Vivid Imaginations Ltd 58235; Thunderbirds Vehicles; Thunderbird 5

Year of Release: 1999

The largest rescue vehicle of the Thunderbirds inventory, which is gold, black and grey in colour, Thunderbird 5 is an Earth-orbiting space station which monitors all broadcasts around the globe for calls for help and also manages communications within International Rescue.

Measuring 122 metres (400 ft) long, 90 metres (300 ft) wide, and 83 metres (272 ft) tall, Thunderbird 5 is equipped with almost completely automated onboard systems, allowing the entire station to be run by a single crew member. Thunderbird 5 is primarily commanded by John Tracy, although he is periodically relieved by Alan (according to the storyline, John and Alan swap roles once a month, one piloting Thunderbird 3 and the other monitoring Thunderbird 5, but such was writer Gerry Anderson's dislike for the character of John, that he was usually exiled to the space station).

Thunderbird 5 is located in a geosynchronous orbit, 22,400 miles (36,000 km) above the Pacific Ocean and believed to be above Tracy Island. Thunderbird 5 is electronically cloaked to avoid detection from ground-based radar or other spacecraft's sensor systems.

This Vivid Imaginations Ltd was sourced in December 2016 from a private collection