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Thunderbirds Are Go - part 1

I always loved the Thunderbirds as a youngster so designing the new series was a super fun challenge for me. Working on Thunderbirds Are Go was a really fun couple of years, really rewarding stuff especially seeing the miniatures come to life.
I created these designs at Weta Workshop working with Pukeko Pictures and ITV, starting in late 2012
This post just has a few selects of concepts for the Thunderbirds themselves, I'll have another post of other vehicles and props up soon!
https://www.thunderbirds.com/

Starting with TB1 seemed to make sense. This was the first piece I did of it and a lot of it actually carried through to the final design

Starting with TB1 seemed to make sense. This was the first piece I did of it and a lot of it actually carried through to the final design

An early, more high tech cockpit concept

An early, more high tech cockpit concept

Pilot's position referencing the original  fantastic design

Pilot's position referencing the original fantastic design

....and here's how she looks in the show

....and here's how she looks in the show

TB2! A classic design! Again, didn't want to mess with it too much, just brought in some details from modern heavy lifting aircraft.

TB2! A classic design! Again, didn't want to mess with it too much, just brought in some details from modern heavy lifting aircraft.

Pod interior

Pod interior

Here she is as seen in the show

Here she is as seen in the show

Just a few of the different options for TB3, I think there were more than 80 in total.

Just a few of the different options for TB3, I think there were more than 80 in total.

TB3 as seen in the show

TB3 as seen in the show

TB4: the fan-enraging version. With all of these designs I wanted to incorporate elements of current day, real world vehicles that perform similar tasks. These concepts were based on shapes seen in currently operating deep sea submersibles  .

TB4: the fan-enraging version. With all of these designs I wanted to incorporate elements of current day, real world vehicles that perform similar tasks. These concepts were based on shapes seen in currently operating deep sea submersibles .

What we ended up going with. Much closer to the original but a sleeker look and a lot of new functionality.

What we ended up going with. Much closer to the original but a sleeker look and a lot of new functionality.

Any excuse to do a cutaway drawing!

Any excuse to do a cutaway drawing!

TB4 as seen in the show

TB4 as seen in the show

TB5 changed the most from the original design, as requested by the director. It always bothered me that they seemed to have artificial gravity in the original TB5, with occupants walking around like it was a house on earth.

TB5 changed the most from the original design, as requested by the director. It always bothered me that they seemed to have artificial gravity in the original TB5, with occupants walking around like it was a house on earth.

I wanted to at least have an attempt at basic physics concessions, with a rotating torus generating internal gravity. This one is far too small to really generate anything near 1G but hey, at least we tried!

I wanted to at least have an attempt at basic physics concessions, with a rotating torus generating internal gravity. This one is far too small to really generate anything near 1G but hey, at least we tried!

The new TB5 as seen in the show

The new TB5 as seen in the show