Deanflyer Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 (edited) Ok, those of us of a certain age will remember the Space 1999 series of the mid seventies, and no doubt clamoured after the Dinky toy Eagle Transporter from the series. I certainly did, as it was and still is my all time favourite science fiction spacecraft. I was mildly surprised to find that the Dinky version was a lurid metallic green as opposed to the more conventional white of the prototype, but that didn't stop this seven year old having a whale of a time in the playground with it. A friend had the Eagle Freighter, which for some reason WAS white, and I was unsuccessful in getting him to swap his Freighter body for my Transporter body. A few years later when I started painting models, I gave my poor old Dinky toy a badly brushed coat of white Airfix enamel in an attempt to bring it closer to the TV version. Eventually it went west as did all my toys from my childhood, and I can't remember who it was passed on to. Fast forward a few decades, and idly perusing ebay one day I found quite a few Dinky Eagles for sale for spares or repair, and thought "why not?" From a couple of auctions I managed to gather enough useable parts to rebuid one Eagle. I actually had the idea of building a better replica with scratchbuilt parts, but as I've recently acquired an Airfix Eagle for an extortionate amount (and guess what's being reissued by Round 2 next month?!) I decided to leave the scratchbuilding for that. I decided to just refurbish a Dinky Eagle instead, but just like the one I wanted as a kid, rather than had. So, I started off with a pile of bits: Which I then soaked in Fairy Power Spray to get rid of the old chipped paint: Good stuff, eh? I gave the metal parts a good going over with white Halford's primer, and then a liberal coating of Halford's Appliance White, as I've heard good things about it and wanted to try it out: Remember I'm not going for accuracy here, or even originality - just giving it a good coating like it would have had in the factory: The engine cluster was given a spray of Plasticote Chrome from an aerosol can, which resembled the original chrome plating on these parts: The passenger pod was given a coat of Appliance White on top: ...and Halford's Satin Black on the underside, as per spec. All this so far and I haven't used my airbrush, only spray cans: With all the red plastic hardware added, it looked pretty original: The main body was then reassembled, as I couldn't resist seeing how it looked: But then I had to do a bit of masking for the cockpit windows: ...and I thought using the airbrush would be easiest for this: After that, the engine bells were added, and the refurb was complete: Ahh, that takes me back... Now, what's next..? Cheers, Dean Edited October 2, 2013 by Deanflyer 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 I had 2 of these when I was a boy, as I had the one with the nuclear waste pods which had a green body the other had a white body, if i remember there were some small yellow stickers that you placed on the sides of the front module. All you need is a box and you can sell it for £150, not sure how much they go for to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Very cool. A real blast from the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeley Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 That takes me back. I had two, but I could have sworn that one of mine was a metallic blue? The passenger pods also had little stickers of the moonbase alpha logo. Ah nostalgia... Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Must be nearly playtime? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Must be nearly playtime? Only if you've finished your homework, young man. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carts Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 That's an excellent save! Never understood the reasoning behind the metallic blue TB2 and the green UFO interceptors,perhaps they thought they would appeal more to kids? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeley Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 That's an excellent save! Never understood the reasoning behind the metallic blue TB2 and the green UFO interceptors,perhaps they thought they would appeal more to kids? Ah, that explains it - I was misremembering my metallic blue Eagle, it was the TB2 that was blue! I had a UFO interceptor too. God I must have been a spoiled brat Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 A great rescue of a load of scruffy old bits. I love doing the odd Dinky or Corgi refurb too. Roy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark73 Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Brilliant work, had that exact one, my cousin had the blue one, was so jealous of that...you have really captured the series with the refurbished one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilfish Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I have 2 of these awaiting refurb, along with a Thunderbird 2 and a SHADO Interceptor. Lovely job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve27752 Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 looks better than an original! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noeyedears Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 always wanted one of those, good job :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted October 12, 2013 Author Share Posted October 12, 2013 Cheers folks... Apparently they DID come in metallic blue, metallic green, and white for the Freighter. It seems like the guys at Corgi thought an all white Eagle would be too boring for the target audience, so made them blue or green instead. Nice to have whipped up a bit of nostalgia, Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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