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3DThunderbird 2 (re-imagined )

ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
edited September 2014 in Work in Progress #1
It's been many moons since I last posted to SFM, I haven't been doing much that you could call "sci-fi" for a while. Anyway...

These "reimagining" things aren't exactly original any more, but this has been on my back burner for probably the best part of a few years. So, my idea is to try my hand at the Thunderbirds, hopefully aiming to do as many as possible but starting with Thunderbird 2! I'm keeping the basic idea, but deviating quite widely in many of the details. The outline below is what the plan is.

Keeping
The pods (of course!)
Forward sweeping wings - definitely one of the more iconic parts
Engine inlets at the side
Joined tail

Adding/changing
Increasing the size, I know Thunderbirds was never totally consistent with this in the first place
Larger wings so it doesn't just drop out of the sky
Better undercarriage
Larger VTOL thrusters
Open at the back, the pod can be accessed from the back

Dropping (the blasphemy!)
The "stilts" - the pod can now deploy from the back, it seems wasteful to lift all that bulk
Green paint scheme, although I will give it some hints of green I'm going for a mostly grey look
The rounded appearance, otherwise I don't think it can be changed enough

I've got the basic shape I want outlined and will work on adding details later. There are still a few places that need altered and tinkered with.
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Post edited by Armondikov on
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  • metalsnakemetalsnake5 Posts: 0Member
    looks like an unusual design yet very interesting i myself agree that the lifting function was a little out of place in my opinion

    your shape looks good and functional cant wait to see the updates will be watching this thread

    keep it up :)
  • BorgManBorgMan209 DutchlandPosts: 581Member
    Well, if you're going for an aft delivery system, you might as well make the pod bigger. Right now that's a lot of wasted space in the back if you ask me... Als, if possible, try to incorporate at least some kind of rounding on the front, because right now it looks more like a landspeeder than something that flies. A rounded nose helps evoke to a feeling of it being able to fly.

    I'm gonna keep an eye on this thread, Thunderbirds re-imaginations are always fun to watch :)
  • DannageDannage236 Posts: 634Member
    Armondikov is back, yay... and without something GW related... ooohh...
  • Dr LeeDr Lee2 Posts: 0Member
    Love this re-imagining.... looking forward to seeing what you do:thumb:
  • Dr-TimelordDr-Timelord0 Posts: 0Member
    Quick, make it green! :D
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    Cheers for the feedback, guys. I'm going to take it on board the next time I do some modelling. I agree with the larger pod and might reshape the back to make it aerodynamic. In the meantime, this is what I did and rendered out after starting the thread, but never got around to posting. I actually did a bit of work on the pod interior but that's impossible to see!

    You can see the start of some engines. I kind of like the square ones from the movie as the round ones seem just a little cheap - the end product should be an unholy hybrid between the two. What you can't really see is that the pod is on tank-tracks so it can move out the back of the TB and drive off. I will probably modify them to turn out similar to the landing gear on the Hercules so they're a bit more visible and adapted for flying. The driving pod does bang off the engines, however, so I'll probably need to do a minor amount of reshaping there - or handwave it, I don't know.
    83596.jpg83597.jpg83598.jpg83599.jpg
  • publiusrpubliusr550 Posts: 1,746Member
    I can see the Land ram, the Landmaster or Ark II rolling out of it. Hard core tech.
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    publiusr wrote: »
    I can see the Land ram, the Landmaster or Ark II rolling out of it. Hard core tech.

    Hmmm, I might take those three into account when thinking of vehicles for the inside. So long as they work out style wise. Redoing one of the classics like The Mole or Firefly definitely has to be on the To Do list! I'd definitely welcome any ideas for these.
  • MelakMelak332 Posts: 0Member
    The model is looking pretty awesome but...what IS it??!
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    Sod it, I'm making it green! It just works really well. I have been thinking about the launch sequence too (I also got bored and scripted a remake of Trapped in the Sky in my head... but enough of me geeking out) and I'm thinking embedding the launch ramp inside the mountain so it's longer - and a little more practical/realistic - and TB2 doesn't need to taxi all the way out when it can just fly off from the hanger itself.

    But to answer Melak's question (you are from Earth, right?) it's Thunderbird 2, International Rescue's heavy duty transport vehicle.

    ooDTA.jpg
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    SoeLi.jpg
  • Dr-TimelordDr-Timelord0 Posts: 0Member
    Look waaaaaay cooler with colour now, think it maybe needs to be a deeper shade of green though?
  • BorgManBorgMan209 DutchlandPosts: 581Member
    I'd advice to make the "spoiler" a bit wider by connecting it to the outer engine casings instead of the hull, because right now it's got a really thin appearance which doesn't do the shape any good. I already noticed it in the first pics but now I really am starting to dislike it...
  • Dr LeeDr Lee2 Posts: 0Member
    my only crit is the thruster blocks seem a bit too big for me...

    But i love how you've done this...
  • kippakippa0 Posts: 0Member
    Lovely model. It is nice to see a none star trek model in here, not that there is anything wrong with them, just that this makes a very nice pleasant change. :)
  • StarshipStarship464 São Paulo - BrasilPosts: 1,976Member
    Coming along very nice! A good reinterpretation of an old classic.
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    BorgMan wrote: »
    I'd advice to make the "spoiler" a bit wider by connecting it to the outer engine casings instead of the hull, because right now it's got a really thin appearance which doesn't do the shape any good. I already noticed it in the first pics but now I really am starting to dislike it...

