Modelling Star Trek ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ by Sven Harvey ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Virtually since the original Star Trek series, models of the unique space craft in the series have been available. The first model to appear was the AMT U.S.S. Enterprise kit. Unluckily, this kit was produced from the Constitution class heavy cruiser blueprints and as a result the kit featured a raised grid pattern on the top of the primary hull (disc section). This was fine if any of the other Constitution ships were to be built (the kits decal sheet included markings for the entire complement of Constitution class ships including the Constellation ). However, if Enterprise herself was the subject there was a problem as the TV model had a smooth upper disc surface. Other problems with the original issue of the kit were an oversized deflector dish and dimples on the underside of the disc (which again were present on the blueprints but not Enterprise) The 18 inch however improved over time to the latest issue featuring a correctly sized navigational deflector but also the blueprints grid lines and dimples in 30 pieces. AMT also released the following models from the original Star Trek format: * Klingon cruiser (D-7?) - over 13 inches long (same scale as Constitution class model). Latest issue had newly moulded transparent green sections at included. * Romulan Bird Of Prey - Not currently available but older issues of this 8 inch model (again in scale with the Constitution class model) are available for £50-60. * Galileo Shuttlecraft - This 25 piece kit was first issued with windows intact which made it necessary to remove the roof to see the interior but the latest issue had them cut out and came with Galileo II decals (the II can be easily removed for the Galileo 7 scenario). * Enterprise bridge - A lovely 85 piece kit with a very large and impressive decal sheet. Shame about the Kirk, Spock and Sulu figures which a best left in the box. * K-7 Space Station - From "The Trouble With Tribbles" includes a mini Enterprise in the same scale. Not currently available but earlier issues may be obtained for £50-60. * Space Ship Set - A very good beginners kit with very good representations of a Constitution class (7"), Klingon Cruiser (6") and Romulan Bird Of Prey (3") all in the same scale. Surprisingly, these ships are to the same scale as AMT-Ertl's NCC 1701-D (19"). * Mr Spock - In a violent phaser drawn pose with multi-headed Hydra type serpent. Not available unless you can find it at a convention and expect to pay £50-90 for it! Matchbox was in control of AMT at the time of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and from the movie came the re-fitted Constitution class Enterprise, Klingon D-9 Cruiser and Vulcan Shuttle. The Enterprise was 22 inches long and in 42 pieces including bulbs and wires to illuminate the saucers portholes. Unluckily the model was very plain and undetailed with horrible rub-down transfers for the call letters and name as well as strange metallic stickers for the warp drive "windows". The Klingon Cruiser however was nearly perfect at a full 16 inches and brilliant decals were included. The Vulcan shuttle was 14 inches long and equally well moulded but has not been re-issued since. For Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, the Enterprise again appeared with better details including panneling. However no Reliant model appeared though rumours say that it may appear in a set, possibly to the same scale as the Space Ship Set and the Next Generation Enterprise along with Grissom and Excelsior. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock again saw the re-issuing of the Enterprise, identical to the Star Trek II version. Again no other models appeared (A very small and very bad Klingon Bird Of Prey is in the Adversary Set - See below). Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - still no Klingon Bird Of Prey but the brief appearance of NCC 1701-A in the movie prompted a re-issue of the STIII Enterprise but with better detailing including the phaser emitters. For Star Trek V: The Final Frontier again the Enterprise model was re-issued and as the Star Trek IV version was nigh on perfect. However included in the kit was a shuttlecraft which was not to scale with the Enterprise and looked a little out of place... it was wider than the shuttlebay doors! If kept away from the Starship the shuttle was a very good representation given its size and this made for a very good value for money kit. Between Star Trek V and VI was 1991 - Star Trek's 25th Anniversary and