My 44" (Lee Malone Eagle) build

[richardlamer]

completed VIP

Not that this is really part of my 44 build as I now have 4 Passenger Pods, here's my completed VIP.

Overall, I'm happy with it although there are still touch ups and a few coats of clear - but for now, I'm considering the VIP complete. I may add shaded areas at a later date, but I like it this way for now

It is very factory bright but I would expect Commissioner Simmonds wants it that way.

Okay, here's the final pics of the VIP as I'm moving on to my 44 and 2 more Pod builds.

I added Jbots door decals. I thought the buttons were yellow but they were clear. I would remove them and painted the area first but it's fine (for now).

 

[richardlamer]

Small update tonight.

Summer has taken me away from my Eagle build and more on house renovations.
Slow progress and I bought a 1/48 Crowsnest POTA Icarus which I've been working on.

The brass spine had to be painted twice. The first time, it looked good after I sprayed
the etch primer but when I painted it white, I found lots of dust in the corners.

Stripped it down with varsol which did a good cleaning job as well as identifed what
areas the etch primer didn't stick which I etch primed again.

Next update, I will have applied the decals to the spine.

 

[Howard]

Beautifully clean and precise work. Top stuff sir.

 

[richardlamer]

Thanks for the compliments. There's a lot of work in a 44" Eagle build.

Putting some decals on....very tedious...

It seems, every Eagle pic has a different spine decal configuration.

 

[richardlamer]

Finished putting on the decals to the spine. Then, spray a few coats of clear.

It's now added to the front cage. Hopefully, tomorrow will be sunny so I can paint the rear cage and paint the black triangles on the second set of Landing Pod.

The screws still need to be shorten and painted.

 

[Crimson Binome]

You've got a great finish to it - looking good

 

[pfleming@jbt.co.uk]

Top quality all round.....

That just looks better and better Richard - paintwork, assembly and decal work all look absolutely first class. On the matter of the decals, you can imagine how often the nomenclature and identification marks would change on the fleet - visual aids to help the Technical crews ("all the spine cross members marked with red tape mean they've all been given their 500 flight hours stress tests - oh, and all the orange leg pod ID plates will need to be changed to plain white from now on, etc etc")

Go with what looks good to you - you have a truly fantastic Eagle on your hands, and the photos of the eventual outcome will be eagerly anticipated!

Thanks for letting us see the progress,

Kindest regards

Patrick

 

[richardlamer]

Thanks for the kinds words Patrick.

I still had the bits to test fit into position before I prime and paint the
rear walkway.

I've done the Saturn V parts and 1/2 round just as I did on the fwd walkway. For hollow parts, I just filled them with resin so I can drill a hole and insert a small piece of coat hanger wire.

I wasn't sure how to do the decagon shaped part but I drilled a hole anyway and glued in a hanger bit and it worked just fine.

Note to builders - DON'T glue these bits on the top of the walkways when WWs are outside the cage.:think:

or the walkways won't slide in or out of the cage. It's not necessary to pin them in as I did but I like doing them this way. You probably can get away with just a drop of glue after the walkway and cage are painted and the walkway is put in.

 

[pfleming@jbt.co.uk]

Ever vigilant.....

See that's one of the reasons why I love reading your posts Richard - you always go that wee bit further, just to make sure something won't fall off or break. There's a couple of builders on the Forum who always make doubly sure about attaching a component, or assembling something, with additional care.

Great photos as always, and keep us posted with your progress.

Kindest regards

Patrick

 

[crowe-t]

Great job Richard! I really like the idea of pinning the parts. It's a nice way to make sure all the parts are perfectly located and locked into position.

Mike.

 

[richardlamer]

The forward shelves are now complete and in place.

The left shelf had to be 4 separate pieces and then inserted
into the cage like building a ship in a bottle, except it's a shelf in a cage:

1. The shelf with the large and small 1/2 rounds already glued on
the bottom and the small 1/2 round on the top, 2. then insert the large 1/2
round into the cage and glue, 3. then top piping and 4, the bottom piping
which goes over the bottom prong.

I really like the left shelf as the large 1/2 rounds really make it look space ship like

 

[richardlamer]

One of my favorite parts of the Eagle are the shelves.
I think, it's the motor mounts, spheres, EMA parts that make them look really nice.
Someone, back in 1975 had some awesome ideas when they put this Eagle together and I'm
glad to this day, certain ppl (LIKE CHRIS TRICE) documented and help publish the beautiful accurate blueprints for the Eagle 1 and helped make it possible for us to build one as well.

I'm finished the 4 shelves for this Eagle. The rear shelves have to be inserted into the rear cage. I remember seeing them behind the cages...saying...oh wow...I've never seen those when I was a young teen watching the show.

I've used 1/8 styrene for my shelves. I see from my pic....I have some touching up to do.

 

[pfleming@jbt.co.uk]

Stunning....

......the whole thing looks space-ship-like. That shot under the spine, looking aft, you reshoot that with a black background or with a shot of the Earth behind it, that's going to look fantastic. Closest we ever got to that was the receding ships' graveyard in Dragon's Domain, but that was over the top of the spine, not the underside.

Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself, Richard, your workmanship is outstanding and everything looks so crisp, clean and realistic. I love these pictures. I agree about the people who dreamt all of this up forty years ago - they didn't have to add in all of this detail, but they did, and here we all are decades later attempting to recreate all of it. Wonderful.

Keep us updated please Richard - every picture's a delight.

Kindest regards

Patrick

 

[richardlamer]

Your kinds words are always appreciated, Patrick.

I Painted the black triangles on the second set of Landing Pads. If you've been following along, I had completed the first set.

Happy with the paintjob, some small touch ups needed but the yellow Tamiya tape sure does a good job! Don't use the blue or green painters paint when doing these.

Next up to paint will the black on the bottoms and then I can begin
the lines, decals, light grey and blue paint.

 

[crowe-t]

Richard, I haven't been around in a few weeks and I'm really impressed with the work you've done. The shoulder pods look terrific! :thumbup:

I also always use Tamiya yellow masking tape. It makes the straightest lines and comes off easily.

Mike.

 

[pfleming@jbt.co.uk]

Missed this as well.....

Richard, your last post passed me by so only caught up today. I think you've every right to be pleased with the paint job - those shoulder pods look crisp and really well finished. It's a major step when you're able to start applying the contrasting colours (well, black, usually) to the white bodywork, because that's when the stark beauty of the Eagle really starts to show.

Lovely work as always, Richard - keep us posted.....

Kindest regards

Patrick

 

[richardlamer]

Updates will be slower over the next several months as the cold weather is approaching. I'm close to finishing one of my Eagles but I'm guessing it will lead into next summer as I don't have a place to spray paint inside and the garage is to damp.

Lots was done on the house and I completed my VIP Passenger Pods and Cargo Pod and still 3 more Passenger Pods in various stage of completion.

I've also taken up building a Spine Booster. I'm still in the early phase of getting everything together for it and making plans. I'm hoping the current owerner of Eagle 3 and the Spine booster (Darren P.) will help me with some of the sizes so I can make it as close to the (only one) that we're familiar with. Pics here : http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/models/eagle/e3/w2meagle3.html

Soon to be on my workbench is Lee M/Roguestudio or George T/Timeslip's 1/24 Nuclear Canisters. These are just becomming available. So...lots is happening. More post of builds to come.