Global Scale Modeller

Thunderbirds is 60!!! It has been way too long since I posted on this forum . Life kinda bit me on the butt. A messy divorce and many years of work grafting put me in the shadows , but alas here I am again unable to stave off my unique creativity. Now I did create a 50 Year tribute to the amazing Gerry Anderson creation. I never shared it on here but I intend to. It was a full size Tracy Island diorama with still images of all the classic International Rescue craft on the island. I created this as a fun project and the results were passable. But the current day twist to this story was being unable to supress my curiosity on how I could make my still images actually move and bring them to life.

Now several years back, stop motion would have been my best option. However in the modern age of AI, and with hesitance I decided to dabble and see the results. This was my first attempt so by no means perfect. so bear with me...there are quite a few presentational "gitches" but in the main it works I think. And with some careful editing and sound I hope to have done the work some justice. I will post my recent live motion creations alongside the original still image videos. Have a view and feel free to drop a line,

INTRO: Tracy Island

So here is the first "episode" to mark Gerry Anderson's 60th Anniversary. We start with Tracy Island to set the scene. The diorama took about 2 years to complete. I started the build with the Tracy Island Mansion and surrounding landscape. I then went on to complete all craft Hangars The craft themselves were all kit built and painted. These 3D motion clips are an enhancement to original stills originally created and hopefully provide improved pleasurable viewing. This is a fun post that doesn't take itself too seriously but tries to entertain and inspire others to be different...

Neat job!!

RangerNeil wrote: Sun Dec 21, 2025 11:25 pm Neat job!!

Thank you Neil. Appreciate your viewing and the comment. Thanks

So this is the first one to showcase the International Rescue craft. I located the Hanger directly under the mansion. For the conveyor ramp that takes the craft down to the launch position I used magnets to keep the craft in an upright position whilst on the ramp. The diorama swimming pool does actually physically slide aside. I used styrene guide rails for this. It opens up directly above the Launch bay as you will see. And yes in this clip, unlike the original stills, the craft actually does fly!! Have fun watching.

So as a special Christmas treat I present my all time favourite of them all Thunderbird 2. Of all the Hangars on this diorama, TB2 Hangar was the most challenging to design and create. The conveyor carrying the Pods are manually operated. All the POD vehicles were scratch built and I used many reference documents and scene clips to get them as close to accurate as I could. If you look carefully the shaft that drops Virgil in through the roof of the craft actually starts under the Mansion and traverses from TB1's Hangar all the way down to TB2 Hangar at ground level. I had to build the TB2 runway as an extension to the main island and yes the launch ramp and blast shields all work independently too.

Seeing my still images actually "fly" is the cherry on top for sure! I really enjoyed this one. Hope you do too.

Another excellent build, I loved the pod vehicle animation particularly.
Well done!!

RangerNeil wrote: Thu Dec 25, 2025 11:31 pm Another excellent build, I loved the pod vehicle animation particularly.
Well done!!

Thanks for the comment Neil. Yes the Pod animation really presented well. Creating the vehicles including those in the vehicle bays took time as they were quite tiny in size. I used reference material to help with each build. The ones shown from left to right included - The Mole, The Monobrake, The Excavator, the two Recovery Vehicles 1 & 2, The Laser Cutter, The Neutralizer Tractor, The DOMO (Demolition and Object Moving Operator) and the Firefly. Lots of fun along the way too!

Okay so as the 60th year draws to a close I will post the remaining craft in succession. Thunderbird 3 was an interesting one. The settee conveyor with the three figures had me chuckling through most of that creation. They animated reasonably well. Actually the TB3 chair lift shaft up to the mansion is included in the diorama but not shown in this clip. Check out the still image videos for that. The Copper ring around the cutaway silo is actually the monorail that travels underground through the base (according to Graham Bleathman's blueprints). The launch itself presents nicely with the cotton wool smoke plumes and ball lighting that I used animating really well. Happy viewing...

On the penultimate day of the 60th anniversary year we get to Thunderbird 4 in animated action. This was different to the previous diorama creations and I shot the still images with the craft suspended on gantry strings in front of a wide 6ft x 4 ft projector screen in a darkened studio room. The strings were erased in post prod. The light of the projector provided that underwater effect and the images on the projector screen were still underwater shots from my snorkelling holiday in the Seychelles. The animation effects were pretty good. I do wish I had shot more TB4 images for a longer clip but do still enjoy this short one.

As the year 2025 ends today here is the last video of this project. Thunderbird 5 in space orbiting above the Earth. This was another one I had to shoot as stills in front of a wall projector with the TB5 craft suspended from the roof gantry. The tricky part was lining up the TB3 craft alongside it. In live motion it animated really well and the results are super. Hope you all enjoyed this series of videos to mark Thunderbirds 60th anniversary. This is certainly something different from what we tend to see on this forum but someone has to dare to be a little different right? I had fun showcasing my diorama and my model creations. Hope you enjoyed viewing it too. Till the next 10 years!