Bill Early’s Replica Eagle part 4

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PAINTING

I used KRYLON flat white for the final coat. I tried to find an off white, but I couldn’t come up with any that I liked. The flat white was just too bright. I did a wash of black over everything. This toned down the white somewhat. The wash was sealed with a coat of TESTORS dullcoat.

Now comes the weathering. I used 3″ X 5″ index cards and cut some square and rectangle holes in them. On some I cut notches into the edges. An airbrush was used to paint along the edges of the cards. TESTORS Gunship Gray was used for this. Go real light, as too heavy just doesn’t look right. As you overlap the sprays, it’ll make different panels with different colors. This is a quick and easy way to do mechanical weathering and panel lines. I used this technique over the entire surface of the Eagle.

I now masked off and painted the flat black on the beak and the blast areas on the landing gear pods. Don’t forget to leave the window frames white.

The engine bells were cleaned up and sprayed with TESTORS Model Master Metalizer Buffing Stainless Steel. After this paint dries for about a half hour, it can be buffed. It comes out of the can as a dark gray, but it buffs out to one of the best metallic finishes I’ve seen. The belly thrusters were given the same treatment. The baffles were installed in the main engines and the exhaust areas were painted flat black. Flat black was also airbrushed around the ends of all the engines for a slightly dirty look.

The small rod details on the engine tanks were painted yellow with red stripes. I painted the landing pads Gunship Gray with some of the small panels being painted a lighter gray. The underside of the landing gear pods was painted Gunship Gray and black. If you look reference pictures, you’ll see what I mean.

At this point I had a brain flash. I thought that I could paint one side of the passenger pod all white, and the other side with red stripes, as a rescue pod. This way, if you get tired of looking at one, just swap sides. In the finished pictures, it makes it look like two different Eagles. Pretty cool, huh?

DECALS

I had ordered a set of decals from JBOT Decals. These are just super decals. The printing was sharp and crisp. The sheet includes three different kinds of Moonbase Alpha crest, first season, second season, and ones based on the suit patched. Numerous small decals, loads of numbers, and stripes are includes. There are even decals for pilot figures and interior doors! The instruction sheet is a double side printed paper with several color pictures. These make good reference pictures as well as giving information about decal placement. They can be ordered at Jimbo’s web site, www.JBOT.Ca

The decals went on like a charm. They are super thin and laid down beautifully with Solv-a-set. I cut up one of the black stripes for the squares on the beak. You have to be real careful, as these decals will scratch very easily. The only thing I would have liked to have seen included on the sheet would have been the black squares for the beak. I don’t think that you’ll be able to finds a better decal set for this kit. After the decals had dried good, a final coat of dullcoat was put on to seal everything.

FINAL ASSEMBLY

Now that it’s all painted and decaled, it’s time for the finishing touches. At this point, everything just has to be bolted together. You’ll have to slip the top engine tank into place carefully, as the last bar on the spine sets partially over the mounting point for the forward end. Bolt it all up and you’re almost done.

The windows for the command module and the passenger pod were cut out and installed. The windows in the pod were painted black on the inside. I think that this looks better than painting the windows on, and really wasn’t all that much trouble.

One last thing is the small lines that run from the ring to the engine bells. bolt the bells into place and mark where you want the lines to run to. Now, remove the bells and drill for the rod. I bent the rod and then cut them a tad short. This will allow them to line themselves up as you reinstall the engine bells.

The exhaust nozzles for the maneuvering thrusters were drilled out. They were then painted chrome silver with black insides. Now, cut down your mounting pins and attach them to the landing gear pods.

Picture 18 shows the landing strut collapsed and Picture 19 shows it extended. Picture 20 will give you an idea of the size. That’s the AMT/Ertl kit sitting next to the big boy. Man, it don’t get any better than this. The rest of the pictures are of the finished product. Maybe these will be of some help if you decide to try your hand at one of these monsters.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you loved Space 1999 and the Eagles, then this is one kit that you’ll just have to have. The question is, “Is it worth the money?” I think so. It certainly wasn’t an easy kit to build. There were times that I had to come up with new cuss words just to fit the occasion. But, to tell the truth, it was all worth it the first time I got to “fly” it over the work table. All in all, a great kit. It dwarfs the other Eagle kits, and there are pieces available to make your own version. Check out Jim Small’s Small Artworks site. Great reference and it’ll show what’s available for upgrades. My thanks to you for taking the time to read this article, hope that it has given you some enjoyment or insight. Also, Great thanks to my wonderful wife, Barb, for putting up with my version of insanity, otherwise known as modeling.

Bill Early

See the completed model on page 5