Thunderbirds 1 - Rapid Responds Vehicle

Thunderbirds is an English puppet science fiction series by the animation company of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The series was produced from 1964 to 1966. Thunderbirds was the fourth series to be manufactured by Gerry Anderson's company "AP-Films" (APF, later renamed "Century 21 Productions") using the Supermarionation process. It was the most commercially successful and had a total of two seasons with 32 episodes. The first broadcast took place in September 1965. The voices of the figures came partly from the Andersons themselves. The music for the series was written by the English composer Barry Gray, who had also set the other series by Anderson.

The series is about an international rescue group, International Rescue, whose headquarters are in hiding on an island in the Pacific. This organization is led by former astronaut Jeff Tracy. He is supported by his five sons, each of whom has a special spaceship / vehicle for different rescue missions. The sons are all named after former American astronauts from the Mercury program:

Scott (flies Thunderbird 1, named after Scott Carpenter), Virgil (Thunderbird 2, Virgil Grissom), Alan (Thunderbird 3, Alan Shepard), Gordon (Aquanaut from Thunderbird 4, Gordon Cooper) and John (astronaut of the space station Thunderbird 5, John Glenn).

In addition, the Tracys get support from the genius Brains, who is responsible for the many inventions, as well as the servant of the family, Kyrano, and his daughter TinTin.

The rescue group is deployed to deal with large-scale dangers where the local auxiliary troops are insufficient. Thanks to their technically advanced emergency vehicles, they can do anything. Often, the accidents where International Rescue has to intervene were caused by the ingenious villain The Hood, whose real name is never known. In fighting this, the Tracys also receive support from the English agent Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, who gets to their locations with a Rolls-Royce with the designation FAB 1, which has been greatly expanded with technical gadgets.

For the backbone of the stories, Anderson was inspired by reports about the German mine accident at Lengede, in which heavy equipment had to be brought in to rescue the miners who had died. The "race against time" was the main problem for the rescue company and this is also one of the main topics in the different series.

Anderson chose the name for the series after reading a letter from his older brother mentioning an air force base called "Thunderbird Field".

The production staff of Anderson's company APF was expanded compared to the predecessor series Stingray and the shooting took place in a larger studio in the English city of Slough.

The pilot episode, Trapped In The Sky, lasted an hour, and ITC Entertainment's boss Lew Grade was so excited about the story that he commissioned Anderson to expand all episodes from the original 25 minutes to an hour.

After the experience of these puppet animated series, Anderson remained true to science fiction. However, he not only made puppet series such as Captain Scarlet and Revenge of the Mysterons, but also real series with real actors. These were the series UFO (1970), moon base Alpha 1 (1975) and Space Cops - Tatort Demeter City (1994). In 2005 Captain Scarlet also launched a CGI reboot entitled Gerry Anderson’s New Captain Scarlet.

Please note that this kit is not a toy and can only be played with to a limited extent. Please keep the items away from small children under 6 years of age. It involves small parts which might break off and be swallowed. We declare the model as a puzzle or decoration

Item Description:

Material:  4mm wood
Dimensions approx. ca. in cm:  (H xD) 52 x 34 (diameter on the rear) 
Weight approx: 1.5 kg
Content: 1 x lasered kit 175 parts / assembly instructions

Supplied as a lasered kit. This must be assambled by yourself.
No tools needed. The parts must be glued.