What If Fantasy Box Art Gerry Anderson TV Shows Part 2
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- This is a selection of original artwork for some fictional 'what if..' model kits. of vehicles seen in the Gerry Anderson TV series of the 1960's and 70s. Anyone who grew up in the 70s and loves making plastic model kits will get a kick out of this.
I wish there had been kits of these really cool air, space, and ground vehicles. I would have LOVED to have seen these on the shelves in my local Hobby shop (Beatties of London)... and would have promptly bought them all....And would still buy them today!
A huge tip of the hat to Artist ROY CROSS who created so many iconic box tops for Airfix. And to DEREK MEDDINGS and MIKE TRIM who are responsible for designing most of these incredible machines.
Please feel free to add any comments or questions, and click the LIKE and/or subscribe.
There are more videos on my channel featuring 'What If... Fantasy Model Kits'.
Also some videos going behind-the-scenes of the miniature vfx of 'Thunderbirds; and the other Anderson shows;
'The Girder Bridge' and 'Caterpillar Tracks'.
There is more artwork on my website www.matteline.com
Commissions are also available.
Entertaining, thank you.
The train set would have been amazing, great box art, ....
Thank you. I;m sur it could be done. Possibly with a magnets in the rail that could be activated in sequence and pull/push a very free running train along. I have seen a tiny, 2 o 3 inch long, toy of The Mole - about 10 years ago - which drove along, tilted up, The drill started spinning and it descended down an existing tunnel. And could reverse back up the tunnel and back onto the Trolley! Operated by radio control! Incredible. But if they can do that, this should be doable for sure.
Excellent viewing, highly enjoyable.
Thank You
Absolutely brilliant again. I am so jealous of young me from the parallel universe where all these wonderful kits ( and train sets) existed.
Shado moon mobile awesome 👍😎
Airfix needs to do these.
Brilliant work Earth man.
More madness! The question is, how do we get Airfix to take what you're having?!!!!!
I think the Airfix/Matchbox tanks were 1.76th because it was OO gauge compatible so you could use it with your Hornby. Hornby actually tried to do Space Trains once. The problems with monorails ae lack of traction unless every carriage is 'driven'. There's an Irish steam monorail that sits on top of the rails but the loco has basically one driving wheel so hills would be out of the question! I'm on a Blohm and Voss 155 at the moment. Done one of those? They remind me of Michael Rennie's craft in 'The Shape of Things to Come', off centre. Quatermass and the pit was on last night, the Hammer one. That's a nice looking craft!
Raymond Massey of course, not Michael Rennie!
The Andersons created so many wonderful things in their tv series, children today are poorer for not having anything like this in their world.
Just love these videos, with the 70s airfix box art from when I used to build them
There is something about that era of Airfix box design that is so appealing and comforting. Like John Noakes. And the Wombles
Crater 101 is one of my favourite Scarlet episodes, so I would love models of the vehicles from there. And the artwork is beautiful.
Thank you. I love that episode. It really seizes the potential of the show. It's also quite dramatic and offers something different. A good partner for Lunarville 7 and the follow up epsiode....the name.of which escapes me
Some good choices there. I would love to see control room models like the one released of Main Mission or perhaps a cutaway Skydiver, a bit like Revell's U-47.
I lOVE the box art for the Dove. Doppelganger/Journey to the Far Side of the Sun was one of my favorite films. GREAT CONCEPTS. It's a shame that Airfix did not produce these kits. Your artwork is GREAT!!!.
These vids are like a time machine for me. As a ‘57 model, I grew up with Gerry Andersen and the space race. Great graphics. Thanks
Thanks for the feedback. Super pleased to hear you are enjoying the vids.
Once again, awesome kits that should have been made but never were. The high speed monorail is a cool idea and would have made for an exciting display!
The tail fin of the Spectrum hovercraft looks like it's been lifted straight off the Spectrum Passenger Jet as well.
I coudl watch your videos like this for hours. Briliant !
Thank You.
If only part 2 for sure. My favorite would be the hooverjet. It was not used often but to me is still one of the best desgn. I’ve often thought about scratchbuilding one myself.
... thank you for the Dove lifting body ...
I remember "Into Infinity"! I watched it on holiday in a basement in London. I drew a picture of the Altares afterwards.
Edit: the Hornby Train version of the Thunderbirds monorail really made me smile! What a brilliant idea! With "MAGNA-MOTION Unique Magnetic Traction System". You could actually do this nowadays with a superconducting allow in the monorail "pods" and a track made of magnets - I've seen videos - but the whole thing needs to be cooled to liquid nitrogen temperatures which wouldn't be very practical for a toy.
