Space: 1999 Original Eagle 1 Studio model (see updated Eagle video DSM:3) 

For me, the Eagle is right up there with all the other iconic space vehicles; The Enterprise, the Falcon, Battlestar etc. S1999 deserves so much more respect than it gets.

The Eagle was one of my favorite sci-fi spacecraft. It looks practical, functional and believable. It was definitely he Star of S1999

I saw one of the 44's in the back of a car at a friend's house back when I was a kid. He was one of the model makers for Gerry Anderson. I was absolutely gobsmacked.

The Eagle model is without a doubt the most practical and realistic design ever, for a Science Fiction Series Space ship. From a design and engineering point of view, this design would be possible for actual human use. That says alot, and who knows, maybe by sheer coincidence, or by virtue of simplicity and practicality, future generations in the distant future, may actually use vehicles for Space travel, similar to this. This is a very interesting video, and what a privileged acquisition this is!

Superb model 👍😎 Space 1999 was by far my fav TV program growing up in the 1970s 👍😎

Loved the show, and the Eagle is Iconic, deserves way more love than it gets.

I had one of the die cast models when I was a youngster. Wish I still had it today.

Blimey, I hadn’t really thought about how the studio models had been constructed. I’m still a 5year old kid when I see an eagle 👍

that's someone's baby. I'm so glad it's being looked after 🐹

The Eagle will always be my favorite spaceship. Thanks for showing us this priceless model!

It's fantastic to see that the original model is in good working order, and in the hands of a fan who is clearly as passionate about it as they should be. Good one you for keeping it safe, caring for it, and sharing it with the world via youtube. :) I have all the Product Enterprise Eagles, as well as an aftermarket conversion cargo pod carrying the radiation cannisters seen on the original pilot. Still to this day, Space 1999 is my favourite program of all time. Brian Johnson is a true legend.

At the end of a machining course at British Aerospace I briefly ran a production table set up with about 8 people around it (including our supervisor - as a helper) to manufacture my own miniature Eagle. Their main job was to acid-solder together the framework from precisely cut lengths of coat-hanger wire (galvanised steel, about 2 mm diameter) as components. Stayed intact over decades. Meanwhile I turned (lathe) the combustion chambers (different design) out of dural (duraluminium) and likewise turned the engine bells out of brass - which supervisor denied was possible - which I took as a challenge - and yes it was very difficult, requiring much trial & error - but to my delight and his surprise I (noisily!) succeeded (the turning bells ringing like...). I used tediously gentle cutting with especially sharpened tool coupled with copious amounts of coolant flow (to help dampen the ringing). Finally I made the command and passenger units out of self-reinforced plastic card (no other materials needed) and painted it all up (Airfix paints). Bonus accidental discovery: By using a one-foot-square fresnel lens - one particular way round only and with my head sufficiently far back from it - I was able to virtually peek inside the cabin - getting a point of view as if I was inside it!. Literally a "virtual image" (in optics terminology).

I'm so glad this amazing model was preserved.The detail that went into it is amazing!

I have very fond memories of this show as my father was in the series i have several photos and some scrips,my mother told me when i was young that i thought my father was a astronaut as i had several pics of him in full costume standing on the moon,now the pic sits on my home office wall.

nice details in the video, just like the amazing model dare say it's priceless these days

My favorite spacecraft. I remember having a 24" and a 12". The 24" had a detachable cockpit and engine section that could be joined together.

Amazingly well designed and built weren't they. They were one of the most memorable things about that show.

I still have my Eagle somewhere in my room at my parent’s house. It has the green nose pod and the detachable center pod. Space: 1999 was one of my favorite shows growing up, and I never quite grasped why they stopped making episodes.

I concur with many here. The most logical TV show spaceship design. Also one of my favorite.

I loved that show as a kid. Very pleased to see the model is in the hands of someone who treasures it. Thanks for posting.

His comment about the special effects crew being the true stars of the show is bang on for me. I watched the full series again on DVD a year or so ago, and the model work is still what drew me in. Past the uneven writing, inaccurate use of simple scientific terms, love story silliness...the model work, how they were photographed and the extra effects (landing thrusters blowing moon dust, docking sequences...) still made it worth watching. And the crash scenes: painful but impressive to watch, but NOTHING crashes like an Eagle ! Glad to hear this could be done without destroying a model.

Loved this show when I was a kid. I can still remember it being advertised on TV & me saying to my mom that I got to watch it.

To this day, I still think the Eagle was the best designed, most practical and realistic spacecraft ever seen on screen. The only pieces of pure science fiction on the Eagle was artificial gravity.

If there ever is a remake (Space 2099) do not change the look of the Eagle.