to celebrate AMT-Ertl released, along with re-issues of the original range, a special version of the movie style U.S.S. Enterprise. This time the kit included some electronics which provided illumination for a new transparent navigational deflector dish, primary hull porthole illumination, perfectly timed navigational flashing lights and two sound effects - phasers and photon torpedos. Unluckily these electronics meant that the ship would have to be situated on a new base which housed the circuit board, loudspeaker and switches. A little work with a soldering iron and a replacement of the battery holder however would allow the situation of all the electronics in the ship itself. The whole kit is well moulded being basically the same as the Star Trek V issue but the electronics just add that little extra. When the latest, and best of the movies, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was released AMT-Ertl released the Enterprise again with a shuttlecraft but also with the holes in the primary hull and warp drive nacelles for the LEDs of the "Light And Sound" edition with LED like bubbles of clear plastic for them. Early shipments of this kit to the U.K. also included a small Galaxy class Enterprise (Next Generation) which itself was a very good representation for its size and featured seperate primary and secondary hulls. Also re-issued was the Klingon D-9 cruiser, this time sporting new decals to depict Chancellor Gorkons ship and was unchanged from the excellent Star Trek: The Motion Picture issue apart from this. AMT-Ertl began their range of Star Trek: The Next Generation in the U.K. kits long before most people had even heard of the series with the first kit coming as quite a shock to alot of people. The massive 19 inch long model of the Galaxy Class Enterprise makes an impact on anyone who sees it as, though it is not as long as the models of the Movie Enterprises (NCC 1701-post refit and NCC 1701-A), its width and overall volume meant that when I first saw it on display at the Beatties store in Birmingham it seemed to dwarf every other model around it, including the Space Ship Set which features a 7 inch Constitution Class in the same scale! The kit is faithful to the model used in filming incluing such details as lifeboats, tractor beam emitters and photon torpedo exhausts as well as transparent parts for bridge domes for both the main bridge and battle bridge, warp drive "windows", hydrogen collectors, navigational deflector and impulse drives as well as a comprehensive decal sheet and the option to have the primary and secondary hulls seperated and even the Captains yacht can be left seperate from the disc. The only other Next Generation release from AMT-Ertl is the Klingon Battlecruiser as featured in "Reunion" and "Redemption". In the same scale as NCC 1701-D above, this 42 piece kit comes with transparent red parts for the warp drive windows and impulse drives and is excellently moulded. Spanning the generations are two AMT-Ertl kits, the first of which is comprised of NCC 1701, NCC 1701-A and NCC 1701-D apparently to the same scale. The models are very good in their own rights including NCC 1701 which is the only interpretation of the original U.S.S. Enterprise without those grid lines but this is spoilt by the fact that the three ships are not quite in scale. The set is available in two editions the first in normal plastic, the second in chromed plastic for the 1991 25th Anniversary issues. The other kit features the only AMT-Ertl versions of the Klingon Bird Of Prey, Ferengi Marauder and Romulan Warbird. The Warbird is an excellent model and the kit is worth this ship alone. The Ferengi Marauder is not to the same scale as the Warbird, being about half the size it should be but none the less not a bad representation. However the Klingon Bird Of Prey is the only turkey in the whole AMT-Ertl range and looks terrible with a far too large back end and very bad guns. The AMT-Ertl range, with the exception of the afore mentioned disaster of a Klingon Bird Of Prey, is a Star Trek fans paradise with brilliant representations of the starships and come with comprehensive instructions which would allow a child to produce an attractive set of models, even unpainted but in the hands of someone experienced these models are without doubt some of the stars of the science fiction model market and are definately recommended to all Trek fans. Here's a run down of the current range of kits from AMT-Ertl along with an approximate average price and the price at the cheapest retailer I have found; Mom And The Boys of Bearwood, West Midlands, England, whose