Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Star Trek: Beyond (2106) DVD Bonus Ships

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

The lesson I learned during my "research" for this article is that promotional pictures don't give you a very good idea of what you are actually getting.

The release of Star Trek: Beyond to DVD is heralding in some neat little extras when you purchase your copy through certain select sources.



I'm not going to get into the movie that much other than to say that I liked it.  I have not been a big fan of the NuTrek series, however, of the three movies that have come and gone, this one is by far the best of them.

That being said, I really liked the fact that it was possible to get one's hands on some models of ships from the movie through those select deals.  Like a good reviewer, I went ahead and purchased those two DVD sets just for the ships and I can now give you an honest review of them and hopefully help you make a wise purchasing choice.

Monday, November 7, 2016

LootCrate: July 2016 Bonus Ship: Planet Express Ship

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

This blog is about sharing models and toys from my collection and in some cases doing a review.  A co-worker of mine is a subscriber to LootCrate.  LootCrate is a monthly subscription that costs around $14 (plus shipping) a month and they will send you a box full of stuff.  Each month has a theme, for example, October was horror month and the items in the box revolved around the horror genre.

July 2016's theme was "Futuristic" and of course, the items were sci-fi related.  When she pulled the following item out of her LootCrate, I seriously began to drool...


Apparently, the people over at Quantum Mechanix (QMX) made a model for the members of this "club" and that model is Bessie, the Planet Express Delivery Ship from the hit TV series, Futurama.

EMvTW 73: Renegade Borg Ship (Type 3)

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

And we now move on to the last one of the month from me, the Renegade Borg Ship, or as Starfleet calls it, a Borg Type 3.  We meet this ship in a Star Trek: The Next Generation's tewo part episode titled "Descent".


Eaglemoss brings us it's third Borg vessel in the regular subscription line-up, and it's fourth Borg ship if you count the massive subscriber gift cube.


I thinned out my collection a tiny bit and stored away a bunch of duplicate models as my Borg shelf was getting a bit crowded.  I like the new look a lot.

Friday, November 4, 2016

EMvTW 72: USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A (Constitution Class Refit)

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

This is one of those reviews that is going to deviate greatly from my normal flow of things.  And here is the reason...

After Eaglemoss collectors bashed Issue #2 on the internet, Ben Robinson, the guy who heads up the design team for the Eaglemoss ships, voiced his disappointment in that model as well.  He promised us that one day, we would see an improved version.

Left: Issue #02              Right: Issue #72

And this is supposed to be that improvement.  Honestly, instead of rehashing a bunch of stuff that I have already reviewed, it would be in my reader's best interest, to go back and read my original article EMvTW 02 - USS Enterprise NCC-1701 (and -A) (Constitution Class Refit) and then continue on with this article.

I was not one of those disappointed collectors that I spoke of.  In fact, the Eaglemoss model got my recommendation above all the others that I reviewed.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

EMvTW 71: Goroth's Klingon Transport (Hunting Vessel)

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

I have decided to stop calling them Eaglemoss vs. The World reviews as we have in essence run out of other larger scale pre-built and pre-painted models to compare with.  As far as I can see, the only real comparrison from here on out will be the Eaglemoss Special with the Hallmark version of the USS Franklin due out next year.

So, let us move on with the next Eaglemoss review, Goroth's Klingon Hunting Ship as seen in Star Trek: Enterprise.


EMvTW 70: Voth City Ship

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

Next up in my Eaglemoss reviews is the Voth City Ship.


Eaglemoss yet again delivers us another one of a kind with this model as well as completing the collection of Voth ships for us.  Not to long ago, in Issue #62, they brought us the Voth Research Vessel (Read my review at THIS LINK), so now, you can have them both in your collection.


Wednesday, November 2, 2016

EMvTW 69: Breen Warship

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

Next up for my Eaglemoss vs. The World reviews is the Breen Warship as seen in the battles on Deep Space Nine.


Once again, this will be a relatively short article as Eaglemoss is currently the only manufacturer of a pre-built and pre-painted model of this size.

EMvTW 68: Federation Attack Fighter (Peregrine Class (Canon) Fighter)

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

Rewrites: May 2019

October brought with it some extra candy for my collection and I was able to add 6 new Eaglemoss ships to it.  The first of these ships that we will look at is the Federation Attack Fighter.  This little starship has made quite a few on screen appearances, but we first get to see in in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode called "The Maquis, Part II"


I only have one manufacturer's version of this model so this will be a relatively short review.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

EMvTW 67: Klingon D7 Class

WARNING!: THIS ARTICLE IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING UPDATED.  WITH THAT BEING SAID, YOU MAY FIND ALL SORTS OF ANOMALIES LIKE; MISSING PICTURES, NONSENSE TEXT, AND OTHER ERRORS.  MY SUGGESTION IS THAT YOU CHECK BACK ON THIS ARTICLE IN A DAY OR TWO AT WHICH TIME, THE "REFIT" WORK WILL BE COMPLETE.