This is so cool! I was a fan of the show back in the 70s, and I even still have my Eagle Transporter toy that I got for Christmas 1976. Great memories. I really enjoyed this video!

So glad these survived and are being well looked after and maintained. Too many props / models are simply scraped or destroyed. The Eagles are my favorite space craft.

Having just made the new 14" kit I enjoyed watching this video even more and seeing all those little details about the original Eagles I'd read about over the years.

I had my photo taken next to this fine specimen in 1984 when I was 14 at my first Fanderson and re-taken last year if I'm not mistaken at Fanderson 2019. I'm now 49 years old...the model hasn't aged a bit, me on the other hand... Thanks for sharing 👍

I loved that show too. I'd shopped for an Eagle model that had the same color scheme as the show. Many of the models had green parts to them. I found one - made of metal and plastic - all white, with the black accents...still have it.

That was very interesting. I remember the series from back in the day- quite ahead of it's time. Very happy to see that Eagle survived the passage of time and is now safely in your collection.

That is a fine model. I'm very impressed by it's strong construction.

I was a keen model-maker back in the 70's and filled my bedroom with all sorts of kits. I had two airfix model Eagles, one of which I built "as is". The second I cannibalised to make a new ship using bits from other things I had collected. Eventually, I ran out of space to store them all and they spent some time in a box before I gave the lot away. If only I had had the foresight to use firecrackers!! Imagine the fun I could have had!

It's great that you are preserving the vehicle so well. Space 1999 was a classic British Sci-Fi series. Very few guns and a lot more imagination than many series from across the pond.

an amazing clip, thanks for posting; the attention to detail by the special effects team is what have made Gerry Anderson's series' stand the test of time. What a wonderful item to own too.

I'm constantly amazed at how much work was put into those models, they could have used an aluminum paint for the bells, and plastic tubing for the frame, but they knew the rig would flex over time. Incredible. I grew up watching that show, and hope you still have the prop, and are able to preserve it for the next generation.

I loved this video. The Eagle is still one of my all-time favourite movie/TV spaceships.

I have building models since the late sixtys. Nothing like this just kits. Thanks for sharing!

Perhaps my favorite fictional spacecraft of all times.

BADASS! Great to see one up close in such detail. No one talks about it but I was always impressed with the actual design. Clearly a lot of thought was put into it, in that it rationally solves many problems of this type of vehicle based on the technology of the time. In other words if actual engineers were given the job to create a vehicle to perform the tasks the Eagle did, with the technology of the time, the design of the Eagle is a logical solution.

The Space: 1999 models themselves were just as genius as their Thunderbird ancestors!

Greetings from Northern California. That was a huge treat. Your British Scale Model Skillsets are amazing.

Loved SPACE: 1999 when I was a kid - as with all the Gerry Anderson gold I grew up with - Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and of course UFO. I was fortunate enough to photography Gerry years ago when he toured the country doing talks with a few leftover Thunderbirds - TB2, Lady Penelope's FAB 1 and a marionette of her. The TB1 he was using wasn't original - sadly, the models ended up in a skip and this was a recreation for a TV ad (for insurance, IIRC). Lovely chap with some great stories of how they filmed such great action sequences - Derek Meddings went on to work for George Lucas on Star Wars with Industrial Light & Magic - that's how good they were! Your Eagle is awesome - it has the makings of a real spacecraft with all the brass and copper pipes. Thanks for sharing - would love to see it filmed using a tripod and some brighter lighting. Tip: Manual exposure will stop the picture going dark when there is a lot of white spacecraft body in the shot :-) Cheers Spike

I just got done now, watching Space 1999 for the first time and falling in love with it. What a great model, so robust. Thank you very much for showing us the inner workings and the details put into it.

Wonderfully illuminating video about the best spaceship ever designed for science fiction. Thank you so much for making it and sharing it with us.

This was great to see. It's amazing how much detail went into the odel of the ship. I don't just mean looks detail, but having to plan out piping systems for propellant and such. Just great to see.

Along with the original Enterprise, the Eagle is one of my all-time favorite space ships. Thanks for posting this!! :-D

Space 1999. With a beautiful Barbara Bain. That was my favorite part of watching the show.

Takes me right back to being 10 years old and wanting to be an Eagle pilot.

TY for sharing. I grew up on Thunderbirds, UFO , and Space:1999. My Dad said we used to watch Captain Scarlet but I dont remember it. I see UFO stuff on those shelves too! :D

My mom let my brother and I stay up late on Saturday night 10:30 here in the states to watch this show. I was 6 and my brother was even younger but we loved that show even though we were scared to death half the time. I had no idea the model was that size. Thanks for the show and tell, I enjoyed it.

