SPACE IN MINIATURE

This is the AMT/Ertl reissue of the 1/96th scale Space: 1999 Eagle 1 Transporter with the addition of Lab Pod and Spine Booster kits from Small Art Works.

It is no secret that the Eagle is one of the most notoriously inaccurate kits ever produced, so I had to modify or rebuild almost every part to arrive at an accurate representation of the beloved workhorse of Moonbase Alpha. Here is a brief summary of the odifications that I made.

I hollowed out the "cage" sections and scratch-built walkways, instrument shelves and missing piping with stretched sprue and many offerings from my spare parts box. The spine was shortened, narrowed and reinforced with steel wire. I scratchbuilt working landing strut assemblies using aluminum tubing, steel wire and springs. The "elbow" joints were cobbled together with bits of sheet styrene and staples (the Michael Dentzer technique). Each finished strut assembly contains over 16 pieces not from the kit. I added the missing piping for the engine support structure, shortened the combustion tanks and added accurate fuel spheres and other details.

Probably the most distinctive aspect of my Eagle is the scratchbuilt and lit cockpit. First I cut out the viewport areas and replaced them with clear plastic sheet. The wall details came from a cockpit picture that I reduced and colored on a computer. The side instrument panels are made from cardboard covered with black construction paper, and the buttons and lights were added by using my daughter's fluorescent gel pens. I detailed the floor and ceiling areas with reflective tape to help lighten things up. A single yellow LED is installed in the nose. I ran the electrical leads out the bottom of the "neck" area where the command module attaches to the mounting ring.

The lab module was built straight from the kit and is attached to the spine with screws. The spine booster was given some piping made out of covered wire to connect the orange nodules to the main canisters on either side.

To finish things up I air-brushed several coats of flat white, gave the whole thing various washes of Tamiya Grey and sprayed paneling and weathering using an "L"-shaped card as a stencil. The decals came from the Tangents set and the stickers provided with the SAW kits.

Image: Side view (starboard)

Image: Overhead view