Reader reviews of a kit featured on Starship Modeler.

Starship Modeler - The complete information source for modelers who build sci-fi, fantasy and real space subjects

Your Two Cents: Eagle Transport

The following are reader's opinions of the Eagle Transport made by Warp.

Reviewer   Stephen Emerson
Date Reviewed   Nov 28, 2000
Overall Rating       Good kit, but with some problems.
Comments This kit is a vast improvement over the old AMT/Airfix Eagle.Whilst in no way a model for beginners,with care and patience,plus a little common sense,the result is a model of almost studio miniature appearance.

So far I have built two Eagles,plus a Warp Lab Pod, with a third Eagle on the stocks. All three have the later one piece spine, which though heavy in flash, remove the hard work of drilling and pinning two halves together. Unfortunately, there is a slight curve along the length of the spine, which I cured by sawing through the side of the spine, at the halfway point, then gently restraightening the spine and resoldering the cut side with white metal solder and a low wattage iron.

All the cages and the spine cross members were soldered together, the result being far stronger than a conventional superglue or expoxy joint, with each assembly then washed in mild detergent to remove any remaining flux and preventing future corrosion.

I wanted my models to represent the 3 season two 44" miniatures, so added the gas-jet ringmain to the white metal engine bell mounting using brass wire, again soldered on for strength.

Eagle two had different leg pod detail to that in the kit, so all detail was carefully sanded off, replacement panels being plasticard superglued on.

Warp are slowly changing the resins used in their kits, a batch of components at a time, so a kit can have parts in two or three types of resin, however the quality is definitely improving. Certainly the awful resin in early kits was responsible for the distortions and moulding defects, of which the passenger module was biggest victim.The area around the windows on my first two kits were so banana shaped as to be almost unusable, the solution being to build the ends up in filler, replace the rectangular details in plasticard, and redo the windows. The pod in my 3rd kit, by contrast,in better resin,was virtually perfect, fitting together almost straight from the box, the same applying to all other components which were badly distorted in earlier kits. There is still a problem with air pockets and bubbles,but certainly many of the early bugs are being dealt with by Warp, in conjunction with feedback from Comet Miniatures.

Pods are held on by 8BA bolts through drilled brass strips, expoxied to the tops of the walkways. Blocks of plastic glued under the roof of the passenger pod where the bolt holes are to be drilled provide a bigger area for the bolts to bite into, reducing the chances of stripping the thread, resulting in the pod dropping off.

Gentle weathering,coupled with Tangents Decals(once they stick!),finish the model.

Once built, I've found these models far stronger than suggested in various reviews. True,the finished ship is heavy, nicely so in my opinion, however,with care it's quite capable of being handled and so far none has shown any tendency to collapse.

Do I hear Eagle 4 calling.....?


Would like to add a review of this kit? If so, please click here.

Go back up | Starship Modeler Home | Site Map | Feedback

This page copyright © 2000 Starship Modeler™. Last updated on 9 May 2007.