'Arry and Bert/Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes

This is a behind the scenes subpage for 'Arry and Bert. This subpage contains all behind the scenes material relating to said article.

Background Information

'Arry and Bert are fictional standard gauge twin diesel locomotives created by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton. They work on the North Western Railway. Despite being twins the two are not quite identical: Bert has more stubble.

In 1998, 'Arry and Bert made their debut in the fifth series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the episode, Stepney Gets Lost.

After being absent in 2006, 'Arry and Bert returned to the series in 2007.

When the show transitioned into full CGI in 2009, 'Arry and Bert were absent for a year and later returned in the fourteenth series.

From their return in 2010 until 2011, Kerry Shale provided the voices for 'Arry and Bert in both the British English and American English dubs of the series. In 2012, William Hope took over the role of Bert, leaving the role of 'Arry to Kerry Shale.

'Arry and Bert are based on the BR Class 08.

Behind the Scenes

Gauge 1 Models

'Arry and Bert's models were designed to run on Gauge 1 track. Their shells were built using moulds of Diesel's Gauge 1 model. Their buffers and couplings were sourced from off-the-shelf ones by Tenmille. The models were built to a 1:32 scale.^[1]

'Arry and Bert's chassis' were constructed from scratch (CNC), utilising Tenmille split-spoke wagon axles. They were powered by electricity from the track via the pickups on the metal wheels.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.

In the episode, Stepney Gets Lost, 'Arry and Bert's models had functioning lamps. These were powered by a hidden battery pack.

For Thomas and the Magic Railroad, 'Arry and Bert's models were repainted to create the characters Splatter and Dodge. After production of the film was completed, the models were reverted back to 'Arry and Bert for the sixth series.

Main article: Splatter and Dodge/Behind the Scenes

Reference Sheets

Series 8 ('Arry)

Series 8 (Bert)

Faces

Seventeen different facial expressions were sculpted for both 'Arry and Bert, although only fourteen were used on-screen and three of which depressed, disgusted and tired were left unused. The faces were first sculpted in clay, and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould.

Reference Sheets

Usage and Evolution

Present Day

'Arry and Bert's angry/cross face is currently owned by X user TomsProps. Production-made casts of 'Arry and Bert's devious and cross faces were put on display at the 'History of Thomas & Friends' exhibition at the Midland Railway Centre in May 2019.

In 2025, as part of Propstore's Thomas & Friends Online Charity Auction 2025, some of 'Arry and Bert's faces would be put up for auction.

CGI Face

The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI and the characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion capture animation. The physical models' moulded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. 'Arry and Bert's resin faces were only used in background shots. In addition, their faces became smaller in size. One promotional picture, however, shows them with larger faces.

Model Changes

'Arry and Bert have had modifications throughout the model era. These include:

Series 6:
- Their cabs, utility boxes, and hazard stripes changed from orange to bright yellow.
- Their side rods changed from silver to black.
- The tops of their running boards changed from orange to black.
- The position of their hazard stripes changed.
- The writing on their sides increased in size.
- They gained handrails on their cabs.
- Their models were significantly less weathered than the previous series.
Calling All Engines!
- Their horn sounds changed to Diesel's at three and five steps lower-pitched.
Series 12:
- Their CGI faces became smaller (as a result of the animators tracking the scale of the eye plate rather than sizing to the scale of the face).

Fonts

The following fonts were used on 'Arry and Bert's Gauge 1 models:

Arial ("Sodor Ironworks" lettering)

Present Day

After production of the model series wrapped in 2008, most of the models and sets would be put into storage, with some being put on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park. All other models would be logged and referenced from 2010 till early 2011 by HiT Entertainment, from this HiT would decide on which models were to enter storage once again, which would be given to crew members and which to be disposed off. Due to only having one set of models made in gauge 1 scale, 'Arry and Bert's models would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

'Arry and Bert's models used to be on display in Canada at Nitrogen Studios with their sly and suspicious faces. After Nitrogen left the series, the models were returned to storage.

As of late 2023, 'Arry's model is currently on display at the Discover Thomas & Friends Exhibition at Drayton Manor Theme Park on the new layout wearing his happy face.

Close-up model

Close-up shots of 'Arry and Bert's cabs were required for scenes in where they had to interact with close-up scale figures. Only one model was ever built which was not complete and only portions of the cab were built. 'Arry and Bert's close-up model only appeared in the Calling All Engines! Learning Segments, Which Things are the Same?.

Present Day

In 2025, as part of the 80th Anniversary celebrations, Mattel would put 'Arry/Bert's cab's close-up model up for auction as part of Propstore's Thomas & Friends Online Charity Auction 2025 in order to raise money for the National Autistic Society.

Present Day Ruler Reference

CGI Models

In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. 'Arry and Bert were recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. However, test footage was created by Stardust Pictures as they recreated scenes from Thomas and the Stinky Cheese. Their models were "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modeling software. Photographs of 'Arry and Bert's Gauge 1 models were used for reference. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

'Arry and Bert have had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include:

Series 14:
- Their faces became slightly larger in size.
- They gained new horn sounds.
- They lost their counterweights on all wheels.
Series 18:
- They each gained a tail-lamp.