By Rob Caswell - Copyright © 1999

Continuing our coverage of the Eagle accessories being released this year for the AMT/ERTL reissue, we'll peek inside the packages of two of the smaller add-ons: Tangents' Eagle Decals and Small Art Works' Eagle Heavy Lift Boosters. Both products are currently only available directly from their respective manufacturers.

^ The packaging is attractive, well-conceived, and useful.

^ With only twelve parts (14, including decals and instructions), this is a simple accessory set

^ Each booster is made up of three pieces: two resin, one styrene.

Small Art Works' Heavy Lift Boosters

The number of one-shot hardware add-ons carried by the Eagle during Space: 1999's two year run are a true hallmark of Gerry Anderson's hardware-based sci-fi. Withe the namesake year upon us and the original MPC kit reissued by AMT/ERTL, it's great to see a flood of after-market accessories for this lunar workhorse. Small Art Works (Jim Small) has certainly been the most prolific of the Eagle Enrichment Squad. His Eagle Heavy Lift Boosters (only seen in the season 2 episode, "New Adam, New Eve") give Space:1999 modelers yet another option for customizing their kits.

Like Small's Spine Boosters (reviewed earlier), this set is attractively packaged in a handy zip-lock baggie (great for keeping the parts in one place before you actually work with them). The bag header gives you a handy list of required colors and the simple one-page construction and painting sheet gives you everything you need to know. Overall, it's a well-though-out package.

Each of the four boosters is composed of two resin pieces and one piece of white styrene stock. The resin feels like good quality, being creamy in color and carrying a smooth finish. While Small relies just on hand pouring, he's careful. The results virtually bubble free. The whole set looks like it probably won't require more than 15 minutes of clean-up.

The detail is nice, if a little soft. This aspect, combined with the simplified construction, was a conscious choice to make the components fit with the relatively basic detail and complexity of the original kit.

A set of color, self-adeshive decals (printed on white backing) completes the package. There's not a lot to this, but what's here looks accurate and is well crafted. I would not hesitate to recommend this set to anyone who wanted to have a little fun with their Eagle and give it some extra character. Combine it with Jim's Spine Boosters for the testosterone-fueled Eagle variant!

Tangents' Eagle Decal Sheet

The decals that come with the AMT/ERTL Eagle are weak, to say the least. Some are inaccurate, some are missing, and others are just plain wrong! Tangents (Jay Adan), with trusty ALPS printer in hand, comes to the rescue with an extensive set of waterslide decals.

The sheet measures 8" x 3" and is full color. It includes all the markings found on the standard Eagle, including revised Moonbase Alpha logos (two colors - teal or dark blue, depending on what season you want to replicate), serial numbers for the mission specific modules, stripes for the spine, markings for the engines, as well as for the landing gear/RCS pods. From what I can tell, he pretty well covered the bases.

In addition to the basic marking, the sheet gives you decals for the Command Module windows. Not only that, but you have a choice: black windows, or use the decal that shows the interior and crew! While the window decals are kind of cool, I was disappointed that they did not include the light colored window frame, seen on most Eagle pictures.

The only other thing it would have been neat to see is support for the other Space:1999 aftermarket goodies out there, like the various boosters and the SMT's Alpha Laser Defense Tank. You can use the Alpha logos on the laser tank, but they're a bit large.

Being an ALPS printed sheet, the images are all part of one big carrier. You'll need to make sure that you cut the decals as close to the images as possible. I didn't get a chance to do a test application, but I've seen Tangent's sheets at work before. If applied right, the results look painted on. The carrier is very thin. As a result, be sure to soak the decals completely before trying to applying them, and carefully slip them onto the kit to avoid breakage.

If you do have a mishap during application, the sheet provides plenty of extras. Barring accidents, the sheet gives you enough markings for two complete kits (with some goodies left over). Also included are two instructions sheets - one with text that describes markings use and placement, and the other an illustrative placement guide. At only $8 USD (that includes shipping, in North America), this set is certainly a must-have for any serious modeler tackling the subject.

Thanks to Small Art Works and Tangents for supplying review copies of their products. Be sure to visit the Space:1999 Cybrary. They're the source for more details on this and other Space:1999 matters. Check out our preview of Small's Eagle Spine Booster if you want to see more Eagle accessories.