In my last secondary school year (grade 12) drafting class ('78-'79) I drew 1/4" scale drawings of the Eagle spacecraft from plastic models I had of the spacecraft at the time on Architectural D sized (24"x36") paper. The drawings consisted of plans (exterior/interior), elevations (all four sides) and three sections (one latitudinal section along the core length, the other two across the forward service module/shoulder pods and landing struts/feet and through a standard utility module respectively) of the spacecraft. I think I even tried drawing a two-point perspective for a cover page of the document set. Sadly I no longer have the drawings. One of the most difficult things in attempting to scale the plastic model (which I think was a 1/72" scale model) to 1/4" scale drawings was trying to reconcile the height of the passageway doors located between the utility/service modules and the utility module docking port. The models had the passageway hatches almost full height to the height of the utility/service modules, but the main docking port on the sides of the utility modules weren't anywhere near as high, so this meant the upper sloped portion of the module docking port (the sloped portion) either had to retract or fold (outward) in some fashion to accommodate a 6' person passing through the passageway. The series stage sets never really demonstrated fully how mating between the Eagle's utility module and Moonbase Alpha's docking port passageways was accomplished - interior shots of the utility module always showed a full height (~6'-8") door at the outer wall of the module. Always thought the series designers did a marvellous job in creating a utilitarian and versatile spacecraft such as the Eagle, with its modular segments attached to a lattice structural frame.

@airscrew1 Many of the models from Space:1999 have survived thanks to the displays at Blackpool and Alton Towers in the 70s & 80s, then they spread out into the hands of the more serious Space;1999 fans - most noteably via the well-known model maker/collector Philip D Rae, who had most of them at one time or another. The three 44" Eagles survive to this day and are occasionally displayed at public events. Eagles 1 & 2 are in England, Eagle 3 moved to Canada a year or so ago.

I think anyone who owns an original 44" Eagle and an original spacesuit is a very lucky man indeed.

Awesome tour of your awesome model! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you having shared the behind the scenes of it all with us! Thank you 😊

This was my favourite show, as well. Really haven't seen it since the early 80s. Hollywood remakes every useless program a few times over, but have never tackled Space:1999. This was true dark sci-fi at it's finest.

I’m always impressed with the willingness to make such complex models knowing that you may need three of this size and a couple of a smaller size and maybe five of a very tiny size

Spaceman042 Thank you for saving this film and television treasure. It is truly a work of art and pure genius. But most importantly, thank you for sharing it with us in this video. Too often collectors with buy up something, then hide it away until the day they die like jealous little packrats. I certainly hope you have plans to ensure this model is preserved for generations to come. Again, thank you.

A screen used Eagle - Outstanding.

Thank you very much for the walk-through with such detail.

Great video! I still think the models created in the 70's are far far better and more realistic than modern CG creations.

Do you imagine how much insane work and attention to detail it had to take to ensure that every Eagle model looked exactly the same when you're trying to bend all that copper piping to be an exact match? I mean, look at how intricate the pipes are in the tail section!

Back when I was 11 or 12 years old I got a similar sized Eagle play set with 2 action figures that sat inside the Eagles command head was cool as hell. Wish my parents took it from me when I got older and saved it. Would be worth a fortune if I still had it.

Very well built! This is (in my opinion) the best spaceship among all movies and tv series ones. Long life to Eagle 1 !!!

I had several models Of this ship, 3 or 4 of the Tiny Metal ones were My favorite, you could Find them all over my bedroom as a Child. I had them till I was In my mid 20s' when I lost everything to Hurricane Andrew in 1992. I always hoped to Find them for a few years after words in my yard, after all I found a lot of things that were lost back there, but alas it was not to be. still looking to replace them for some reason. that and my 6 million dollar man action Figure. lol I guess its true , Boys don't really grow Up. thanks for this

Superb video of excellent model. I am glad that the model has a good home.

Wow! Really enjoyed your presentation. Always love the Eagle ships! Great details. Many thanks!

Incredible the detail and old school knowledge, turned bells, soldered brass tubing. The Eagles final embodiment was determined by their tech and physics. And still the finest/sci fi close to real world spacecraft.

The eagle is still the most realistic looking space ship. It really looks like something NASA would built.

the most beautiful spaceship ever, great design. If i had money i'd like to build a studio scale one.

Fascinating! Gives new appreciation for good, old fashion model building. A lot more complicated than the CGI used these days.

I was born in 67 and I remember having nightmares as a kid after watching some of their episodes. There's one where people were sucked into a creature and came out just smoking skeletons. Never forgot that.

