Finished the second spine for the 44" Eagle. Was a bit gutted to have to buy a length of 3/16" tube for just one diagonal, that was all I was short. All of it made from spare material otherwise. Gladly, I believe it is sold already and that will fund some more of the main build.

I took the opportunity to fill and start to remove the seams on the Airfix Kits and work on teh big command module for the 44" Eagle.

The command Module id a Chris Trice Glass Fiber component (top of the line, the best you can get) and came to me partially assembled. The two halves were not very well joined (strength) but were well aligned. I did a quick re-fix and then used some epoxy and tape on the inside to make a strong fix.
A quick coat of primer after a soapy rub down to prepare the surface.

My Airfix models and Command Module are filled across the seams with Vallejo Plastic Putty. I will leave them for a day or two so that any shrinkage can occur before I rub them down.

Might as well doing something hot whilst it is cold.......
A raw brass 44" Eagle Spine so far made from the spares box (and I still have loads of spare fish mouthed bit left, but not enough to make anything else).
The spine so far, included about £100's worth of material. With luck someone thinks I have added some value to this, I will put it up on eBay.
It has come out really nice so far, flat and straight, just one or two tube to adjust the line of but looking ok.
I will definitely add the angled ends before offering for sale and will consider adding the 3/32" diagonals, I will check to see what material I have left over.

Quick Update.
I am adding the diagonals, the end sloped pieces and have cleaned up a little before finishing. Just waiting on some extra small diameter brass tube now. Looking good and will definitely be up for sale.

A better attempt at painting the Eagle Frame and Spine. Good enough for me, for the time being. I am happy with the pale grey and happy with the overall effect. The finish could be better but I quite like the the rough and the lumps and bumps, kind of used looking. I am sure the original film model was a bit rough around the edges and I guess that gave something of interest in the finished filming, that is my story anyway.

I struggle with this painting business, this must be my 5th attempt at the dark grey details on the cages and spine. Keep trying. I wasn't too impressed with my work again, too dark and patchy. Awaiting on some white paint to tone down the grey, will try to build up the colour lightly and from a distance to get a thin over colour (not sure how to describe the effect we are trying for.
​The masking is time consuming but I think it is what I am after. We will see.

Elsewhere I machined a few brass tubes to help with someone else's build. Got the CNC router going.

I have done little on the Eagle. Bored, bored of the 22's, the weaponised Eagles, the postal Eagle, the junk re imagined stuff, the armoured Eagles and the crap mash up Eagles with different Sci-Fi genres. Bored of all of the same questions, "is that a Gemini part?". I have loved the Eagle for 40 years, everyone has one now, a mass produced quick fix for muggles (there you go, Sci-Fi / Fantasy mash up).

I think I am getting over myself, I have left most of the 1999 / Eagle groups and forums, and will just come here to talk to myself.

I bought an airbrush, it is great. I have never used one before, like most of this, I have never done it before. Am I great with an airbrush? No, am I happy? Yes, this is great, I can get better at this and the result is already better than my attempt with a brush. Bull in a china shop; did I practice? No. Just have a go, the fun is coming back.

A simple CNC program fairly quickly produced 3 sets of 44" Eagle Transporter landing pod feet from an A3 sized sheet of Perspex.

The sizes were spot on to the plans and the chamfered corners just marked out and cut with a file / sanding paper on a block. 

I am attempting to help out some fellow modellers by hosting a small get-together where we have an expert coming over to teach us how to solder brass tubes. We will run CNC machines and get tube fish mouthed and quickly as possible. This seemed like a good opportunity to get cracking on another set of brass work for myself.
What pod to choose; that is the question. 

Stunning turned aluminium engine bells produced by Mike Reader (check him out on the usual forums / Facebook). My resins are not to shabby really but aluminium is real and feels good.
​Great work.

I model most of my work in CAD before I build it.
With a little work the CAD model of the 44" Eagle Transporter has been scaled to make an 11" Model. This might be a very nice thing to produce; as long as my CAD is good (I think it is; the 44" frame is built from it) the 11" model will be very interesting / accurate.

I have added this in the Shapeways WSF plastic material; much better price. We will see how expensive the spine works out to be in stainless steel! 

