, Japanese models were pretty much changed in 1978 by Bandai and their licensing of Space Battleship Yamato.

While we all know of the wonder and beauty of Japanese kits such as those made by Hasegawa and Tamiya, those lovely tank and airplane and ship models (but let us not forget how many Tamiya tank kits had motorized versions!  ), the world of SF modeling was seen as the home of 'play model' style, the toy you would build. This is the root of the word 'Plamo' which NOW mean 'plastic model' but back then referred to kits that rolled and shot things. 

Along with the Enterprise that spun around the room (hanging from the ceiling by a thread with, yes, a propeller up the bum, er, hanger bay) there were all kinds of vehicles that weren't supposed to have wheels that did, including one Jupiter II that had 'bump 'n go' mystery action. Thunderbirds was HUGE in Japan and every TB had wheels (yes, TB 5 had the same mystery action at one point) and a motor and usually shot something. 

Yamato changed all that. While the first early kits of the Yamato, the Black Tiger and Cosmo Zero fighters were motorized 'play models' (in this case with wind-up or 'zenmai' motors) Yamato creator Yoshinobu Nishizaki had more in mind, and as part of the new license contract with Bandai in 1978 (the post-Arriverdrci, Yamato boom generated in the wake of the Star Wars explosion) henceforth all new Space Battleship Yamato plastic kits were to be treated with the same respect, the same attention to detail as any 'real world' subject of model kit. No more a toy to be built and discarded, but something to be seen as a product of one's skill. 

(Because Bandai was in trouble. Key rival Takara (who was partnered with Revell then and was famous for some really nice kits) got the Star Wars license in Japan and was selling kits as fast as they could make them. Many of these kits were old style 'play models' with motors yet still managed to be fairly decent kits, others were imports of the American MPC models.)

And the Japanese public, the model builders, loved it. Sales of Yamato kits were so gigantic it literately saved Bandai from closing down their plastic kit arm and led to them staying in the game to fund Mobile Suit Gundam for Nippon Sunrise. Gundam flopped at first, some believe because of the low quality(that is, poor realism) of Bandai's kits (and the toys from Clover) but a rapid re-thinking of the line in more realistic, more like Yamato terms, combined with the massive publicity of the 'Mobile Suit Variation' contest and the release of Gundam into theaters as three movies (with increasingly added and remade animation in each) proved to 'light a fire' in the public and make Bandai the monstrosity of Gunpla it is today. 

Whew. I want 1000 words on why Bandai may have made a mistake to focus so heavily on Gundam these past 2 decades and how the recent Star Wars licensing has turned the circle once again on my desk by Tuesday.


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## JeffBond (Dec 9, 2013)

Who cares? They provide a separate bottom without the wheel openings so for straight modelers the motor option should not affect your enjoyment of the kit. That stand looks fantastic--I can't wait to get this, and it's nice to know this is one HLJ purchase that won't be derailed by an American licensing agreement...


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

JeffBond said:


> Who cares? They provide a separate bottom without the wheel openings so for straight modelers the motor option should not affect your enjoyment of the kit. That stand looks fantastic--I can't wait to get this, and it's nice to know this is one HLJ purchase that won't be derailed by an American licensing agreement...


No, but it is interesting. See, Aoshima has mostly concentrated on reviving/restoring the old IMAI Thunderbirds kits into a more contemporary form, better detail, better scale accuracy, and so on. At the same time they've revived a few kits with 'play model features, the first being the Mole. The only 'failure' in my mind was the Japanese originated 'X Car' or Excavator, never seen in the show but featured in one of the British Thunderbirds comic strips. That needed a LOT more work to match the quality of the other kits. The Recovery Vehicle (both of them actually) look so much better than the vintage kit, and the prototype of the Firefly looked outstanding. Which they'd pull the trigger and release that. 

But saying that, they still have motors and batteries needed and wired remote controls. Some dislike that.

And now a new tool Thunderbird 4 arrives and wow, Aoshima decided to try and pull off a two-fer. Motor and wheels for those that want the old 'play model' experience and parts that let you easily build it 'straight up' model style without the pesky filling of wheel holes and all that. On top of that, you can switch between the two. So what was the reasoning? 

Obviously it would be cheaper in both tooling and design time to just make a static display model. And they could clearly change their minds and omit the motor and lights and all that if the retailers say we don't want that. 

I'm fascinated.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Cool stuff. That's interesting about the wheels and they should upgrade some of their other better kits like the Shado Mobile too. Keep the wheels but make the tracks and multi-wheels more accurate and also provide a closed underneath for those that don't want them too.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

SUNGOD said:


> Cool stuff. That's interesting about the wheels and they should upgrade some of their other better kits like the Shado Mobile too. Keep the wheels but make the tracks and multi-wheels more accurate and also provide a closed underneath for those that don't want them too.