The Helijet also shows up in Captain Scarlet and Joe 90
Yes. I think in 'Joe 90' it has floats.
Fantastic artwork which brings back so many memories - interesting how easily the real-life Fairey Rotodyne sits alongside the fantasy vehicles. Great choices - makes me want to dig out my Gerry Anderson DVDs!
...go for it. i think you won't be dissapointed.
I love your attention to detail - I see that on your helijet boxart, not only do you have the doomed Empire State Building, but, second from left, is the 'Fulmer Finance' building, the collapse of which, nearly does for our heroes.
I love this stuff. If Airfix had made them - I'd have bought them, no argument. Multiples, in some cases.
Nice one. 👍👍👍
Oh, that train set! The sort of thing that would make me weep for not existing in reality!
You could have a few Airfix diorama kits, too - the entrance to the Anderbad Tunnel, with Thunderbird 2, FAB 1, and the Monobrake: Warren Grafton's Pacific-Atlantic Monorail dangling precariously on that busted bridge - the shot of that is pretty iconic.
Ah, Thank you for noticing the that! That makes all the extra work worthwhile :)
Again, great choice and nicely executed artwork. The vehicle 'extras' in TB episodes always captivated me. Hopefully in future box art videos we'll see some of them including maybe the Houseman half-track!
My brother Dale has put me onto your videos - cracking stuff, I must say your visual and artisic style on your 'what ifs" are superb - now, a letter to Hornby might be needed 😅
You should be a product developer for Airfix. You would make them and you millions. These kits would be the best seller they would have ever seen!
Thanks!
Weren't there moon tanks shown defending the SHADO moonbase in one episode? I know there were some in Space 1999
If your not aware, the Airfix Rotodyne is making a return back to the shops with Airfix Rereleasing the kit later this year!!!
Great news, I am hopeful that the SRN1 hovercraft kit will make a reappearance too.
Really cool that you remember "Journey/ Doppelganger". Love your work.
I am most familar with Stingray to UFO. But I have recently be getting into Supercar! And Fireball XL5.
I love these. You are quite prolific.
Representing a pair of eyes seeing these for the first time, I'll tell you I am wishing for a touch more contrast, more dark (and darker) areas.
To each his own. Thanks for watching
There’s plenty of talented UA-camrs that can 3D resin print some of these craft. Maybe you can reach out to one of them to print some of them out for you? Just an idea
I hope this was as fun for you to make as it was for us to watch! As with your Part 1, it's fun to imagine an alternate reality where these kits actually were produced! I definitely would want that Altares kit . . . .
I can't wait to see what you have in mind for Part 3.
Roll the dice on the Mandela effect and it might be possible LOL
Thanks for the feedback. Yes - great fun :)
Awesome 'what if' presentation. I think the Moon Hopper would create less lunar dust as it traveled than the Shado moon vehicle. Some big issue Apollo 11 on up, encountered. Just not sure about the weight for it to be practical. On an asteroid, indeed excellent.
The Altares would have been a great ship along with the Ultra probe from Space 1999. Into Infinity was a pilot film for a series that didn’t happen, I think it was called the Day After Tomorrow in the USA
When I was younger, and before access to recordings of TV shows, I would get the Altares and the 'Ultra Probe' mixed up. I think I thought they were the same model.
I remember Into Infinity. A one off pilot scifi show. Fell into a space warp or something... I think Brian Blessed was in it. I've got Doppleganger/Far Side... very good, particularly the spec fx.
I think they made 'Into Infinity' with a possible series in mind, had it been a bigger hit. But it was not a Gerry Anderson production per se. Yes Brian Blessed and Nick Tate (Alan Carter from Space:1999)!.
Your concepts and execution are so good. Hornby train set of an Anderson monorail. If only!. You even got the transformer in the set so spot on. Love your work
Thank You. I the commentary i forgot to mention the 'magna-motion' idea. That it could used sequenced magnets in the track - or the stantions - to pull and push and pull a free-running train along, with magnets or metal in the pods that grip the rail. To somehow use the magnets capacity to repel and attract. I dunno. I am not an electrician or engineer... but it seemed like the sort of cool idea 'someone' at Hornby HQ could come up with.
