Fab1
is
Lady Penelope's
customized Rolls Royce. A number of different sized
fab 1 models were made for use in
Thunderbirds, including a puppet scaled model which was over five feet long. Here is one of the 1/24 scale models. It probably had a wooden or fiberglass body, vacuformed plastic canopy, chrome plated metal trim and wheels, and rubber tires from a plastic car kit. The Parker and Penelope figures were sculpted from plasticine clay.
Scott Tracy
drove this red convertible in
and no doubt the same model car was used in any number of other
Thunderbirds episodes. It appears to have been an unmodified 1/24 scale plastic automobile kit. 1/24 scale was the standard scale used for ground vehicles of all kinds in
Thunderbirds.
These airport police cars were featured in
and other episodes of
Thunderbirds. They appear to have been made from slightly modified 1/24 scale plastic automobile kits. Extensions made from a section of another kit's roof were placed over the car's trunks to present the appearance of station wagons. These police cars had flashing model railroad grain of wheat light bulbs mounted on their roofs.
Here are two cars from
City of Fire which were no doubt also used in any number of other
Thunderbirds episodes. Both cars appear to have been made from unmodified 1/24 scale plastic automobile kits, a Buick Riviera hard top and Ford Thunderbird convertible. The driver figures were made from plasticine clay.
This is Alan Tracy's racing car from
This model appears to have been a wooden body mounted on 1/24 scale plastic car kit wheels with a tail fin taken from a plastic model aircraft kit. The Alan Tracy driver figure was made from plasticine clay. Imai included a small kit of this racing car in one of their Thunderbird 2 pod vehicle sets.
This police car was featured in
and was no doubt used in any number of other
Thunderbirds episodes. This appears to have been made from an unmodified 1960s era 1/24 scale Dodge Polara or Plymouth Belvedere car kit.
This traffic jam was caused by the collapse of the Empire State Building in
These appear to be Matchbox or Corgi die cast toy cars. Die cast toy cars were often used in large expansive sets such as airports, cityscapes, etc., to give a greater appearance of scale.
This old desert taxi was featured in
and it appears to have been yet another modified 1/24 scale car kit. The desert sand which this model car is being pulled across is none other than Fuller's Earth, an extremely fine powder which is often used as a filler material for certain types of plastics.
This Model T Ford and sports car were featured in
Both vehicles appear to have been unmodified plastic car kits. Note the clouds of dust rising behind the cars. Model cars used in
Thunderbirds were often fitted with a downward pointing
Jetex pyrotechnic motor.
When ignited, the Jetex motor would disturb a fine layer of Fuller's Earth laid down on the rolling road or roadway set, causing an apparent cloud of road dust or exhaust.
This car was featured in City of Fire. This car is a slightly modified Ford Thunderbird. Note how the rear wheel wells have been cut back to alter the car's profile. Note also the huge number of other 1/24 scale plastic model cars in this underground parking garage set!
[Exactly because of that prohibitively large number, I believe Meddings would have chosen for a socalled 'forced perspective' set – a wellknown special effects technique he has been known to have
– where the foreground scale, i.e. the first three rows or so, would have been 1/24, the middle part would have used Corgi or Dinky Toys and the background would have been filled with Matchbox cars; obviously, the garage set would have been scaled accordingly. When the different parts are lined up correctly from the camera's POV, the illusion of a receding perspective cannot be distinguished from the real thing. — JLN2nd]