Oh, you KNOW I'm all about some new-tool kits of other vehicles from Gerry Anderson shows! I'd even take a motorized Mobile if the treads and road wheels moved. 

I'm pretty sure part of the reason for the new TB4 is both the release of the 'hybrid'(CG puppets and real model craft and sets) Thunderbirds Are Go! TV series and the 50th anniversary of the original Thunderbirds series.

Maybe that prototyped Firefly will finally get released.


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## WOI (Jun 28, 2012)

Once again Aoshima doesn't disappoint,the new Classic model of Thunderbird
4 that they are coming out with doesn't look too shabby!!At least they got
the style and proportions for it right.These guys didn't slack off!


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## WOI (Jun 28, 2012)

Steve H said:


> Oh, you KNOW I'm all about some new-tool kits of other vehicles from Gerry Anderson shows! I'd even take a motorized Mobile if the treads and road wheels moved.
> 
> I'm pretty sure part of the reason for the new TB4 is both the release of the 'hybrid'(CG puppets and real model craft and sets) Thunderbirds Are Go! TV series and the 50th anniversary of the original Thunderbirds series.
> 
> Maybe that prototyped Firefly will finally get released.


Don't get me started on my opinions on the so called"Thunderbirds are Go!"series,I prefer for the Classic Thunderbirds series because it still
retains it's quality and charm.


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

Steve H said:


> Oh, you KNOW I'm all about some new-tool kits of other vehicles from Gerry Anderson shows! I'd even take a motorized Mobile if the treads and road wheels moved.
> 
> I'm pretty sure part of the reason for the new TB4 is both the release of the 'hybrid'(CG puppets and real model craft and sets) Thunderbirds Are Go! TV series and the 50th anniversary of the original Thunderbirds series.
> 
> Maybe that prototyped Firefly will finally get released.


Don't forget about the new, vintage episodes coming our way:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1558089494/thunderbirds-1965-new-episodes-from-1960s-recordin

Here's hoping they'll do more in the future!


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

WOI said:


> Once again Aoshima doesn't disappoint,the new Classic model of Thunderbird
> 4 that they are coming out with doesn't look too shabby!!At least they got
> the style and proportions for it right.These guys didn't slack off!


There are criticisms of the new model, especially over at eagletransporter.com, that this new kit is too bulky and that they haven't successfully captured the curves of the filming models. We'll have to see after the kit is released.


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

RB said:


> Don't forget about the new, vintage episodes coming our way:
> 
> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1558089494/thunderbirds-1965-new-episodes-from-1960s-recordin
> 
> Here's hoping they'll do more in the future!


!!!!

Really! Wow, what a crazy, ambitious, insane, amazing idea!

Somehow I had no idea this was a thing. If they can pull it off...


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

Steve H said:


> !!!!
> 
> Really! Wow, what a crazy, ambitious, insane, amazing idea!
> 
> Somehow I had no idea this was a thing. If they can pull it off...



The cool thing is that most, if not all, of the Supermarionation series had these drama records made with the original voice casts. So, if the new Thunderbirds episodes are successful, we could conceivably get other Anderson Shows with "new" episodes.


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## WOI (Jun 28, 2012)

RB said:


> There are criticisms of the new model, especially over at eagletransporter.com, that this new kit is too bulky and that they haven't successfully captured the curves of the filming models. We'll have to see after the kit is released.


I happen to be a member of Eagle Transporter myself,and I do not share
the same comments about it as they do,I see something that has a measure of quality that it has.I just speak my mind and be honest about it.


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## portland182 (Jul 19, 2003)

Steve H said:


> !!!!
> 
> Really! Wow, what a crazy, ambitious, insane, amazing idea!
> 
> Somehow I had no idea this was a thing. If they can pull it off...


Yes, they can....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2B5p1Ajtc4

Jim


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

HUH!

Now, I'm guessing they 'cheated' a little by using the vintage actual 'countdown' opening footage, but man, that puppet work seems pretty impressive! The effects look reasonably clean altho that aircraft crashing had a bit more wobble than Meddings would have been happy with. I'm assuming they're shooting digital and I'm not aware of any way to do 'high speed' shooting in DV (that is, shooting at an effective 72 frames per second or faster). Can it be done? Does it have the same 'smoothing' effect that shooting high speed with film does?


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## portland182 (Jul 19, 2003)

Steve H said:


> I'm not aware of any way to do 'high speed' shooting in DV


A GoPro can do it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t0YG_TOhps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvM-R4r7biM

Jim


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

portland182 said:


> A GoPro can do it
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t0YG_TOhps
> 
> ...


