Tag Archives: puppet

Thunderbirds to the Rescue!

Back in the 1960s if you needed rescuing and didn’t mind your rescuers being supported by a few wires then the Thunderbirds were there to save the day! Equipped with three flying rescue vehicles, a space station, one submarine, and a seemingly endless range of land based paraphernalia, the Tracey brothers were prepared for any situation. Piloted by Scott, Thunderbird 1 was perhaps the vehicle deployed most frequently, being able to fly like a plane, take off like a rocket, and hover like a helicopter. Or more accurately a Harrier jump-jet. This amazing recreation of the first Thunderbird is the work of Gary Davis of Flickr who has used some serious skill and a lot of pieces to recreate the famous aircraft in an enormous scale. He’s also managed to get it signed by the actor who voiced Scott in the series, which is a nice addition. Take a trip to Tracey Island via the link above for all the photos of Gary’s incredible build!

Thunderbirds are GO(NE)!

Poor Alan Tracy. Left alone in space to man the Thunderbird 5 space station, in love with the beautiful Tin-Tin who’s back on earth, and having given up a career as a championship-winner racing driver, the youngest of the Tracy brothers seems to have got the bum deal. Well, apart from John of course, who has to wear lilac.

Still, Alan does get one perk, and it’s a good one – for he gets to pilot the insane Thunderbird 3 space rocket. Pictured here blasting off from Tracy Island, it appears that Alan and his brothers are abandoning earth for good. Maybe they’ve had enough of Donald Trump. Whatever the reason, it’s a spectacular scene containing some absolutely stellar building techniques, both in the wonderful recreation of Thunderbird 3 and the superb Tracy Island buildings and scenery.

Monstrophonic of Flickr is the brains behind it and there’s more to see of his jaw-dropping creation at his photostream. Click the link above to start the famous countdown. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Thunderbirds are GO!

Cartoon Scarlet

What do spaghetti-O parasitic aliens fear most of all? Well according to Gerry Anderson, it’s a pointily-styled hatchback with a tail fin stuck on the roof. All is not what it seems though, as the driver of said hatchback has fortunately acquired the aliens’ powers of regeneration, rendering him ‘virtually indestructible’.

Captain Scarlet fought the Mysterons from Mars between 1967 and 1968, and if we’re honest we have no idea whether he and his Spectrum colleagues succeeded in thwarting the alien threat, so vague was the series’ ending. Still, it was miles better than Stingray…

This cheeky cartoon recreation of Scarlet’s Spectrum Patrol Car comes from serial bloggee Redfern1950s, and is beautifully constructed in his trademark style. There’s more to see at Red’s photostream – click the link above to make the jump to puppet-based sci-fi circa 1967.

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