@@Matteline Agreed. No doubt it could be done considering how easy I see people make electromagnetic trains on You Tube with AA batteries, button magnets and coiled copper wire
Great stuff love the idea of tye mono rail . I love yiur ideas for the what if models, it inspired me to do a couple . I did one of the flying wing l painted and one of the Spectrum Patrol Car l photo shopped based on a C2 Corvette Stingray . Im on Face Book btw as Jerry Bailey , with some of my other artwork on there too 👍
Thank You :)
I have a Shadow Moon Mobile kit. Cannot remember the name of the company. Wonderful video and wonderful artwork. Kits or diecast models. They would sell like hot cakes. Airfix, Hornby, Scalextrix, Sixteen/12 seek this gentleman out.
The reason airfix made there tanks 1/76 so you could add them to your HO scale train layouts. I was down at Hornby HQ and their was a colab between airfix and Hornby in the early 60s.
Thank You for clarifying.
I would have loved any of these kits. Especially the Doppelganger ship, and the Monorail train set. The Airfix vehicles were 1/76th scale because this matched British OO (Double O) gauge model railways, and Airfix already had a line of model railway buildings, therefore everything matched, along with the soft plastic figures.
The Helijet, with twin pylons above the fuselage, is very like the Airfix Bristol 192 Belvedere helicopter. Did the Gerry Anderson team use one of these to create the model ?
As I recall 1/76th is equivelent to Hornby ho/oo a overhang from when Triang was king and the Rail/House Airfix models were made to fit in on that scale !!!!
Vehicles like the Dove derive their lift from their body shape: the rudimentary wings are just stabilisers.
I like the Dive - definitely feels credible, akin to the US Lifting body aircraft like the M2F2 and the HL10. The way it lifts off vertically from the launch trolley is a tad implausible. I did a
'What if' box top of the Dove in am earlier video.
love the altaries
It has a sort of brutish look to it. As a youngster I would get it mixed up with the 'Ultra Probe' from the 'Space:1999' episode 'Dragon's Domain.
There's a working monorail in Wupoertal, Germany: it appears in Francois Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451.
I love the hanging monorails vs the ones that straddle the track..the latter are probably more.pravtical, but handing from the rail just looks SO COOL. I adore the 'Thunderbirds' Monotrains and Monorail systems.
I thought the ufo mood buggy hopped like a grass hopper
Me too! It is the Captain Scarlet one that hops.
Would love to have seen a model kit of Paul Foster's car from UFO. I have Ed Straker's from Dinky.
The two UFO cars and the cars in Doppleganger are super cool. I am not sure, but I think there was maybe a resin kit of Foster's car in the 2000s. Maybe 'Fantastic Plastic'...or UNCL? Or maybe i m just imagining it ....
@@Matteline Cheers for that anyway.
I just looked it up and it's a company called DMP. Says it's just like Straker's Dinky car.
For me the Helijet reminds me of the Airfix Belvedere. Shape of the monorail looks like the foreward end of an early B-52 Bomber. X-20's Submarine in Stingray was based on NASA's Experimental swing wing Bell X-5.
I think they had pictures of the latest planes, trains and automobiles to help inspire and bring credibility to their designs.
So many great vehicle designs from the Anderson universe to choose from, how about 1:76th Matchbox multicolour kit (complete with a diorama base) of the explosives truck from Joe 90?
Being a child of the 80's I'd love to see kits of any of the Terrahawks, especially the Hawk Wing.
I love the Joe 90 Explosives truck. and what a neat idea for a Matchbox kit. Their tanks, with little diorama bases, were some of the best kits ever. Matchbox did a series of quasi-futuristic military/space vehicles in the mid-late 70s. One of which looked very much like the Explosive Truck. google 'Matchbox Adventure 2000 rocket striker;. It came in light green and another darker, more military green...like the Dinky Mobile
Tamiya - yes THSAT Tamiya - di a kit of the Explosives truck. check out this video by Andy's Hobby Headquarters of the Tamiya Museum. At 2:35 (approx), if you are quick you can spot the kit built up. I think the U87 too.
ua-cam.com/video/IiGazpOEGyE/v-deo.html
Hi @@Matteline, pleased to say (now I'm all grown up;-) ) I have both versions of that Matchbox toy. I had one as a kid, but quickly lost all the rockets in the garden & scratched it up recreating that Joe 90 adventure.
@@Matteline Thanks I half remember seeing it during a google search, way out of my price range sadly.