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

Rewrites: May 2019

The second Eaglemoss release for this month brings us an old classic ship from The Original Series.  I now present to you, the Klingon D-7 Battlecruiser.  We first get to see this dangerous, yet iconic starship in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode called "Elaan of Troyius".  Since then, it has appeared nurerous time over the history of the Star Trek franchise.


I technically have two different manufacturers of this ship, however, one is a MicroMachines therefore I won't be doing any major reviewing of that one.

Friday, August 19, 2016

EMvTW 66: USS Raven NAR-32450 (Raven Type or Aerie class)

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

Rewrites: May 2019

It's been a month and I apparently did better than I thought financially so I'm able to bring you another two Eaglemoss vs. The World articles.  The first of these articles is going to be about the USS Raven (NAR-32450).


My collection consists of one pre-built and pre-painted model by Eaglemoss, and two tiny models from Odyssey Slipways that I had to assemble and paint.

We were introduced to the USS Raven in several Star Trek: Voyager. episodes  We first saw her as a crumpled up wreck in the episode titled "The Raven" and then as a fully functioning starship in the "Dark Frontier" episodes.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

(Tret) Akleen Class Weapons Platform

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

My son handed me a highlighter marker that he had gutted and asked me if I could do anything with it.  This little space station was the end result.


The model is made entirely from recycled parts that were never part of any model kit.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

EMvTW 65: Xindi Aquatic Cruiser (22th Century) (Narcine class)

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

Rewrites: May 2019

Moving into the home stretch and article number four of four for this month's Eaglemoss vs. The World series, I bring you the 22nd Century Xindi Aquatic Crusiser.  We first get to see this type of starship in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode called "Countdown" and then again in the episode called "Zero Hour".


As is often the case these days, I only have one manufacturer to show off so let us jump right into the review.

Friday, August 5, 2016

EMvTW 64: Phoenix

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

Rewrites: April 2019

The third of my newest four Eaglemoss vs. The World articles covers The Phoenix, Earth's very first warp capable vessel.  We get to see this legendary vessel in action during the movie "Star Trek: first Contact (1996).


It has been quite a while, but I actually get to treat my readers to a real comparison of two different manufacturers' models for this article.  My collection consists of an Eaglemoss and a Furuta model.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

EMvTW 63: SS Antares NCC-501 (Antares Type)

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

Rewrites: April 2019

As I shared in my last Eaglemoss vs. The World article, finances had been tight lately so I fell a bit behind in my collecting of Eaglemoss models.  I did pick up four more this month so I'm happy to present to you the second of four new reviews.

This article will focus on the Antares Type cargo hauler.


My collection consists of two models of this type of ship.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

EMvTW 62: Voth Research Vessel (Palisade class)

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

Rewrites: April 2019

Disclaimer: When I first wrote this article, finances had been tight, so I had fallen a bit behind in my collecting of Eaglemoss models.  These articles are all funded by me with no sort of kickback from any manufacturers so when life throws unexpected expenses my way, the collecting addiction had to be put on hold.  I eventually managed to save up a little extra then and was able to pick up a couple more models to continue with my collection and of course my reviews.

As I started getting into collecting small scale starships 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 models 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.  I share this information every time I write an Eaglemoss vs. The World article because I want my readers to know the angle at which I write these things.

I have taken a look ahead at the current line-up in the Eglemoss collection and it appears that we will actually see very few actual comparative articles coming from me in the future.  I'm sad, as it means that my sole purpose for writing these sorts of articles is coming to an end.  But, I'm also happy in that Eaglemoss has far surpassed my wants in a manufacturer who would make models of ships that no one else has produced.   And even though Eaglemoss is re-releasing certain models with varied paint schemes as is the cases of the Mirror Universe ships, they are not wasting the subscribers time by forcing these on us.  We can buy them if we want to, but our collection is not being inundated by the same ship on purpose.  Unlike what Hallmark is doing by wasting production time by force feeding us the same ship in an updated format every several years.

Even though I seem to no longer be doing comparative articles, I apparently, have developed a small following of readers that seem to like my writing style.  So with that in mind, I will continue to write the reviews of the Eaglemoss models, because I am told that I am still providing some sort of helpful insight into what you would be buying.

