Don't let the Thunder Machine's Appearance fool you. It may look like a Junker of a cargo ship, cobbled together from space debris. While that isn't too far from the truth, there are few if any ships that can fly faster, shoot more laser rays, and generally confound the Galactic authorities better than the Thunder Machine can.
The SpaceNoks pull the Thunder Machine out for jobs that that require more hauling or fire power than you get with your standard Star Chopper. The Thunder Machine is bristling with 4 multi-barrel Gattling lasers, dual booster-rocket mounted quad-wrecker cannons, a rear guard double shot destructor ray, and whatever other weapons the SpaceNoks can carry while operating it.
Most people don't see the Thunder Machine until it speeds by and flash-blinds them with the indigo glow from its Trion-Propulsion drive. So if you see the Thunder Machine on your Aft-view screen and don't end up as space debris, you can consider yourself one of the lucky ones.
The basic idea started as a SpaceNok Shuttle formed around a 2L pop bottle and the boosters from a Rolling Thunder. I loved the look of the Dual Skyhawk canopy. but when I started fitting Thunder Machine parts on I know it throws the whole ship off. As is I still really like the lights behind staind glass window stuff that's inside the top of the bottle...It gives a great "warp drive" glow to the whole rear of the vheicle.
SpaceNok Shuttle
by : nova
Front end is all Thunder Machine...I forgot to put the 2nd gun on for the pic, but that whole front end I prolly gonna get yanked off when I redo it. Base of the front is the Cockpit from the X-19 Stealth and a pair of Sky Hawk canopys. Fitted in behind the 1st X-19 seat is the entire mid section of a Thunder Machine...from the fire wall to the back of the roll cage and all the stuff on top it's there. The main rear end is a real 2L bottle, cut and filled with styrene supports. Lights are pulled out of a junked Ghost Striker wing, and the battery box is from a D-NAC. Bottle is supported by a Missile rack from the Rolling Thunder. Working as pylon supports is a Wirlwind Gun cut in half connecting to the bomb bays on the booster rockets. Opposite them on the Rolling Thunder booster rockets outside are Cobra jetpacks. I had wanted to make these boosters removable and let them then function as backpacks for figures....but they just didn't hold on to the vehicle well enough without a permanent means of affixing them. On the very end of the Grape Thunder Machine the bottle cap topped with a Water Moccassin turret and a Pirannah jet exhaust.