EMvTW 25 - USS Prometheus NX-59650 (Prometheus class)

NOTE:  You can click on most pictures to get a larger view of them.

Rewrites: March 2016 & June 2018

This article marks an entire year's worth of Eaglemoss ships and quite frankly, I find it extremely exciting that they are finishing the year off with my all time favorite Star Trek ship.  I am of course talking about the USS Prometheus which we get to see in the Star Trek: Voyager episode called "Message in a Bottle".

My small collection of this ship includes an Eaglemoss, a Furuta and a MicroMachine sized version.


Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "The Prometheus-class was a highly classified Federation starship designed for deep-space tactical assignments. It was one of the most advanced Starfleet vessels in operation during the later half of the 24th century."  The go on to say this, "The USS Prometheus (NX-59650/NX-74913) was a 24th century Federation Prometheus-class starship operated by Starfleet. Prometheus was an experimental prototype designed for deep space tactical assignments and equipped with regenerative shields, ablative hull armor, and multi-vector assault mode. She was the fastest ship in Starfleet with a warp factor of 9.99 when she was launched from the Beta Antares Ship Yards on stardate 50749.5 in late 2373. The vessel was also equipped with holographic projectors on every deck, allowing its EMH Mark II free range of movement throughout the ship."

If you would like to read more official stuff on this type of ship, feel free to check out the following links:

Prometheus Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK
USS Prometheus (NX-59650) Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK

As is tradition with my articles, if I have one to share, I will give a quick look at my MicroMachine sized version.

 

This particular one was not made by Galoob for thier MicroMachines line, and instead is called a HeroClix model and is designed specifically for table top gaming.  It's actually a nice tiny model except for the fact that one of the lower warp nacelles was mounted up-side down.

And since I like to focus on slightly larger models, that will be all I will share on this particular rendition.

Eaglemoss vs. Furuta

As I started getting into collecting and wanting to expand my collection, I found a serious lack of  comparative data out there showing the various small scale pre-built and pre-painted ships available to the collector.  And so I set out to provide this information myself and hopefully help someone make a wiser decision in which model to buy.

So now I present to you what I like to call "the gravy shot", a series of pictures I wished I had seen long ago, and the main reason I started this blog.

Eaglemoss vs. Furuta 

Eaglemoss vs. Furuta

Both ships are relatively the same size.  As far as details go though...  well, I'll let the article cover that.

Eaglemoss

 

 

 

 

In my opinion, this is now one of Eaglemoss' top models, which pleases me to say since I'm such a fan of the ship.

The sculpted and molded details on the plastic and metal parts are phenomenal.  There are all sorts of details that have been added to the model.  

They managed to add in the details for the bridge as well as the recessed warp nacelle right behind it.

I also like that Eaglemoss added a tiny bit of paint to the bridge dome and to the recessed nacelle to give these important areas of the ship some attention.

The underside of the engineering section continues to show off the etched in details that Eaglemoss decided to showcase on thier rendition of the Prometheus.

The molded details are of course accented by some really nice applications of paint in all the right places.  Instead of aztecing, Eaglemoss went with a mottled pattern across the hull.  It gives the ship an almost organic skin-like look to it.  I think they did this to represent the ship's ablative armor.  It is a little disconcerting at first, but grows on you after a while. 

The underside of the saucer comes up lacking in any meaningful details, be them molded or painted.  We can't really blame this on Eaglemoss though as a quick glimpse of the magazine shows the CGI model lacking as well.

 

My Model                                        Photo Credit: Eaglemoss

Eaglemoss did a fine job of managing to paint all the important parts like windows, hatches, shuttle bay and phaser strips on other areas of the model.  

While the work on the shuttle bay isn't perfect, the mold work and paint work give you enough definition so that it doesn't just blend in and get lost in a sea of white.

I feel emotionally mixed when it comes to Eaglemoss' treatment of the impulse engines.  While it is great that this part of the ship also received some paint detailing, I think it would have looked better done in red.

The joins and seams are really not too noticeable, with some very minor gaps on the bottom of the saucer and in between the nacelle struts.

I do confess that I read a couple other people's reviews and takes take on the Eaglemoss' models.  This allows me to get a feel for whether I missed something or to see if my model has something out of the ordinary.

It is because of this extracurricular reading, that I noticed on my model as well as other people's models that the ship name paint seems to be a little loose.  It looks like I've already rubbed off my "m" in Prometheus.  I have seen on other collectors' models where they too suffer from the letters being rubbed off.  Soooo...  be careful when handling her from the top front.

The primary nacelles on the Eaglemoss model are a thing of beauty.  I really liked Eaglemoss' great use of the clear red and blue plastics.  They make the nacelles look really nice.

It also looks like all the nacelles are lined up really well too.

Anytime I review a Starfleet ship, I like to hyper-focus on the deflector dish as it usually gives me a good idea of the level of attention to details that a manufacturer puts into thier models.  Let's face it, this is a very important part of the ship and should be accurately represented.

