Aoshima 1/200 Scale Diecast Thunderbird 1

Review by Nike Dorchain

This 1/200 Thunderbird 1 follows the fantastic 1/200 Thunderbird 2. This model comes fully assembled and painted.
This really is a fab model of International Rescues ‘First Responder’ Vehicle. There are many features on this model, unlike the Aoshima Thunderbird 2.

Aoshima Thunderbird 1

The first thing you notice is when you see the box is that there are many illustrations (just like the Thunderbird 2) and that it has pictures of all the features.
The text is mostly Japanese, but on the front we have:
1/200 SCALE / DIECAST MODEL / HIGH QUALITY DETAILS /
Just as with the Thunderbird 2. It also has a picture of the TB 2 on the side.

aoshima TB1 boxfront

Aoshima used lots of polystyrene to secure the model.
The first thing that I noticed was that there were lots of plastic accessories.
When I removed the model itself from the box it was surprisingly heavy, because just as with the TB 2 It is mostly metal.
The wings and accessories are plastic.

aoshima TB1 in polystyrene packaging

TB1 first removed from box

As you can see there are many plastic parts to assemble. The parts feel very fragile, remember they are plastic parts (unlike the TB2 which has metal parts)

First of all the four ‘wings’

Aoshima Thunderbird 1 'Wings'

There is an extra ‘wing’ with wheels on for the landing gear. The landing gear are pushed into a slit on the wings, when the landing gear is not attached there are small plastic parts to fill it up.

Thunderbird 1 underside slit

On the underside there is a tiny hole where another part can be placed in: The vertical jet.

TB1 vertical jet

On the underside there is also a retractable machine gun and a hole for the avalanche ‘barriers’.

Aoshima TB1 underside

On the top there is a hatch which can open and close. Inside, the remote camera.

TB1 Radio Controlled Camera

Then we have a stand and the launch platform:

Aoshima TB1 and stand

Lanch platform

All by all this is a must have for every Thunderbirds fan! And it looks great next to the Aoshima Thunderbird 2 and the Bandai Chara Wheels Thunderbird set.
The price varies between $50 and $150 but even that is well worth it.

This is one of the best Thunderbird 1 models I have ever seen. All we need now is an Aoshima Thunderbird 3 and 5 but who knows what Aoshima might throw at us….

See our review of the Aoshima Thunderbird 2
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