You'd definitely be better off replacing the motors and controllers yourself, Modelmaster just rebadges and charges a premium.
It looks like a nice machine, I've only seen the 1000, not the 1250 and those would work for what you have in mind too. Does it come with the tool changer? That'd be cool to have.
As far as Minitech, make sure you have the right contact info, http://www.minitech.com/
There's another site, I don't know what's the deal with them, they're resellers of some sort but they're not the manufacturer. http://www.minitechcnc.com/ It's easy to get the wrong one.
www.harryhamilldesigns.com
CAD sculpting and services