Since the dawn of time, there have been fans/collectors/model builders not happy with what the market has provided as to kits and toys of the beloved Eagle Transporter.
Watching the Space: 1999 episodes for the first time back in the day or catching up reviewing them again in uber-high definition on your favorite Blu Ray, the fan of today is very much more mature than what was back in 1975. Even with the 2016 release of the most accurate Eagle kit available, fans still wanted the other variants of the 44″ Eagle shooting models. All three where very similar and looked fine on your 13 color console in 1975/76, but not today. Folks want those distinguishing characteristics in their collection and they want it accurate.
Prior to the 2018 release of the “Eagle 2” pre-built Transporter and the “Eagle 2 w/ Lab Pod” Eagle kit, builders have taken it upon themselves to create a new challenge and get their “Eagle 1” kit modded to either and Eagle 2 or Eagle 3. In this article, I will focus on a heavily modded build that was a sheer misunderstanding and miscommunication. I present to you the “Eagle 1 and a half”.
A Spanish collector by the name Carlos Scorsese was working with a builder there in his hometown that has serious locomotive train model building skills to see if he could take a standard MPC Eagle 22″ kit and modify it with the complex details of Eagle 2. As you can see, there are not only inaccuracies with the shoulder panels, but there is a significant added greeblie embellishments throughout the walkways and the engines.
Most of the shoulder pod paneling crosses paths with Eagle 1 and Eagle 2 details. Although the details are not canon, the execution of the details is very remarkable. As a collector, myself, I personally am not a big fan of over-weathering this fine ship, but the way the builder went about it is very well done.
Per Carlos’ instructions, he incorporated the MPC aluminum add on kits to the build. The only thing that Carlos didn’t include was a set of the Mike Reader alum Command Module sensors which would have made the build more complete. The sensors that are provided with the kit are very distinguishable, but not giving that level of accuracy the detail it really needs. Aside from that very small detail, this build is nothing less than stellar. A very good attempt to get to an Eagle 2 build (prior to the Eagle 2 kit being released).
If you choose to do an out of the box build of this amazing kit, it will most likely look amazing to the uneducated eye. If you want to take this kit to the next level, then, perhaps building a mod to your choosing is up your alley. The original 22″ Eagle kit is still available from your favorite retailer.
