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MPC/Round 2 1:48 scale 22" Eagle Transporter


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So my pre-order from the US Finally arrived last week and I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't get stung for an idiotic ransom demand from HMRC, but a relatively modest charge! This meant it cost a LOT less than the UK retails are asking for AND it arrived early. So here is the box as it arrived, with Cthulhu showing the excitement that I was feeling!

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I'm not doing a sprue shot as there are loads of them, you can see them at the bottom of this page http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/merc/vmmer2.html

So to start off with the spine needs to be put together. Each side frame comes in two halves which need gluing. These need to be kept flat while drying and sadly have quite a few ejector marks on the inner side. Here you can see them with filler in the ejector marks ready for sanding.

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Next are the upper frames of the front and rear cages with the brackets that attach to the spine. The brackets have a little bit of flash on the sides.

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One thing you have to be very careful with on this kit is the sprue gates are quite large, so separating the parts form the sprue needs care to avoid damage.

Next comes the command module or "beak". This is well moulded in two halves which goes together without much fuss. There are transparencies for the upper and lower windows, but only the upper ones were actually transparent, hence the masking tape.

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There isn't a detailed cockpit but there are two pilots in space suits and a detailed rear bulkhead for the cockpit. There are an abundance of reference photos for the cockpit such as this one of the studio set

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So I've started painting the bulkhead

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I haven't completely decided how I'm going to light the cockpit - or even if I will bother at all. It shouldn't be too difficult as there is plenty of space either in the beak or in the front body. Speaking of which here they are with one of the 4 "shoulder" pods

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What is great to see is the very careful recreation of the kitbash parts added to the basic boxes, like those superb lunar lander halves from the Airfix Saturn V kit and what you see here on the sides:

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There are also the side shelves plus landing leg supports

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which take some care to assemble to fit properly. Finally, the engine bells have been assembled and I have to say I am very impressed with the care taking in designing these. Rather than use the simple (for the manufacturer) alternative of splitting them in half down the axis, they are split halfway down the "bell" so the joint virtually disappears.

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These are all being prepared for suitable treatment with Alcad. I'm not prepared to pay MORE that the kit itself for the accessory set which includes real aluminium engine bells! Not when I know how to use Alcad paints!!

So in summary, this is a very exciting kit for us fans, but its not an easy kit to build! More to come...

Edited by Kallisti
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Shall be watching this one very closely.

Quick, question - what colour have you used for the bulkhead? I used a light grey, but looking at that handy photo, I'm not so sure.

Thanks.

Graham

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I used an existing mix of Tamiya paints I had hanging about that looked the right colour. It was most likely a mix of Desert Yellow and Dark Yellow from a previous build.

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Watching with interest as I'm thinking about treating myself to one of these, however:

There isn't a detailed cockpit but there are two pilots in space suits and a detailed rear bulkhead for the cockpit. There are an abundance of reference photos for the cockpit such as this one of the studio set

colorizedcabin12.jpg

I'm never going to watch the in cockpit shots on the Series 1 DVD in quite the same way! :)

Edited by Richard E
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Watching with interest as I'm thinking about treating myself to one of these, however:

I'm never going to watch the in cockpit shots on the Series 1 DVD in quite the same way! :)

Same here ;-)

Great to see this build. Will follow with interest :popcorn:

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Okay so I'm back from a short "skiing" holiday in France and I'm going to press on with the build. I put "skiing" in inverted commas as I spent more time on my bottom than on the skis! First time for everything however... at least it amused the onlookers... :fool:

I'm looking forward to getting stuck in again, still need to decide how to do the cockpit lighting...

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As promised here is another update. First off, sorting out the lighting for the cockpit. To begin, the front walkway section was constructed up tot he point of adding the cages

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Then some modifcations were made to the underside - not the cut lines in the framework toward the right

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That is so that this can happen:

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This contains a battery holder for a 3v coin battery. The fit is tight enough that it doesn't need any extra fittings. There is no on/off switch on this build - I'll just take th ebattery out when I don't want it lit. next we return to the front of the walkway where it meets the "beak".

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The pins connect to a socket in the back of the cockpit whcih is supported by a plug of milliput

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I didn't like the moulded strap detail on the clamps holding the beak to the framework, so I filed those off and replaced them with plastic strip

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So all plugged in with a battery and red LED it looks like this

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Note the filler around the joint between the upper and lower halves of the beak. This needed a certain amount of clean up. This one from the side shows again the plastic strip added to the brackets

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Here is the spine all built up - this makes quite a rigid construction considering the number of parts its built up from.
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Next the passenger pod has been started, its a big thing and will need some work done on the seams at each end as they are a bit rough. Nothing that a bit of filler and sanding won't fix however...
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Finally for now, the engine block has been put together.
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This is quite a complex bit of assembly, but the kit instructions break it down very nicely. I particularly like the way they've moulded the pins and holes with different shapes to reduce the opportunities for error. Witch care this goes together without too much trouble. The main engine combustion chambers need some sanding around their joints, but they are well built and its not a difficult task.
I need to get round to doing some painting soon, particularly the alcad on the engine bells. I'll try to get some progress on that this weekend.
Edited by Kallisti
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Its a very popular kit - most of the first run have already sold out and it still hasn't officially arrived in the UK yet! Apparently Tony James' shipment is still stuck in customs...

yesterday was an important day - I started painting the main structures. I'm using Halford primer and as my main colour Halford Ford Diamind White which is apparently the colour used on the original studio model. I'm not keen on using aerosol cans as it much harder to control the paint couverage. Today I inspected the bits that got painted yesterday and found a couple of places where the paint has run and blobbed up, which will need sanding back once it has fully cured - a bit of a PITA :(

In the meantime, work has continued on painting the pilots and here they are in place in the cockpit

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I used a dark wash on the rear wall to bring out the detail a bit more and on the pilots, although I think I overdid it on them to be honest. However you can't really see very much int he cockpit so I'm not going to worry about it too much.

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So now we turn our attention to the engine bells and rather than spend a stupid amount of money on the turned aluminium bells, I decided to use Alcads on them. Following the usual procedures of gloss black undercoat, leaving it for at last 24 hours and a bit of polishing of the gloss black, this was the result...

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The main engine bells

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The larger vertical thusters

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Smaller vertical thusters

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The main engine baffles - not these have have burnt metal and jet exhaust applied as well to give a dirty, used appearance

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Finally the leg strut

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Note in the background the sensor dishes for the "beak". Lots of painting done - not too keen on the way this Halfords Ford Diamond white paint works - its a bit thick and the usual problems with aerosols have manifested, ie lack of control over the amount of paint. I've had several blobs and runs form, which just slows everything down as I now have to wait for those to dry before sanding back and spraying again :(

More to come...

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Got one of these comming and I can not wait to get my paws on the thing!

Great work, especially on the engine bells, looking forward to seeing this ready for launch :)

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Looks very good. :thumbsup:

Great idea with the batteries and the plug between beak and corridor.

Have you tried to decant the Halford paint and use it in your airbrush?

The sensor dishes on the beak seem to be a more flat aluminum on the screen used models. Maybe you want to check this. Hope it is not too late if I am correct.

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