Captain
Scarlet, introduced in 1967, brought a new look to
Supermarionation. Gone forever (forget about Thunderbird 6, that
was an abberation) were the old style cartoonish puppets in favor
of a new batch of realistically proportioned puppets. The Captain
Scarlet puppets were essentially exact duplicates of human
beings. So realistic were they, in fact, that the original
Captain Scarlet series concept called for a special 'guest star'
puppet in each episode which was to be modeled closely on a
famous actor or actress. Captain Scarlet involved a war between
Martian aliens called the Mysterons and the forces of Earth under
a global military organization called Spectrum. The Mysterons
have a power called 'retromotabilism' which enables them to
destroy people or things and then create exact duplicates which
are under their control. Spectrum agent Captain Scarlet was
killed by the Mysterons and duplicated. However, an accident
broke the Mysteron control over the duplicate Captain Scarlet,
leaving him with the original's personality and the Mysteron
ability to recover from fatal wounds. Thus, Captain Scarlet
became an indestructible soldier of Spectrum in the war against
the Mysterons.
Here is the MEV
(Mars Exploration Vehicle) searching the surface of Mars
for the source of radio signals detected from Earth. The
MEV model was recycled from the Thunderbirds Are Go film.
It was made from balsa wood and featured motorized
tracks. Note the large clouds of Fuller's Earth that are
being kicked up by a Jetex Motor installed under the
model. Fuller's Earth is a very fine powder that is
commonly used by the plastics industry as a filler.
The Mysteron City
under the retromotabilism ray. The city model was a
collection of illuminated household shapes and colored
translucent plastic. This shot was an interesting
composite of multiple exposures. The retromotabilism ray
is a beam of white light that shown on the darkened set
while talcum powder was sprinkled through it. Later, the
film was rewound and the city set shot again under normal
lighting conditions. Petroleum jelly on the camera lens
caused the 'fog' effect.
The Cloudbase
model was 10 to 12 feet long and made basically from wood
with a metal substructure. The model was hung on wires in
front of a painted sky backdrop. Some of the clouds below
the model were actually pieces of cotton to give a 3D
effect.
Here is one of the
larger Angel Jet models (about 1/16th scale) on a large
scale section of the Cloudbase flight deck. There were at
least six Angel Jets made, three large and three small.
They were all made from a combination of fiberglass
castings and balsa wood. Some of these models were only
finished on one side. The pilot figures were made from
plasticine clay. The 'steam' that spurts up when the jets
are launched was carbon dioxide or freon from a
pressurized container held by a technician below the set.
Here is a 1/24th
scale Spectrum Patrol Car (SPC) on Derek Meddings'
rolling road. This model vehicle is actually stationary.
The road and backdrop are painted on endless belts moving
on motorized rollers to simulate motion. The SPC is being
held stationary on the rolling road by two technicians
who are of course positioned out of the camera's field of
view. Each technician is holding a pair of thin wires.
One technician was in charge of holding the front of the
SPC, the other technician held the rear.
This is the puppet
sized SPC set with under-control (stringless) puppets of
Captain Brown and Captain Scarlet. The puppeteers are
operating these puppets from underneath the set using an
array of control rods and wires. There is a
rear-projection screen installed behind the set which is
running motion picture film shot from a vehicle on a real
highway to give the illusion of motion.
Here is a 1/24th
scale Maximum Security Vehicle (MSV) moving down a
miniature street. This MSV, like all the other Spectrum
ground vehicles, was made of fiberglass castings pulled
from plaster or rubber molds made from wooden masters.
All of the model vehicles used in Captain Scarlet were
provided with foam rubber suspensions. Some of the larger
models were fitted with a device which made the front of
the vehicle 'dip' to simulate the application of brakes
at high speed.
The Mysteron
duplicate of Captain Brown is about to explode! The white
smoke coming out around the Mysteron Captain Brown's neck
is actually titanium tetra chloride, a very noxious and
corrosive chemical substance which smokes when brought in
contact with the air. Captain Brown's hair is British
mohair. His eyes are plastic hemispheres with a reduced
color photograph of an actual human eye pupil glued to
the center. The Spectrum jacket is made from a very fine
grade suede leather.