    Interesting idea. I will try that out. Although it's polygon soup around that part, it will probably be worth it.

    Dr Lee wrote: »
    my only crit is the thruster blocks seem a bit too big for me...

    I kept scaling up the engines because they always looked too small. Perhaps I've gone overboard, but the original TB2 engines were hardly modest to begin with!

    kippa wrote: »
    It is nice to see a none star trek model in here, not that there is anything wrong with them, just that this makes a very nice pleasant change. :)

    Thanks very much. I properly quit doing any modelling remotely to do with Star Trek a long time ago. Yes, it's popular but at the same time, it's very, very limiting - and if you're doing canon things there's hardly any point.
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    Okay, I've done a quick side-by-side of some different tail designs. On one I swept it forward like the first version, but this looks a little strange. On balance I like the one that sweeps back, it's a lot closer to the original that way - whether this is good or bad I don't know.

    UeO3S.jpg
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  • Robert HarrisonRobert Harrison1 Posts: 16Member
    I like the one on the far left (as you look at it). Fits the forward swept wings and the general look...

    Very nice model
  • CoolhandCoolhand283 Mountain LairPosts: 1,294Member
    definitely swept back. swept forwards makes it look too squat... too short. I'd perhaps move the wings back a bit too. The design so far has a sorta 70's feel to it, maybe early 80's Terrahawks era. Looks much, much better in green too, but it should darker and more like the 60's model colourscheme imo.
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    I see what you mean about bringing the wings forward, but I'm not sure myself. I might give that a shot.

    Anyway, the new tail:
    GA5_S.jpg
  • CoolhandCoolhand283 Mountain LairPosts: 1,294Member
    I meant that if anything, they should probably be moved back a bit, I think they might work better, because this layout gives you major CG issues if its not planned so the cargo pod and the aircraft share a similar Centre of Gravity. Probably another good reason to have the tail, and the engines up there, swept back to move the CoG back and help it balance with or without the cargo pod. So yeah it looks better, and it makes it a more practical design. Nice.
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    Ah yes, I see. I think I just misread that. I'll guestimate the centre of gravity, but without knowing the weight of the engines (one presumes they're pretty heavy) it'd be difficult to know. There is a small amount of scope for shifting the pod forward, which would achieve the same effect without moving the wings too far back from their current position.
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    A short take-off animation done via preview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ4bskVmFWA

    The camera work needs a little refinement but this is only a test run at the moment.
  • metalsnakemetalsnake5 Posts: 0Member
    the animation looks wicked to me but hell i have hardly any idea about animation lol good design and concept very very nice work talking of the CoG that would also change if the pod was loaded or not i think that would change the pods CoG and if the pod is being carried that would change TB2's CoG at least thats how i understand it
  • Dr-TimelordDr-Timelord0 Posts: 0Member
    What, no palm trees?


    But cool concept launch so far
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    What, no palm trees?

    Sacrilege, I know, but I'll find somewhere else to shoehorn them in! My reasoning is that the raised take-off ramp is cool. BUT, far too short to be practical. A ramp inside the mountain lets me keep the launch ramp but keeps it both practical and hidden. However, because it's inside there can't be any palm trees dropping back. However, I could add them to a runway outside; as in the "reboot" concept I'm working on, all the Thunderbirds land on an external airstrip (sorry, but the vertical rocket landings are stupid) before taxiing into a hanger and back through a hidden door into the launch complex. Therefore the palm trees either side of this airstrip can fold back during landing!
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    Anyway, a slightly lengthier launch sequence:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTfYJxFcl9I

    And a render of the hanger bay with a few bits of lighting:
    JDVoA.jpg
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    Started on The Mole this morning. I'm going for a fairly radical departure, but something I think plays to the Rule of Cool better than the original.

    LmmmS.jpg
    LmoS0.jpg

    With the drill. Of course, real tunnel boring machines look nothing like this or the original Mole, so I've based it on an oil drill head instead.

    5ejcA.jpg
  • DCBDCB331 Posts: 0Member
    Nice work Armondikov. Perhaps you could add the palm trees as potted plants in the hallway the pilots use to access their loading tube? :D

    And to Melak, perhaps this may enlighten you - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMEuEF9-UbU&fmt=35
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    I will get palm trees in somewhere!

    The Mole is more or less finished now. Although I'll have to go through and break the parts up to animate it - it's going to be a complicated one.
    Anyway, eagle-eyed B-movie buffs may spot that the rear end is taken almost completely from 1970s steampunk-ish film At The Earth's Core (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6wOJn3hk3Q), as the tunnelling machine from this film does share a lot of similarities with The Mole.

    xuWO9.jpg
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    This might be controversial too, but I had a brainwave based on a combination of practicality and laziness; I'm going to base some, but not all, of the pod vehicles on the same chasis. This makes sense, right? You have a rugged, powerful platform, you want to use it and mass produce it. So I've done three in total, The Mole, Firefly (which bears a passing resemblance to Shunt from Robot Wars) and an all-purpose flat bed truck, which will eventually form the base for the transmitter truck that appeared in Sun Probe.

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