Rewrites: December 2018
December 2018 Update: Cozmo Heavy Industries has not produced any kits in quite a while so this is a Real Throwback kind of review. Jay, the guy who runs this garage kit manufacturer had some life events occur that has kept him away from the hobby.
Normally I don't go for certain types of ships in my collection. I'm not really a cargo ship kind of guy, however you can't deny that Cozmo Heavy Industries does have some unique looking cargo ships. Especially when you look at his non-human race line of vessels. One such ship is his Romulan Kestrel Class cargo hauler.
C.H.I.'s eBay Advertisement
This ship was never seen on screen and is simply one of those interesting designs that has come from Jay's (the guy who owns and operates C.H.I.) mind.
This kit comes in two pieces and includes a stand base. When you are all done putting her together, the final ship measures in at around 11cm.
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:
Jay who runs Cozmo Heavy Industries sells all of his kits via eBay. He changes out what ships are for sale every Saturday evening so it is best to check in once a week to see what he has for sale.
Jay also maintains a FaceBook page where he likes to share his work in progress on future kit releases. I really like this approach as I'm a big fan of behind the scenes stuff.
Lastly, Jay does have a website, but it is more of an informational page about the business and he has hinted on FaceBook that he may be closing down that site.
I find Jay to be a very approachable garage kit maker. He has a regular day job and uses the business to not only allow him to make new ships for himself but to also help fund his love for the hobby. If you have ever followed Jay's work, you will know that he hand makes all of his kits from pre-existing parts, and he hand crafts all the other pieces for the ship. This allows him to produce all sorts of unique model kits. He loves to talk about the hobby and has lots of good advice about the hobby if you ever ask him for it. He will usually answer any questions you send to him within a day or two.
C.H.I.'s eBay Seller Profile: CLICK HERE
C.H.I.'s FaceBook Page: CLICK HERE
C.H.I.'s Website: CLICK HERE
When I interviewed Jay about his business, he says that a lot of his kits were designed and made over 20 years ago so he is unsure now just how long it took to make most of them which is why I don't have a lot of behind the scenes information about the kits like in my other reviews.
Jay recently shared on his FaceBook page about his stance on stands. In it he wrote, "Everybody does theirs different. I use .055" piano wire and not everybody has that size drill bit. Plus, that tiny wire would put a hole in the bag and get lost. I have also seen people use clear rod, or use the base as a badge to apply to a larger stand." So there you go. And as I've said in other articles, I have yet to see a resin kit that comes with a rod.
I consider myself an intermediate model maker. I'm pretty good with assembling kits these days and OK on the painting side of things. I ultimately end up with ships that look good enough to me to display in my collection. I've found that there are all sorts of neat ships out there that no one has made a pre-built or pre-painted model of, so, in an effort to expand my ship collection I've turned to building them myself, either by kitbashing or purchasing ready made resin model kits.
There are several smaller garage kit makers out there that produce some very good kits. I've actually developed a good relationship with a couple of them and volunteered some of my time to write up reviews about the kits I've purchased from them. I have already warned them that I intend to be pretty objective, not pull any punches, and these reviews are going to be written from the point of view of an intermediate model builder. If this means that I warn away a first time builder from a particular kit, then they will need to be OK with that approach.
Lastly, due to the nature of resin casting, not every kit is going to be the same. Excess resin and air pockets are a part of the game when you get into this sort of model building. The kit that I got and built may be slightly different than your kit as far as minor quality issues. I will still point out flaws with my kit as those flaws could lead into a lesson of some sort for either you the reader or the kit maker themselves.
This kit comes in two pieces and includes a stand base. When you are all done putting her together, the final ship measures in at around 11cm.
DeepSpace Pat's Paint Scheme
I am happy to say that this is about the time I started taking Work In Progress pictures of my model builds, so I'll be able to start showing you some more in depth pictures of the build process.
This kit is one super simple model set to put together, and cleanup on it was very easy. The kit did not have that much excess resin to remove.
