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Technically, this isn't a model kit. I did, however, modify it a bit and do some repainting. The display piece...OK- toy, is very accurate. For the price, it's a bargain. Unfortunately, there were one or two areas that were screaming for correction. Essentially, the interior gangways, the connecting parts between the passenger pod and the other ends of the ship, were painted gray. They should be white. I had to disassemble almost all of the Eagle to get to the central sections. It wasn't too difficult, but it was nerve wracking. I managed to pry or twist off almost all the various pieces with minimal damage. The only "fatalities" were two of the underside engine bells, which had plugs too tightly glued into the engine pod and didn't survive the twist-pop removal maneuver. More on that later...
Another area that was able to benefit from detailing was the engine plumbing. I carved off some molded-in detail and replaced it with some twisted brass rods. The scale effect is much better than the blocky details it replaced. I was able to use Tamiya white primer for the two connecting gangways, misted over with a bit of gray primer. Same for the engine area. I had some leftover orange decal film from my Hawk kit, and was able to use strips of this to replace the decals that got sanded off on the engine plumbing.
I splurged and ordered replacement engine bells from James Small. The replacements are turned aluminum, and look great. They fit exactly into the mounting points for the original plastic pieces. Since I replaced the originals with these, the broken bells from the engine pod no longer mattered. I kept the originals, though, for use later as spares on whatever project I can think of.