1:76 is OO scale model railways, the original scale was 'half O scale' or HO (1:87) but British trains are smaller than those on the continent or in the USA so getting the motor into the body was an issue. The result was a compromise with 1:76 scaled locomotives running on 1:87 scale track and as model railways were popular the likes of Airfix adopted the 1:76 scale for their models as well. The 1:72 scale was the standard for wartime aircraft recognition models (six feet to the inch) and that became the standard for model aircraft kits. Back in the 50s, 60's and 70's these were toys, hence the importance of maintaining the standard scales so they could all work together. Airfix used to boast about 'constant scale' on their packaging. These days there is a lot of guff about these 'not being toys' (so just brick-a-brack then?) but if given the chance kids seem to like playing with them. I make up toy soldier sets to give away and sometimes I am asked for sci-fi - I managed to buy some Airfix 2001 shuttles and Angel interceptors which served well (although I have to make the undercarriage for the shuttles). Sadly the SR71 is no longer available and these days I have to make most flying things from scratch (with kitbashed tanks for ground vehicles). The BBC were notoriously difficult to deal with, so we never did get a set of Daleks and the Doctor, or UNIT troops and perhaps a box with examples of the other monsters from the series, but the Ukrainians offer sets of 'stalkers that serve as 'space pirates' and the old Airfix paratroopers make passable 'space troopers'
Wow. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Great information.
@@Matteline One odd point - The old toy soldiers were to 1:32 scale (derived from Gauge 1 model railways), as were (and are) Britains farming models and figures (and their former range of 'garden models', plants, a lawn sheet you could stroke to get the look of a freshly mowed lawn, with the lawnmower). It became the standard for farming models and also for model horses (in the US it is sometimes described as 'stablemate scale'). Up to the later 1960s at least it was known as 'standard scale' with some justification. Hollow casting (pouring molten metal into a cold spinning mould) was developed for 1:32 toy soldiers and consistency of scale really developed at around that time. Much later one firm worked out how to squirt different coloured plastics into the same mould to save on painting costs (it wasn't Britians but I cannot remember who it was, possibly Timpo). 1:32 is a good scale for 3-7 year olds, big enough to be easily handled, too big to eat and with a decent base they will stand on carpet (these days I have to add an extra base of thin card, and everything now has to be painted by the purchaser). 1:100 corresponds to the TT model railway scale and the availability of scenic items in that scale fostered the development of 15mm wargaming. I don't use many wargame figures, they cost more, their scale is somewhat variable (even from the same manufacturer) and to make painting easier they have enlarged heads and hands, so it looks like an army of children storming across the carpet, which is slightly disturbing). Some are better than other however and AB miniatures and Early War Miniatures do offer some very nice 20mm figures, albeit at a price. Sci Fi remains under served, especially in 1:32 but recent releases from SCS Direct have filled in some of the gaps (including having some women in them - They go down well with little girls, sometimes to the annoyance of their brothers I am told).
Surely the Altares would've been a great kit, expecially for customizations/conversions, as the second kit, from Doppelganger (fun fact, some of the props from the movie were recycled for UFO) and the Helijet surely would be another good idea. Sadly, sci-fi, expecially here in Italy, at least before Star Wars, wasn't very popular, now luckily the young gen are all for the future.
Indeed. I can't recall if this happens in the show or not, but I know the Altares was designed so that the nose section could detach for planet fall and landings. much like Fireball XL5's Fireball Junior.
Did you do a box top for the Unitron tank from the Captain Scarlet episode "Point 780"?
...it was on Talking Pictures TV this afternoon.... no I have not done the Unitron.
Hey, if Airfix made one, I'd buy i t! 0:59 1:01
Linear track mechanically it would be quite easy
Thanks for the feedback - for the Monorail?
The problem with flying craft on thr moon is the amount of fuel thsy eould gave to carry: unless they had some sort of electromagnetic lift
...at least with the lower gravity on the moon, fuel.needs should be less than on the Earth.
Deckles lmfao, anyway, what about some "Moon Zero Two"?
Damn, I want the Altares model now. someone make a 3d model
I think someone has done a 3d printable model.
Helijet reminds me of the realworld Fairey Rotodyne minus the rotors, and some bits added.
dont do 1/76 and 1/72, do one or the other so you can place kits in the same diorama
Thanks for taking the tiem to comment. That would make sense. But it would make equal sense for this practise to be followed with the real world vehicles if they were in 1/72nd to go with the aircraft...or vice-versa. The scales are a fun nod to 'authencticity' - the annoyong custom within kit manufacturers to do vhicles in 1/76th and 1/35th and aircraft in 1/72nd and 1/32nd.
How about Blake Seven the Federation Pursuit Craft?
Oh yeh, They were great looking ships!