Painting her was really easy too as there are not any hard to reach places on the model, and quite frankly, there isn't much to paint. At the time I built my ship, I was not comfortable doing decals yet so I held off applying the very nice set that comes with the ship.
I suppose that gluing her would be simple enough too. I however decided to opt for something different with my build. Knowing that C.H.I. had so many different cargo ships, and just as many different cargo containers, I decided to not glue my container to the ship. Instead, my stand was bent just enough to allow the ship to balance in a very stable way on top of the container. I also did not glue the container onto the stand. This will allow me to actually swap out the container and display the ship in various poses in the future.
Speaking of stands, the base that comes with the ship is of an interesting design. I had to do some Google searching to figure out the color scheme for this. Apparently, during the TOS series, there was a fleeting glimpse of this symbol on a TOS Romulan ship. This became the emblem for the Rumulan Star Empire for a while until it was replaced by that batlike symbol that we see in the more modern shows and movies.
TOS Style TNG Style
You will need to make your own rod for the stand. I cover how to do this as well as why you have to do this later on in this article.
Conclusion
Although this is not a glorious ship like a Constitution, Constellation or Miranda class ship, it still is a very interesting looking design to add to your fleet. And if you have never worked with resin kits before, this is a great first kit to start with.
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:
Helpful Hint Articles
NOTE: If you are new to my reviews, then please read on. This section talks about the garage kit maker that made this kit as well as a little about why I'm writing this review. If you are one of my regular readers, then feel free to skip the rest of this article as it is a word for word repeat of stuff from previous articles.
Kit Maker Information
Jay who runs Cozmo Heavy Industries sells all of his kits via eBay. He changes out what ships are for sale every Saturday evening so it is best to check in once a week to see what he has for sale.
Jay also maintains a FaceBook page where he likes to share his work in progress on future kit releases. I really like this approach as I'm a big fan of behind the scenes stuff.
Lastly, Jay does have a website, but it is more of an informational page about the business and he has hinted on FaceBook that he may be closing down that site.
I find Jay to be a very approachable garage kit maker. He has a regular day job and uses the business to not only allow him to make new ships for himself but to also help fund his love for the hobby. If you have ever followed Jay's work, you will know that he hand makes all of his kits from pre-existing parts, and he hand crafts all the other pieces for the ship. This allows him to produce all sorts of unique model kits. He loves to talk about the hobby and has lots of good advice about the hobby if you ever ask him for it. He will usually answer any questions you send to him within a day or two.
C.H.I.'s eBay Seller Profile: CLICK HERE
C.H.I.'s FaceBook Page: CLICK HERE
C.H.I.'s Website: CLICK HERE
Jay recently shared on his FaceBook page about his stance on stands. In it he wrote, "Everybody does theirs different. I use .055" piano wire and not everybody has that size drill bit. Plus, that tiny wire would put a hole in the bag and get lost. I have also seen people use clear rod, or use the base as a badge to apply to a larger stand." So there you go. And as I've said in other articles, I have yet to see a resin kit that comes with a rod.
DISCLAIMER SECTION
I consider myself an intermediate model maker. I'm pretty good with assembling kits these days and OK on the painting side of things. I ultimately end up with ships that look good enough to me to display in my collection. I've found that there are all sorts of neat ships out there that no one has made a pre-built or pre-painted model of, so, in an effort to expand my ship collection I've turned to building them myself, either by kitbashing or purchasing ready made resin model kits.
There are several smaller garage kit makers out there that produce some very good kits. I've actually developed a good relationship with a couple of them and volunteered some of my time to write up reviews about the kits I've purchased from them. I have already warned them that I intend to be pretty objective, not pull any punches, and these reviews are going to be written from the point of view of an intermediate model builder. If this means that I warn away a first time builder from a particular kit, then they will need to be OK with that approach.
Lastly, due to the nature of resin casting, not every kit is going to be the same. Excess resin and air pockets are a part of the game when you get into this sort of model building. The kit that I got and built may be slightly different than your kit as far as minor quality issues. I will still point out flaws with my kit as those flaws could lead into a lesson of some sort for either you the reader or the kit maker themselves.
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