Years before I was into wargaming or model building, I was a Star Trek fan. I watched the show countless times in reruns as a kid. The love of the show (and later movies), is something that has followed me all of my life. Even now, I will find myself playing a show or movie, when I want to feel good about sci fi. In short, I am a Trekkie!
Well, I have picked various models and trinkets over the years to display or shove in a drawer. Last year, I was looking at a Youtube video where someone was talking about their Polar Lights Enterprise model build with lighting. I have always had an interest in getting a large scale model (I have a number of small scale ones), but could not pull the trigger. While I have the modeling skills to put this together and paint it, I do not have the drive to spend so much time working on one thing.
Well, in watching that video, I found out that Polar Lights also had a fully built and painted version in the past (I had no idea). Well, I started searching the web to see if I could still find one (knowing that would be unlikely, as these types of things become collectors items right away). Well, I did find a model that was fully painted to a nice standard and being sold. The pricing was high, so I bought I should think about it. It was then that I found the Tomy notice that they would be doing a model and were taking upfront payments (kind of kickstarter like). I tend not to do kickstarters, but they are a well established company with a good reputation. The price was less that the model I found and this one would be fully lighted!
I decided to pull the trigger and put in my order, knowing I would not see the model for a year. From then on, I would get semi regular updates on where they were with the project. I got more and more excited, with every notice. They kept adding details features that I was not expecting (like three shuttlecraft).
Well, they year went by and I got a notice that there would be an issue with the model. Some of their last promises were to get rid of seems. It proved this was too much, so they notified everyone that this would not be happing. I had the option of cancelling at this point, but went ahead. First, because the kit already had so many extra things than what I first expected and secondly, I knew that this was a metal model and expected seems would be there.
Well, the day finally came and my box arrived! The kit is twenty pounds and over thirty inches long, so it was a big package! I took it inside and started the opening process. I got the main box from inside the packing box. I then carefully but the tape on the model box, as I want to save this, should I every sell this in the future.
Opening the box, the model was packed in styrofoam. Each section was taped together and had to be cut. I pulled off the top section and found the mounting bases. These include a two part gold plastic Star Fleet symbol and clear plastic mounting brackets. One for the ship and two for the saucer section (you can display the separated saucer). The base is somewhat different that the one shown in the earlier communications. Frankly, this is not as nice as those photos. In my opinion, this is a fail from Tomy and will give someone an opportunity to sell a nice base after market. I had no plans to display the saucer separately (this is an odd design choice in my opinion for this ship), so I just assembled the main base.
I took off the top section and saw the ship! Oh my, the paint job on the saucer is amazing! I looked at each section and started to remove each piece from the packing foam sheet and styrofoam. I laid everything out, including the two sets of batteries that are included with the kit (four AA and 4 AAA). I inspected everything and the model parts looked great. I could see the seams, but they do not bother me. My three shuttles have some chips, so I need to write to Tomy about that, but even these have such detailed paint jobs (I need a magnifying glass to ready the ship names!).
I then removed the batter pack lids (one is under the lower sensor and the other behind the front navigational deflector). I installed the batteries and put the caps back on (these are both clipped and screwed down). I then put the sensor and defector cover section on top of the batter sections. These are just push and twist, so easy to do.
I then attached the saucer to the main hull, using an Allen wrench that comes with the kit. The mounting screw to hold these together is good sized, so should have no problem hold this sections together. This screw is covered by a magnetic piece of the impulse engine assembly. I popped it on the base (two pins that click into the bottom of the ship and set is out.
As the shuttlecraft bay is fully detailed and lighted, I left off the closed bay doors. I also looked at the full bridge detail that you can see from the top. Just beautiful. Next was the big test, hitting the two touch sensitive buttons. One behind the bridge and the other on the inside warp engine strut. I tapped them both and all the lights came on and the collectors started to turn, Fan fricken tasitic!
Overall, this is a wonderful display piece that will definitely start some nice conversation. It is going to look great in my hobby room!
It is not cheap, but well worth the price. My only real issue, as I mentioned before, is the display base. It looks cheap for this expensive an nicely done model. I think the base itself should also be metal (this is a heavy model and the base should be more stable). The bracket is clear honeycombed plastic. Looks cheap. It should be a solid piece and should extend farther forward to five more stability. The whole saucer section display is a miss and does not do anything but leave some unsightly holes in the base that need to be covered up (I am looking online now for some type of mini plaque to place here). If you do decide to use the saucer support, it covers the front of the ship and the side that does not have the screw cover seams, so a total waste. I will keep with the single support, until someone comes up with a replacement base that compliments this beautiful model.
Setting the base aside, this is a gorgeous model. It is big and painted very well. It looks very much like the original model that is located at the Smithsonian Museum. All the ship designations, color variations and streaking are very well done. I am glad I got it!
- Manteuffel