Which brings us to the first of my next four reviews.  This one is about the Voth Research Vessel.  We are introduced to this type of starship in the Star Trek: Voyager episode called "Distant Origin".


As I've pointed out, I only have one manufacturer to show and that would be Eaglemoss.

Monday, July 25, 2016

Zodiac Class

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

I am a very active member of the Star Trek Modelers Group page on FaceBook.  From there, I am introduced to all sorts of interesting designs, both canon and non-canon.  Some are in the form of models that other members have built, or in the case of this model, just an idea on paper.  I decided to make an attempt and bringing this one out from the 2D universe and convert it into a 3D physical model.


This is the story about that build...

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Javelin Class

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

I love kitbashing starships together.  This art form allows me to add models to my collection of ships that you can't buy kits for, as well as allowing me to create my own unique one of a kind designs. 


 The Javelin Class was inspired by an Eaglemoss article about thier NX Refit model.  In the magazine, Doug Drexler shared one of his concept pictures of what the NX might have looked like.  I liked the design and wanted to do something similar.  As I started putting parts together, I took the design a slightly different way and the Javelin class was born.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Goliath Class (ST) Transport

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

This was one of those builds that fell in line perfectly with what my In Universe company, Triple "D" Enterprises would have done.  I was given a hull that required some tender loving care and ended up with a really neat concept for a ship.

 
 
 
 

All of the cargo "tug" type ships in my collection feature removable cargo containers.  I do this so that I can display the ship in various configurations.  This particular build excited me because I was finally going to attempt at building some sort of liquid cargo container, but I had no idea how I was going to do it.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Independence Class Trasport/Carrier

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

A lot of my kitbashes are inspired by other people's work.  I will see something, like the concept, and then roll with that idea using what parts I have on hand.  This was one such build.


A friend of mine named Nathan Kaiser had done up this neat looking Star Trek / Battlestar Galactica crossover ship and for a while, I had the picture in my queue of ships that I wanted to build.  I finally ended up with four Constitution Class Refit engineering hulls in my parts bin and decided it was time to make the attempt.


Monday, July 11, 2016

Rocket Tanker Class

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

I am a HUGE fan of Bandai's mecha collection for Space Battleship Yamato models.  Their small scale models allows me to build and display a large collection of starships for relatively cheap pricing.  Sadly though, there are certain ships that they never produced for their collections.

One of those ships was the Gamilon Rocket Tanker that we see in episode 16 of the Quest For Iscandar series.  The ship is approaching Beemera (renamed Beeland for Star Blazers) but is intercepted by the Black Tigers who tag it with a delayed rocket.  The ship then blows up as it is about to land on the planet.

Well, after building some fuel pods for a Star Trek model that was on my bench, I finally realized how I could make this model build a reality.


And this is the story of that build...

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Resin Kit Review: Cozmo Heavy Industries 1:2500 Klingon Korz Class Trasnport

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

WOW!  It has been quite a while since I've done a resin kit review.  For this one, I'm returning to one of my favorite kit makers, Cozmo Heavy Industries, and his 1:2500 scale Klingon Korz Class cargo transport.

C.H.I.'s eBay Advertisement

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Ares Class Refit

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

Rewrites: February 2019

The USS Ares (NCC-1650) is a ship that we are introduced to in the short fan made film titled "Star Trek: Axanar - Prelude to Axanar".  The USS Ares was the prototype of the Ares class and it was commanded by Garth of Izar during the Four Years War.

Whenever I build a TOS era (or in this case, a pre-TOS era ship, I often try to build one in TMP era style.  This model is one such build.

 

Rather than go on an on, and repeat a bunch of stuff I have already said about the USS Ares,, I'll instead, point you to the article about my original Ares build, which also talks about second build I did of her.  You can find that article at THIS LINK.

Ares Class

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

Rewrites: February 2019

The USS Ares (NCC-1650) is a ship that we are introduced to in the short fan made film titled "Star Trek: Axanar - Prelude to Axanar".  The USS Ares was the prototype of the Ares class and it was commanded by Garth of Izar during the Four Years War with the Klingons.

 

According to Wikipedia, "Prelude to Axanar (working title: Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar, and long title: The Four Years War Part III: Prelude to Axanar) is a 2014 American fan made short film, directed by Christian Gossett and written by Christian Gossett and Alec Peters. Funded through Kickstarter, production sought $10,000 in funding, but raised $101,000. It had its public debut July 26, 2014 at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Declaration Class Refit and Upgrade

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

While writing the review for the Cozmo Heavy Industries 1:2500 Declaration Class kit, I had shared that I liked the kit so much that I actually bought two more of that kit, just so I could build some variants of the ship.


