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Description
This artist thanks you in advance for your open mindedness...

Well this is probably a sure fire way to annoy people, as you might have guessed this is the Thunderbird 1 design from the 2004 Thunderbirds movie, designed by Dominic Lavery. While I know the film has its major share of problems, I like concentrating on its strengths, one of the films coolest aspects was it's production design and I'd very much cite it as one of the key influences in my work.

I have a little bit of history with this thing. Back when the film was announced I followed its production really closely, my skills as an artist where really just developing and when the designs for the new Thunderbirds where rolled out I took to them immediately, particularly TB1, here is my first attempt on her (age 13).

This is her in action from 2005: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJt_-w…

Coming back to her was a really nostalgic experience, it was a challenge recreating a lot of the intricate details on the hull that I simply couldn't do when I was 13. The image was inspired by a painting by Andrew Probert. 3.bp.blogspot.com/-VYmZ9C5BMZs…

With the first views of the new Thunderbird craft beginning to filter out i've been seeing a lot of debate/anger about some of the designs being changed. Personally, I like what i've seen so far.

Admittedly this is something thats down to opinion with no right answer, it also seems to be a generation thing, after all, growing up i've had 4 Tardis consuls, several dozen bat-mobiles, 3 Daleks, 5 Enterprises etc, where as there really was only 1 set of Thunderbirds until 2004. Redesigns are something i've come to expect and enjoy about the "remake experience". A good redesign takes something your used to and lets you rediscover it all over again.

To me it's not "updating" it, its not making it "better", its not destroying anyones childhood (unless you have a really short memory), it's a variation on a theme and I like that . It builds on what the original designer started and allows it to evolve. In those respects the film TB1 is a great design, it adds a bit more airplane while maintaining the rocket look, you have windows to see out of, the swivelling jets at the back help VTOL. It's cool

What does upset me is when an artist makes a pass at a design for fun and then gets a ton of hate for it, often no attempt is made to take into account the artistic technique, the merits of the design or the imagination that went into it, It's different and therefore simply "wrong". I myself have been accused of ruining Thunderbirds from everything from changing designs, to not matching the original color temperatures of the episodes themselves. Ironically however, when I redesigned the Eagle and labeled it a prototype, they loved it.

Made in: Photoshop.
Blender
Vue 10
Particle illusion.

Description
This artist thanks you in advance for your open mindedness...

Well this is probably a sure fire way to annoy people, as you might have guessed this is the Thunderbird 1 design from the 2004 Thunderbirds movie, designed by Dominic Lavery. While I know the film has its major share of problems, I like concentrating on its strengths, one of the films coolest aspects was it's production design and I'd very much cite it as one of the key influences in my work.

I have a little bit of history with this thing. Back when the film was announced I followed its production really closely, my skills as an artist where really just developing and when the designs for the new Thunderbirds where rolled out I took to them immediately, particularly TB1, here is my first attempt on her (age 13).

This is her in action from 2005: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJt_-w…

Coming back to her was a really nostalgic experience, it was a challenge recreating a lot of the intricate details on the hull that I simply couldn't do when I was 13. The image was inspired by a painting by Andrew Probert. 3.bp.blogspot.com/-VYmZ9C5BMZs…

With the first views of the new Thunderbird craft beginning to filter out i've been seeing a lot of debate/anger about some of the designs being changed. Personally, I like what i've seen so far.

Admittedly this is something thats down to opinion with no right answer, it also seems to be a generation thing, after all, growing up i've had 4 Tardis consuls, several dozen bat-mobiles, 3 Daleks, 5 Enterprises etc, where as there really was only 1 set of Thunderbirds until 2004. Redesigns are something i've come to expect and enjoy about the "remake experience". A good redesign takes something your used to and lets you rediscover it all over again.

To me it's not "updating" it, its not making it "better", its not destroying anyones childhood (unless you have a really short memory), it's a variation on a theme and I like that . It builds on what the original designer started and allows it to evolve. In those respects the film TB1 is a great design, it adds a bit more airplane while maintaining the rocket look, you have windows to see out of, the swivelling jets at the back help VTOL. It's cool

What does upset me is when an artist makes a pass at a design for fun and then gets a ton of hate for it, often no attempt is made to take into account the artistic technique, the merits of the design or the imagination that went into it, It's different and therefore simply "wrong". I myself have been accused of ruining Thunderbirds from everything from changing designs, to not matching the original color temperatures of the episodes themselves. Ironically however, when I redesigned the Eagle and labeled it a prototype, they loved it.

Made in: Photoshop.
Blender
Vue 10
Particle illusion.