Thank-you for posting and for giving us the guided tour. The scenes with the Eagle Transport (as well as the Mark IX Hawks in 'Wargames') were always and still are my favorites in the series. I remember getting models of the AMT models in 1976 being somewhat disappointed it lacked the detail of the actual models. I'm really quite envious of you for owning one :^ )

Superb design. Thankyou for this vid. Just goes to show that in special effects, appearances are everything. One last comment : Gerry Anderson's special effects teams were true trailblazers in special effects. I feel that they still to this day don't get the recognition that they deserve.

Really great to see these; it was a great show.

Wow! I had no idea what a physical engineering feat these models were. Thank you.

It's good to see this classic model and I liked the way you presented it and showed all the tiny details and craftmanship. I only went as far as to buy the plastic model kits, (Eagle & Moonbase Alpha) and had them for years. Thanks for posting! (I'm also a fan of the show).

The tube/strut design was great, made it look like a real utilitarian, working spacecraft rather than some impractical rocket thing of cheesy sci-fi. I loved the dust at liftoff/landing; neat to find out that it really was compressed air.

Thank you for posting this video. It's good to see an original Eagle model that has survived. I was ten years old in '75, I had one of the mass-produced plastic toys with action figures. From memory, I estimate it was around 36" long. Sadly, as a kid I had no respect for things, and by the time the show was off the air my toy Eagle was broken and had mysteriously been set on fire in a couple places somehow. Remember what Joni Mitchell said, "You don't know what you've got til it's gone..."

My friend ! What an exquisite autopsy! !!! I loved that serie but even more the era where models were made like Star Wars/Trek and Battlestar Galactica! Thank you so much for sharing this incredible find with the world.

Ah the memories,,,amazing looking craft,,had a couple of toys of these back in the day,,(way back!),,,good days.

This is an EXCELLENT 'how to' when designing and building an Eagle, whatever scale. Many thanks indeed!.

A well made model that has stood up very well. Really glad to see it has survived.

Wonderful craftsmanship! Thank you for preserving the model. With all the reboots, I had hope for a Space: 2099 movie or TV series.

Thank you for showing this beautiful gem!!

Very cool of you to share this treasure. It's in pretty remarkable shape. It's nice to know The Eagle has landed in a caring home!

Wonderful and informative video. So nice to reflect on this much missed golden age of TV. Thanks for sharing!

Don’t know why this came across my feed today but thank you for sharing. I had many eagle models as a kid and would have loved a video like this back in the day!

I am so jealous of your Eagle! I am 44 now and Space 1999 was my first Sxi-Fi program I remember. I was glued to the television to watch. Thank you for sharing!

thats the coolest thing I have ever seen! Space 1999 was THE show to watch as a young man! Really helped sustain my dreams of the future!!

So awesome!! Friend of mine’s dad had something to do with tv programation in the days of the series and my friend had two of the smallest eagles.we crash those and play so much with them things! They were metals and solid.Thanks for showing this.brings some memory’s.

Simply masterful model making. Hat's off to the special effects crew.

This was the first model I built as a young boy! I can remember getting it on X-mas day, and it was just incredible. I then went on to Battlestar Gallactica, Star Trek, and of course, Star Wars. Fun!

Taken from an interview with Brian Johnson. It could be said that you were single-handedly responsible for the hole in the ozone layer! Yes! I know what you mean with all that freon gas. We used freon gas to give the Eagles a realistic-looking exhaust burst and to kick up a little dust on the pads. We never thought about the consequences of the stuff - we just thought, “That looks great,” so we used it. We used titanium tetrachloride too to make the ships look like they were smoking after having exploded or burning up on re-entry or something, and that was dreadful stuff.

Thank you very much for sharing this with us. Space 1999 was my favorite show in the 70s and I was quite depressed when it stopped production. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson are special people to us Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans. So glad to know this survivor is still in great repair! Lucky you to own such a treasure! 😉 If only Stanley Kubrick hadn't been such a nudge about the Odyssey some lucky person might have been able to purchase that one as well. Alas!

Surprised they never tried to remake this show. Loved it back in the day.

I always liked the eagle. It felt like a realistic and practical space vehicle

Great to see your video of the Eagle, in such great details! Thanks for making it and also looking after this great ship of my childhood!

First, thanks for the tour of this awesome filming model! It makes me really excited, not only to see how the model was built, but for the 22" model kit coming out from Round 2.

Thanks for the detailed video. Still have to finish an airfix model of it. Started a couple of times on it but lacked info. I shelved it years ago but now feel the ened to finish it.

Really enjoyed this very well made film, was a big fan of Space 1999 in the 70's still have my dinky eagles and the annuals. thanks for this