Well, I can see one thing for sure. The language of film doesn't exactly translate into the language of DV. 

I can only hope that the people involved with the Thunderbirds '65 are aware of all these things and have done some experimenting to find what works best and creates the most vintage look. That wobbly aircraft crashing looks like the parody stuff that's been done.


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## RB (Jul 29, 1998)

One slightly wobbly aircraft...

Vs.

A truly amazing recreation of the look and iconography of a beloved series, 50 years later.

I'll take it...


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

RB said:


> One slightly wobbly aircraft...
> 
> Vs.
> 
> ...


Oh, sure, I agree. I mean, Thunderbirds had a fairly consistent formula, as long as you put the time into recreating the stock sets and build new sets with the same design sense, it should be seamless.

I keep fighting the urge to tell a story about my discovery of Thunderbirds way back in the '60s. Super short version? I never even saw an episode until sometime in the early '80s. SAW. Didn't mean I was unaware. 

But you've viewed that teaser as well. BE honest, there IS a wobble there, right? One can hope that the crew can see it as well.


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Steve H said:


> Well, I can see one thing for sure. The language of film doesn't exactly translate into the language of DV.


Well, maybe they could rent one of these ...
http://petapixel.com/2014/11/18/high-speed-camera-can-capture-4k-mind-bending-900fps/


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## Alien (Sep 5, 2001)

I hope that they get this off the ground (And up on strings )

I still have some of the original audio adventure records (45 record size but they play at 33rpm) and used to play them over and over as a kid. Great stories! And a great way to get the original voice talent.

Bring back puppets...
None of this new fangled computer animation nonsense.. (Says me, the computer geek!)

Alien


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## Alien (Sep 5, 2001)

Forgot to say.
I reckon the new TB4 model looks pretty darn good to my eye.
It is a lot better than my effort (With the wife's help.)









Ok, yes, it is just a cake for a friends 40th birthday.

Alien


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## BWolfe (Sep 24, 2013)

Alien said:


> Forgot to say.
> I reckon the new TB4 model looks pretty darn good to my eye.
> It is a lot better than my effort (With the wife's help.)
> 
> ...


Pretty frackin amazing!


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

Alien said:


> Forgot to say.
> I reckon the new TB4 model looks pretty darn good to my eye.
> It is a lot better than my effort (With the wife's help.)
> 
> ...


I'll bet yours tastes better than Aoshima's, though...


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## Hunch (Apr 6, 2003)

I LOVE these new Thunderbird kits! I've got 6 or 7 moles so I can scratch my own pod vehicles if they dont put them out soon. The mole kit with all the moving parts was the most fun I EVER had putting a model together! It was an absolute blast and no stupid things the one on the show did not do, just the essentials. The last one I bought on Escam was a mere 11 bucks! With all those gears and such that is an absolute steal! I'll be using the pins and gears to gear down other models for rotating radar dishes and so forth since I'll only need the bottom tractor parts for future pod vehicles.
The dimensions on TB4 do look a little off but I could be wrong. I'll wait till I have it in hand to judge.
Jim


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## Steve H (Feb 8, 2009)

Hunch said:


> I LOVE these new Thunderbird kits! I've got 6 or 7 moles so I can scratch my own pod vehicles if they dont put them out soon. The mole kit with all the moving parts was the most fun I EVER had putting a model together! It was an absolute blast and no stupid things the one on the show did not do, just the essentials. The last one I bought on Escam was a mere 11 bucks! With all those gears and such that is an absolute steal! I'll be using the pins and gears to gear down other models for rotating radar dishes and so forth since I'll only need the bottom tractor parts for future pod vehicles.
> The dimensions on TB4 do look a little off but I could be wrong. I'll wait till I have it in hand to judge.
> Jim


I wish they would make a kit of just the 'toy tractor' part and encourage people to scratch build their own International Rescue machines. 

The new tool TB4...to my eye it looks like the nose is a bit long, the top bump a little short and the side bumps a little bit large. 

But it may be just my view, there's not a lot of good pics of the filming miniature in a 'straight on' view. And the placement of the Mike Trim Stripes (tm pending  ) varies enough that what may seem a shorter nose may well be just the stripe moved a little. 

I suspect once in hand and built most folks will be happy.


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## Hunch (Apr 6, 2003)

Yeah, it could be the lenses used on the camera that photographed the proto or some such. The TB-3 looked a bit funky and was fine once in hand.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Their TB-3 kit was a wonder to behold- most companies simply cannot get this subject right. Bandai is also great with their parts breakdowns- the fins being separate worked so much better.
I am waiting for the TB-4, it is going to be a Christmas present to myself!


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