Eagle Transporter from "Space: 1999" (1975-1977)

Scale: 1:72
Initial Release: 1975
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity: 1

About the Design

The Eagle Transporter was the workhorse vehicle of "Space: 1999's" Moonbase Alpha. Featuring a purely utilitarian, non-aerodynamic form designed to function in the hard vacuum of space, the Eagle could serve as a personnel transporter, cargo carrier, flying infirmary or mobile laboratory, all depending on the customizable service module snapped into its central position.

Heavily influenced by the designs of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and built by special effects whiz Brian Johnson (who had worked -- uncredited -- on that 1968 Stanley Kubrick epic), the Eagle was a credible lunar utility vehicle.  But although it was clearly designed to work in a vacuum and the low gravity of the Moon, Eagles were often shown flying through planetary atmospheres and taking off from high gravity worlds -- something only possible through the magic of special effects.

About the Kit

The 1/72nd scale Eagle 1 has been released by numerous companies since the mid-1970's, including MPC/Fundimensions,  Airfix, AMT/Ertl and MPC/Polar Lights. (Japan's Imai also released its own 1/110-scale version of the craft in the late 1990s.)  Although widely criticized for it numerous inaccuracies, this kit was nonetheless the only "Space:1999" vehicular model to be generally available in injected-molded polystyrene until MPC/Polar Lights released its massive 1:48 version in 2015.

This model is built from the original 1975 issue.