The Spectrum
Maximum Security Building explodes! Many of the model
buildings in Captain Scarlet were made from gypsum board.
Windows in skyscrapers were made using clear plastic
toolboxes which could be furnished like miniature rooms.
The clouds of black smoke are actually Fuller's Earth
which has been stuffed into the building along with other
junk to enhance the effect of the explosives. For an
explosion like this, the model has been scored in
strategic locations so that it breaks up realistically.
This scene is not
what it appears to be! Captain Scarlet and the World
President are not ejecting upwards from this Spectrum
Passenger Jet (SPJ), they are actually ejecting
downwards. This model was filmed upside-down and the two
miniature figures are falling downwards towards the floor
of the set! The technique of filming models upside-down
was introduced in later episodes of Thunderbirds (like
'Riccochet') so that rocket exhaust and smoke would
appear to go straight down.
This is a
panoramic view of a large scale roadway set. Note the
1/24 scale AMT automobile kit based car. This car is
being pulled along the set from below by a technician
holding a pin extending from the bottom of the model car
and inserted into a thin slot in the roadway. The
vegetation on this set is made from green tinted bath
sponge and model railroad lichen.
This Swift
Removals Van actually contains a Spectrum Persuit Vehicle
(SPV). The van model's moving panels are spring loaded
and liberally sprinkled with Fuller's Earth to raise a
cloud of dust. This sequence was filmed at 120 frames per
second so that when the film was run at the much lower
normal speed you can see every bump and bounce in the
action. This van model, like most of the model 'guest
vehicles' and trucks, is made mostly from balsa wood. The
wheels are from some kind of toy truck.
This smaller scale
Angel Jet model is being pulled across the miniature set
along a pair of parallel wires at high speed. Note once
again the large black cloud of Fuller's Earth marking the
exploding highway bridge. Derek Meddings found out early
on that using Fuller's Earth to make clouds of smoke and
dust was a cheap and safe way to make his explosions go a
lot further. Less explosive power was required to create
a much bigger visual effect.
This SPV is not
going up the London SkyView ramp, it is actually going
down! The model was secured to the roadway by means of a
pin in a slot and permitted to roll downhill. When the
film was reversed, it looks as if the SPV is going up the
ramp at high speed!
Here is a very
ambitious miniature shot which shows small (probably
plasticine) models of Captain Scarlet and the World
President, a 1/24th scale AMT model car, and three
smaller scale Angel Jet models all in one shot. Note the
curved cyclorama backdrop and the large scale section of
the SkyView tower.
The Spectrum
Helicopter must have been very difficult to operate as it
has a battery operated rotor which made it necessary to
place the suspension wires at inconvenient locations on
the model. The gyroscopic action of the rotor and the
position of the wires caused this model to 'wobble'
visibly on screen. The transparent cockpit canopy of this
model was fixed using a large lump of plasticine so that
crew figures could be added or removed as required. The
floats were wrapped in black electrical tape.
This unusual Angel
Jet pilot's perspective of the SkyView and Mysteronized
Spectrum Helicopter was accomplished by using a large
cockpit canopy and instrument panel section that was
placed on an articulated dolly in front of the camera.
This is a petrol
gel explosion. Petrol gel, actually very similar to the
Napalm used for fire bombs, was used for explosions that
required a lot of fire and comparatively little explosive
power. Note once again the large clouds of black 'smoke'
caused by packing the model SkyView tower with Fuller's
Earth.
Captain Blue on
jet pack using the bulk of the SkyView tower to shield
himself from the Mysteronized Captain Scarlet's gunfire.
Note the painted bird droppings on the surface of the
SkyView. Is that fine detail or what? Derek Meddings and
his crew were a bunch of artistic geniuse. They didn't
leave out anything!
The Mysteronized
Captain Scarlet falls to his 'death' from the top of the
SkyView tower. This is a small plasticine figure dropped
from the rafters of the studio on to a large miniature
set. There are small Matchbox cars being pulled on wires
along the 'streets' below to add to the realism of this
scene. Naturally, this scene was shot at very high speed
(120 frames per second) to make Captain Scarlet's fall
much more realistic.
2003 Archive 
