Eagle Transporter From Gerry Anderson's Space: 1999

Thank you for all your support, she's edging towards 1000 supporters and more time which is wonderful! I thought I'd share this photo with you, as I just tripped across another old friend in a local store that sells nothing but old toys - it's the big Buck Rogers Starfighter from 1980, made in Great Britain by Corgi no less! Accompanied by Stingray and a Titan Terror Fish who have their LEGO Ideas counterparts here already of course. Have a great Halloween!

So here we are, just before the 21st anniversary of the Moon being blown out of Earth's orbit in Space: 1999, some real world photos of my prototype! Still not quite identical to the digital and still some things to try out, but you'll perhaps get a better idea of the size from these images, and the final image shows it can be held by the spine, no strings attached! It comes in at about 16 inches long, which is the same sort of length as the minifigure scale X-Wings. That's the thing with working digitally, I find it feels a lot smaller on the screen! Please vote and share if you'd like to see this designed by LEGO* and on shelves! Thank you!

*The girders on the spine would be white in the real version, they're just very expensive to buy right now, but I don't think LEGO will have any problems with that!

So this is my first major project update, and really it's the command module at the front of the Eagle that's the focus - along with a little animation which you should hopefully see if you enlarge the new first image! When I finished building the Eagle physically for the first time I realised that, as I'd expected, using technic pins was fine up to a point but it couldn't detach all that smoothly. I also took a long hard look at the overall shape of the command module and decided it was just too... blocky?

So to an extent I started from scratch, and realised I could use brackets to attach the module to the main body of the ship whilst also creating a realistic seal around the "neck". This meant that the command module could now effectively form a life boat for the main ship, whilst giving access to the astronaut minifigure (they've also had an update to make them closer to the show's spacesuit). I smoothed out the nose of the command module and had a brainwave for the tip of the nose, resulting in an overall shape which I think is closer to the original's that I'm happier with.

As I looked at my Eagle at the Cromford model exhibition alongside the original studio model, I knew I needed to reconsider the pod doors. My son had already told me they needed to be bigger, which had left me scratching my head. Then I remembered that a passenger jet set of his had used a clever door opening method with angled arms, and that allowed me to design a door that hinged horizontally out and away from the pod whilst also letting me reproduce the look of the original door hatch.

The image below highlights all the little changes I've made to try and bring the model closer to the Eagle. Nothing impacts the playability of the set, and in fact the Eaglet shuttle is an attempt to demonstrate the enhanced playability of the concept due to the use of LEGO.  The spine is one area where I'm hoping LEGO might re-design it a touch, as although I've now got it fixed more firmly it's a little bulky at the end. I'll work on it.

Finally for comparison, this is my Eagle up against the original studio model. Which is huge! I'll post some images of my final physical prototype once my last pieces order comes in. I hope you've found this interesting, it's been a real learning curve for me flicking back and forth between the digital and the physical and having seen the original up close for the first time.  One final change I should mention is not one you'd see, but the construction of the leg pods is now far better internally than in the original version - another example of the digital version being technically correct but a little fragile.  If you like the look of this, please do encourage others to vote for it - it's the only way it'll stand a chance of becoming a real set! Please let me know what you think in the comments, and I'll think about what other pods can be put together.  Thank you for reading, and stay safe.  

It was 45 years ago today, 4 September, that Space 1999 first aired! This project should still be going on the 46th anniversay, unless of course it's reached 10,000 votes by then! Thanks to all of you who have voted already, if you can spread the word that would be fantastic. I've nearly finished pulling together a physical prototype of the Eagle, because it wouldn't have felt right to have it digital only when there's been such tremendous support for it.  So I have, so to speak, put my money where my mouth is!

Building the model physically has resulted in some changes to the design which I'm going to highlight by actually bringing them into the main description of the project and the CG model, that'll take a little time for rendering and I need some more parts for the physical model but I'm not far off.  I'll also show you a little display I did of an earlier prototype at a place in the UK called Cromford Mills, where there were many examples of non LEGO Gerry Anderson models, including an original studio Eagle Transporter model that was so big I think my set would have fitted inside its pod! Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see that picture and keep an eye out for the changes to the project as a whole. Thank you!

I just wanted to leave a short note of thanks to everyone who's supported this Idea so far.  To have gone beyond 500 supporters within the original 60 days projects get is incredible.  It would be terrific to get all my Gerry Anderson projects up over a hundred and beyond, so I've put together a new video of all my current projects which it would be great if you could share.  I hope you're all keeping safe, and as and when the project hits 1000, if not before, I should have something else to share with you by way of thanks - there's a lot to be said for incentive!