Thunderbirds machines

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The Thunderbirds machines are a series of fictional vehicles that appear in the mid-1960s film and television series Thunderbirds. The series was developed by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. The series began with the Supermarionation television show Thunderbirds and was followed by the subsequent feature films Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6, which were released between 1965-68. The show featured a large variety of futuristic air, land, and sea vehicles and machines, most of which were designed by special effects director Derek Meddings.

In the context of the series, most of the advanced machines that appeared in the show belonged to the International Rescue organisation and were used during rescues. These were known as "Thunderbirds", of which there were five core machines and a variety of other rescue craft. It was after these that the series was named. In the show, all of the International Rescue vehicles were designed by the organisation's resident technical genius known as Brains.^[1]

The use of these models in Anderson's Supermarionation productions, beginning with Supercar, was a significant advance in television production. Dirt and wear were applied to add realism and counter the miniature models' toy-like appearance.^{[citation needed]}