(Non)Muscial TB4- Part 2

 

And there we are - done! I can finish projects!

With the two halves of the body screwed together, presumably to allow access to the battery, the rest of the bits clip on easily, although I used a bit of glue too. 

Lines and text are thin stickers, described as "seals" in the instructions. Some, like the line around the nose, are weird shapes, but fit really well. I've left the body in unpainted plastic because this is a quick and fun project. Also, it's a better colour than the can of spray paint I bought to paint it. 

Only 9cm long, this isn't going to take up much space in the display case, and I think it looks pretty cute. Someone's done a good job of caracaturing the Anderson craft. You know what it is, but it's more cartoon than realistic. 

I'm still not sorry the sound unit packed up though.

Musical TB4 - Part 1

 

Surely a musical Thunderbird 4 shouldn't morph into a major time-consuming project? After all, I only paid four quid for it, so the end result doesn't have to be that special. 

Imai's CD Boy TB-4 kit is designed to be easy to assemble. Pretty much clip together with no painting. 

One snag is that there should be some axles, and a couple of self-tapping screws in the bag, but these were missing, as the kit was shop soiled. Not a problem, I'm not worried about wheels, and suitable screws were found in my drawer of bits. 

More of an issue is that the circuit board takes a G8 battery, the one supplied in the kit is furry, and I could only find a G10, which is thicker. It goes in with a shove that breaks the board, but proves the circuit works. Shine a light in the bottom of the model, and it plays the Thunderbirds theme tune. Until it packed up. I decided I didn't care as the noise was getting on my nerves. 

After this, there is a bit of pre-painting for chubby Gordon Tracey, and some vents I decided would look better silver (as per the real TB4) than yellow.