EMvTW 39: Romulan (Holo) Drone

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

Rewrites: June 2016 & October 2018

Next up in my Eaglemoss vs. The World series is the Romulan Holo Drone that we see in several back to back episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, staring with the one called "Babel One".  This is one of the finer examples of why Eaglemoss will continue to come out as one of the best ways to collect small scale versions of the ships we all love.

So far, Eaglemoss is the only manufacturer who has produced a pre-made, pre-painted model of this ship.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, these guys are a great investment if you want to populate your small scale collection with new a different ships that no one else has done before.

I say all that to forewarn you that since I have noting else to compare the model to, this will be a relatively short article.

Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "The drone was created by Romulan engineers and scientists who used a T'Liss class bird of prey as the basis for an automated war machine. Its modified form contained a propulsion and command system that was identical to that of the larger Romulan warbirds of the era. They were equipped with a Holographic masking system allowing it to change its appearance to match that of any other ship. Its disruptor weapons contained a triphasic emitter allowing them to alter their weapon signature to match that of any other vessel...  The most unique aspect of the ship was the fact that it was unmanned and actually controlled remotely through a form of telepresence technology. A powerful telepath was required to operate the machine who controlled the drone and was capable of commanding it from many light years away. "

The articles go on and on with LOTS of good information, so without me plagiarizing them anymore, if you would like to read more official stuff on this type of ship, feel free to check out the following links:

Romulan (Holo) Drone Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK

Eaglemoss

 

 

 

 

I'm going to get the one negative thought I have out of the way.  The stand for this model just downright SUCKED!!!   What an awkward PITA (Pain In The ...) contraption.  If you are lucky enough to get the model to sit on the stand, don't look at it funny or it will fall off.  Honestly though my review is supposed to be of the model so I will not fault the ship because of this.

This model is very unique and probably one of the best ones to come along in the Eaglemoss collection.

It certainly takes the lead in being the most intricately painted ones for sure.  I would dare say that the paint job is OUTSTANDING!  The main hull is not just one plain green color, but rather has a grayish/silver lattice work all over it.

The holo projectors are all individually painted with gold spider webbing and unlike other models from Eaglemoss are all perfectly aligned.

And just when you think you have seen all the paint work, when you look between the "armor" plates of the ship, the inside of it is pained a nice dull grey to contrast beautifully with everything else.

If you look closely a certain areas of the ship, you can spot the joins and seams, however, Eaglemoss tried very hard to make them blend in with the natural lines of he ship.

The sculpting and molding that were done with this model is as well done as the paint job.  The greebles on the model are an especially nice touch.  The engine intake as well as the exposed areas of the ship all are brought to life with crisp and clean mold lines.

What really makes this model stand out though is all of the antenna arrays that jut out from the front and bottom of the ship.  Although the antenna arrays are not screen accurate, Eaglemoss did a superb job coming up with a good compromise of thickness versus quantity.

Honestly, if they had made them thinner and added more, they would have been very fragile and then Eaglemoss would have been stuck dealing with having to replace a ton of these ships like they did with the Bajoran Solar Sailor Ship.  You can check out what I mean by reading that review at THIS LINK.

Conclusion

At the time of the (re)writing (September 2018) of this article you can get one of these ships on eBay for around $21 (shipping included).  You can also currently (as of October 1st, 2018) order the Eaglemoss model right from the company themselves for around $23 (shipping unknown).

Right off the bat, I'm going to say that you should forget what I said about the stand.  This ship is a steal for what ever you pay for it.  It is perhaps one of Eaglemoss' offerings ever.  The amount of detail work that went into this thing is amazing.  You would be foolish to pass up adding this one to your fleet.

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 

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