I’ve spent hundreds of hours in Starfield’s ship editor, and I’ve seen creations that range from replica X-wings to terrifying Borg cubes. But every now and then, a build comes along that perfectly captures both the freedom and the frustration of Bethesda’s system. The latest to catch my eye is a near-perfect recreation of the Eagle-5, the Winnebago-with-wings from the 1987 comedy classic Spaceballs. It was originally shared on Reddit by user lililiilillil back in 2024, yet as I revisit the image in 2026, it still highlights a glaring issue: without mods, Starfield’s paint and customization tools just don’t cut it.

For those who haven’t seen it, Eagle-5 is a spot-on parody of the Millennium Falcon. Instead of a sleek freighter, you get a boxy RV strapped with jet engines and a dorsal fin. In Starfield, lililiilillil managed to capture every awkward angle of that design using a heap of mods. The result is so absurdly accurate that it looks like an official crossover event — one that, sadly, never happened. I remember when I first saw it I genuinely double-checked if Bethesda had dropped a surprise collaboration. But no, it was pure player passion, powered by third-party parts and custom texture packs that filled in the blanks the base game left wide open.

What struck me most then, and still does now, is the sheer gulf between what modders can achieve and what the vanilla ship painter allows. On a technical level, Starfield’s ship builder is a modular marvel. You can snap together habs and structural pieces to form almost any silhouette. But when it comes to color and finish, we’re stuck with a tiny palette and a handful of preset paint types. In 2026, after two major expansions and several smaller updates, I find it a little baffling that this hasn’t changed much.

Let’s break down the current state of ship painting, because it’s where the dream hits the bulkhead:

As you can see, the difference is night and day. The Eagle-5 build relies on custom finishes to mimic the weathered, off-white fiberglass look of a 1980s Winnebago. That level of fidelity is simply impossible without mods. 🎨

I often find myself thinking about what could have been. Back when Fallout 4 launched, Bethesda released the Automatron DLC, which was light on story but heavy on crafting depth. It let you build and customize robots with parts that meaningfully changed gameplay. That same philosophy could have been applied to Starfield’s ships. Give us a shipyard DLC that focuses entirely on new modules, a proper paint booth, and maybe a quest line about a derelict fleet. Bethesda even acknowledged the ship builder’s popularity by featuring it in trailers and community showcases, so the desire is clearly there.

Shattered Space, the first big expansion that dropped in September 2024, added new ship parts tied to the Va’ruun faction, but it kept the same limited paint system. Then in late 2025, Bethesda rolled out the “Deep Forge” update, which introduced more structural components and the ability to rotate pieces on additional axes. Deep Forge was a step forward — suddenly we could build asymmetrical monstrosities and more convincing replicas — but the painter remained frozen in time. No texture layering, no wear-and-tear sliders, nothing that could let me make a ship look like it had actually traveled the Settled Systems.

I’m not saying the game is bad; far from it. Starfield’s ship builder remains one of the most beloved features among the player base. Even now, in 2026, I log in weekly to tweak my deep-space exploration vessel or build a tiny fighter just for the heck of it. But whenever I see a creation like the Eagle-5, I’m reminded that the modding community is still the engine driving the game’s creative potential. Over the past two years, sites like Nexus Mods have exploded with ship customization tools, from full RGB color pickers to modules that replicate parts from Star Wars, Halo, and yes, Spaceballs. Without them, the Galactic RV would look like a child’s toy.

Looking ahead, I truly hope Bethesda takes note. There have been rumors swirling about a third expansion, possibly dropping in early 2027, and many in the community are crossing their fingers for a dedicated ship-building overhaul. If the studio decides to finally grant us proper paint controls, texture layering, and a generous blessing on part snapping limits, it would breathe fresh life into the game’s most creative mode. And maybe, just maybe, one day I’ll be able to recreate the Eagle-5 without having to install a dozen mods. Until then, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for the next incredible modded build — and keep dreaming of that perfect coat of paint. 🚀