details appear below: Approx average Mom & The Boys TV -- U.S.S. Enterprise £10 £7.99 Enterprise Bridge £15 £11.99 Galileo Shuttlecraft £10 £7.99 Klingon Cruiser £10 £7.99 Space Ship Set £7 £5.49 Films ----- U.S.S. Enterprise (STVI) £15 £12.99 Klingon Cruiser (STVI) £10 £8.99 U.S.S. Enterprise (Elect) £30 £26.99 Next Generation --------------- U.S.S. Enterprise £15 £12.99 Klingon Battlecruiser £15 £12.99 Others ------ 3 Enterprises (normal) £15 £10.99 3 Enterprises (chromed) £22 £13.99 Adversary Set £15 £11.99 Shop around though you may find the kit you want at a couple of pounds more and if your not near Birmingham, the postage will put about £2.00 on each kit at least but be warned I have seen the chromed 3 Enterprise set selling for £35 before now and its £22.50 at Beatties! There are other kits around including a very good Klingon Bird Of Prey in resin and to the same scale as the AMT NCC 1701-A for £44.99 and is definately worth it! The kit is available from Comet Miniatures in London. The Klingon Bird Of Prey first appeared in Star Trek III and decloaked over a Corrillian Freighter. There is a model of this again in the standard AMT TV/ Movie scale for £19.99. Also from Comet in resin are a 6" Reliant (£13.99) which is roughly in scale with the Space Ship Set and AMT's NCC 1701-D, 18" Excelsior (£59.99) and a 15" Reliant (£84.99 #) plus a vac form and resin 41" U.S.S. Excelsior (£149.99) and a Reliant conversion kit which needs an AMT NCC 1701-A (STIV or light & sound). Comet Miniatures used to stock the following range of kits by an American firm called Sci-Fi Miniatures but no longer because "we had alot of problems with them" to quote Comet Miniatures. Currently there are no other importers or stockists that I know of. If you know differently let us know. The kits are listed below with the price that Comet was charging for them: * Botany Bay 12" VAC FORM - £19.99 * Dreadnought conversion VAC FORM - £19.99. I'm not sure where this design appeared from but it seems to be a movie version of the dreadnought in the Star Trek Technical Manual and U.S.S. Star Empire in Diane Carey's novel "Dreadnought". This class also appeared in Tobias Richter's "Ultimate Star Trek" game. Needs AMT-Ertl U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-A kit... either STVI or electronic and as a result of this any conversion is in the AMT movie/TV scale... * U.S.S. Grissom 15" VAC FORM - £27.99 approx AMT movie/TV scale * U.S.S. Reliant 22" VAC FORM - £37.99 approx AMT movie/TV scale * Tholian/Aurora 12" VAC FORM - £19.99 * Klingon Bird Of Prey 15" wingspan VAC FORM - £52.99. If regarded as a Klingon Great Bird this is in approx AMT Next Generation scale. NB The Great Bird (and Stronger Bird) features in the FASA Corporation role playing game and was created to explain the size of the Klingon Bird Of Preys appearing in Star Trek: The Next Generation as in filming the same Bird Of Prey model was used as in the movies but of course the Galaxy Class Enterprise is in half the scale of the movie Enterprises. New models were used in "Reunion" and "Redemption" to go along side the new Klingon Battlecruiser. Maybe the Klingons replaced the Great Bird with the Battlecruiser but the Bird Of Prey scout craft remained in service? Will someone clear this up for me? * U.S.S. Stargazer VAC FORM - never came to U.K. Also available are prop replicas from phasers to tricorders Available from; Comet Miniatures, Mom & The Boys, The Sheffield Space Centre, The Dark Side Of The Moon. Phone numbers: Mom & The Boys - Bearwood near Birmingham (021) 420 2046 Comet Miniatures - London (071) 228 3702 - day (081) 200 6126 - evening (071) 924 1005 - FAX Sheffield Space Centre - Sheffield (0742) 758905 Darkside Of The Moon - Kent (081) 304 8589 Note - All above are UK numbers. Outside UK, dial international dialing code, then 44 and finally the numbers without the first `0'. Sheffield Space Centre also sell : AMT-Ertl kits Posters Videos Books Mugs Audio Cassettes Blueprints Pin Badges T-shirts and imported uniforms and limited edition plates etc etc. They also appear at most conventions. (expect delivery in about a week after ordering) Dark Side Of The Moon also sell: AMT-Ertl kits Posters Large format books and blueprints (but are very slow delivering!) Comet Miniatures don't sell anything else! (delivery normally 1-2 weeks but those marked # will be delivered in 6-8 weeks due to availablity). Mom And The Boys also sell: Mops Bleach Batteries Ajax Thunderbirds kits (well someone has to) and clothes horses. (delivery in 2-3 weeks) Until they let me loose again (not likely) Sven Harvey