The passenger pod floor is coming together; the brass work that looked great when raw is etch primed; a couple of soldered pegs locate that to the acrylic perspex plate.
​
The plate was roughened slightly prior to getting some primer on that just to help key the paint in place.
The kit bashed parts are resin casts; these look fine with no air bubbles or defects (but I had a big pot of those to choose from).

Haven't done much model making for a while; life gets in the way sometimes.
I had chance to get the soldering kit out and crack on with the passenger pod floor frame. The jigs were made an age ago; the fish mouthing was done and this task was completed in a few hours over two evenings.
The jig L sections worked great; the frame is fairly big but has remained flat and true; I am very happy with the result and this could have been a challenge without a jig.
​

Some time over the holiday saved to do some modelling on the Eagle Transporter; studio scale 44" leg pod / landing foot supporting structure.

Surprisingly not so difficult but I eased the work by going off plan slightly; my central column should be two seperate pieces. I am happy with the outcome and very happy with the ease of soldering.

I have the small strut mount to add; I will also consider the addition of a tube mount on the inside to allow the mechanism to be spring loaded.

So.................
I have at art project on the go; after thinking about it for an age I am going to make a huge section of the Death Star on a wall under the stairs in our living room.

I have a good collection of greeblies produced on my B9Creator and some base panels 50mm by 50mm at a range of thicknesses on My CNC router. A collection of shaped panels and edging panels have been cut from styrene ready to build up.

I will need a whole load of tiles; the area to cover is quite large and I have gone for fairly small tiles; hope fully this will make the work look nice and busy.  I will need to make rubber tools for production in resin. These small tiles allow me to make fairly flat tiles with out too many "sticky out" bits and shouldn't be overly intrusive in the room; my clothes shouldn't get snagged when walking past etc.

Because I have chosen a small size of tile; I have needed to produce bespoke greeblies. I have tried to replicate the correct feel of the Death Star but have introduced some of my own ideas. have even managed to get a small nod to Moon Base Alpha in there.

For a mate of mine over in Canada; some simple styrene panels CNC cut so that he can build an interior for the Round2 22" Eagle Transporter Passenger Pod.

The parts made out of some scrap from the offcuts bin simply double sided taped over a test cut.

The finished parts below and the screen grab from the Catacombs showing what he is trying to make.

http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/cguide/umeagle.html

I have picked up an old kit; an A&B Space 1999 Hawk. This will be fun, but a distraction from the 44" Eagle. The Hawk is in scale with a 22" Eagle; I guess this will go in to CAD and be the basis for a big Hawk to go with my Eagle.
The original bell and spare were both pretty much a solid block open topped casting; I didn't want to leave it like that.
This is a nice bit of work (the original); I have done a bit of research though and found out the filming model engine bell was the cap or lid from a household product bottle or something.

My first attempt at weathering the big model. Not great and all ready wiped off / sprayed over. I didn't mind that it is a bit harsh and heavy; it looked good from distance. Feedback from the community at All Sections Alpha and Eagle Transporter Forum has not been bad but definitely not studio!

I will try again, no problem. I have purchased  an airbrush and compressor now; hoping for better results!

Some 3d Printed parts for the engine section; the test fitting to the painted brass frame in the first photo.

Two cylinders are required; one (used twice) needs the grooves to clear the frame tubes. I will produce silicone tools for these.

The engine bell has been tooled and split (see my fun stop motion); good resins have been produced. The one image shows the tool in production after degassing in my vacuum tank.

Just a bit of fun splitting the silicone tool for making 44" Eagle Transporter Engine Bells.

3d Printed Engine Bells. Main engine bell for the 44" Eagle Transporter is about 3" diameter; seen primed without any rubbing down yet.
Machine Used - B9Creator

Some Ford Diamond White over etch and standard primer.
Test fitting a walkway that I thought might be a bit difficult to fit as it was snug before adding layers of paint.
The paint has reacted for some reason unknown; the assembly was shot blasted and super clean before painting. The primers were fine, seemed to go off when adding top coat. It is still requiring some clean up and another coat, no problem.

The brass work (soldering of is all but complete, bead blast and etch prime next before working out what finishing / filling is required.
The keen eyed will spot a couple of errors with the spine but these have been rectified now.