And this is the one area where I feel that Eaglemoss dropped the ball.  The Prometheus that we see on screen has a round deflector dish, just like the Sovereign class.  

Photo Credit: Eaglemoss

Although Eaglemoss has molded a round piece into the translucent plastic, they failed to paint the surrounding areas the same color as the hull.  This leaves you with a big square area that doesn't look quite right.

I still think that besides the deflector dish and the slight gaps, this is a really nice model that just catches the eye when it's on your shelf.

Furuta

 

 

 

 

Whenever I cover a Furuta toy, I find it necessary to start off this part of the article by reminding my readers that Furuta produces something called gashapon toys.  Gashapon toys are meant to be nothing more than cheap little $1 to $5 bubble gum machine prizes.  I feel that it is always important for me to say this because it puts the level of detail into better perspective.  I try to be fair in my reviews of thier products because I should not be expecting Eaglemoss, Hot Wheels or Hallmark quality.  Which is weird because in a lot of cases, the Furuta stuff is rare enough that they bring in a lot more money on eBay.  I found a neat video about these types of toys and you can check that out at THIS LINK.

Furuta did a pretty decent job with thier rendition of this ship.  It is no way near perfect though as certain areas of the ship seem a bit out of proportion with other areas.  There are also a few other glaring issues that I'll point out as we take a closer look at Furuta's model.

For a "cheap" toy, they did a lot of nice molding of details.

The bottom of the saucer section is even lined with lots of panel lines.  

The engineering section has also received lots of attention too.

The paint work over the entire model is not too shabby and adds lots of color to the whole model.  Furuta even gave the shuttle bay some extra color highlights.

Sadly, the impulse engines must be shut down on the Furuta model as those exhaust vents seem to be a bit dark.

That is not really a glaring issue though.  One area that has a majorly noticeable problem involves the observation deck just under the bridge.  OMG!  Those windows are HUGE and WAY out of proportion.  It makes it look like the ship has an observation ballroom instead of an observation deck.

Speaking of windows.  I will have to assume that all those dots that are speckled across the top of the saucer section are supposed to be windows.  Their size and Furuta's choice of paint color though make them look more like dirty thruster exhausts.

Looking at the bottom, the one issue that pops out at you is the registry number.  There are no reference pictures that I can find that show the ship having this detail on the bottom.

The center part of the saucer section struck me as being a little odd too.  It almost looks like the molded a piece from the underside of a Sovereign class and was just stuck there to give the saucer some extra detail.

One last niggling complaint about the Furuta model involves the warp nacelles on one side of the ship.  They are... well... warped.  That is to say, they are not aligned properly.

I do like the mold work though on the nacelles, and they were also nicely painted.

I liked Furuta's attempt at the deflector dish.  Unlike Eaglemoss, Furuta's sish at least looks like it is the right shape.  Although it sticks out a tiny bit, kind of like an outee belly button.

All in all, given that this was originally a cheap little toy, Furuta's Prometheus wasn't a major disapointment.

Conclusion

And that wraps it up for the comparison and review part of my article.  Which brings us to the pricing portion of my article.  As usual, I will continue with the tradition of rounding up the most inexpensive Buy-It-Now prices from eBay at the time of this article's (re)writing (June 2018).

Eaglemoss = $33

Furuta = $15

MicroMachine = $22

NOTE: Prices were researched last on June 1st, 2018.  As of the writing of this article, you can NOT order the Eaglemoss model right from the company themselves as they seem to be currently out of stock on this model.

And we finally come to the part of my article where I give you my opinion of which ship gives you the "best bang for the buck", which is my rough way of telling you which one is the best buy. In all honesty, when I write these, I am trying to give my opinion of which model is the best for the least cost.

This one is a no brainer.  Eaglemoss' quality make this the clear choice for getting a beautiful and well detailed ship for a very reasonable price.  Even at a little more than double the cost of the Furuta model, the level of details you get with Eaglemoss make it well worth the cost difference.  

BONUS ROUND!!!

Every once in a while, I'll have a little extra stuff to share with you that sort of fits in with my comparison articles.

For this particular share, I did not build this myself.  I saw it on eBay and got into a major bidding war over it and ended up dropping out at $120.  

 

 

 

The builder took a Furuta Prometheus kit and kitbashed it into three separate models.  Although it does suffer from the same proportion issues that the original model had, it was still a cool idea that was well executed.  To this day, I still wish I could have won her and added it to my collection.

As always, I hope you found this article useful and informative.  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to comment below.

So for now, "Live long and prosper!!!"



Additional Links To Photos Of My Collection:

Eaglemoss     Furuta     Furuta Kitbash
MicroMachine     Comparative Shots

Other Reviewers Take On The Eaglemoss Model:
Some Kind Of Star Trek
Star Trek Starship Collection