The three ships displayed above are a Declaration Class, A Declaration Class Refit and an Declaration Class Upgrade.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Eaglemoss Replacement Decals

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

Rewrites: February 2019

I have written over 70 Eaglemoss vs. The World articles now, and over that time, I have occasionally reviewed a model where the decals were either lacking or just plain incorrect.

Ambassador Class - No Neck Details

In most cases, Eaglemoss has never chosen to correct the error with any of their future runs.  I get it though, these are cheap $25 toys and it isn't worth the expense to try to retool the equipment to fix it.  That, and coupled with the fact that most collectors feel entitled to a free copy of the corrected model, so as a manufacturer, why would anyone want to bother with those headaches.

And so, we collectors were forced to have these "incomplete" models.

Back in May 2016, I discovered a post by one enterprising individual who had taken upon himself to offer a method to us collectors a way to fix our models.


He went by the name of Bobmat343 and when I first wrote this article, I simply pointed out the initial run of models that he had created decals for.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

RG Class Reflex Gun Ship

I will admit, that as a kitbasher, you will sometimes see a picture and think, "I just gotta build that!".  This class of ship was just that sort of thing.


I must have acquired the first picture a long time ago because I usually tag the original creator with credit. And I scoured my normal FaceBook hangouts and could not for the life of me, find the picture again.  If anyone recognizes this ship, please let me know who did it so I can give them the proper recognition that they deserve.  I am thinking that it might be an earlier drawing by Zenseava.

Friday, May 13, 2016

EMvTW Special 06: SS Enterprise NX-01 (NX class refit)

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

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.

In the case of this model, Eaglemoss is the only company to have produced it in a pre-built and pre-painted model so this will technically be a short article.


The NX Class starship continues to be a favorite of mine.  She represents our first foray into real deep space exploration.  She is crude but yet serves her purpose well.  She was under-powered and outgunned from the point she left spacedock but allowed us to learn a lot about the galaxy around us as well as ourselves.  The NX Class Refit represented the next evolution for not only the ship, but human exploration.  She represented what we had learned over the previous 4 years.

And here is my current fleet of this mighty ship.

Top: Polar Lights - Bottom (Left to Right) Resin Modeller, Eaglemoss, Resin Modeller

Thursday, May 12, 2016

EMvTW 61: USS Budapest NCC-64923 (Norway class)

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

Rewrites: April 2019

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.

The bittersweet news is that looking ahead, it appears that we will actually see very few comparative articles coming from me in the future.  I'm sad, as it means that my sole purpose for writing these sorts of articles is coming to an end.  But, I'm also happy in that Eaglemoss has far surpassed my wants in a manufacturer who would make models of ships that no one else has produced.   And unlike Hallmark, they are not wasting production time by producing the same model in an updated format every several years.

This also means that writing these reviews has become a rather quick affair.  Here is my Eaglemoss vs. The World article about the Norway class.  We are introduced to this type of starship in the movie "Star Trek: First Contact (1996)"


My collection of this ship consists of only one pre-built and pre-painted model as well as a 1:2500 scale Odyssey Slipways model that I built and painted.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

EMvTW 60: SS Botany Bay (DY-100 class)

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

Rewrites: March 2019

I took some time off with the Eaglemoss vs. The World review series due to some financial needs, however, I recently managed to make my next set of purchases, so it looks like we are back in business again.

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.

The bittersweet news is that looking ahead, it appears that we will actually see very few comparative articles coming from me in the future.  I'm sad, as it means that my sole purpose for writing these sorts of articles is coming to an end.  But, I'm also happy in that Eaglemoss has far surpassed my wants in a manufacturer who would make models of ships that no one else has produced.   And unlike Hallmark, they are not wasting production time by producing the same model in an updated format every several years.

This means that writing these reviews is a rather quick affair.  With all that said, let us take a look at the DY-100 class sleeper ship, of which the most famous one is Khan's SS Botany Bay.


We are introduced to this starship in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode called "Space Seed".

As you can see, I only own two versions of this ship that were pre-built and pre-painted so this will most likely be a very short article.

Saturday, May 7, 2016

U571 Class Communications Station

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

I love to kitbash.  Scratchbuilding can be almost as fun.  My mind is always going and I'm always thinking about making something new that no one else has seen before.  Let's face it, nothing spices up a collection than having something unique or one of a kind in it.  There are very few space station models available to the model builder.  I think you have a huge choice of either Deepspace Nine or Station K-7.  Very few modelers also make thier own stations.  It's sometimes hard to come up with the right materials to build one.  Which is why, when the idea struck me to try to use some ordinarily trash items for parts, I figured I would give it a go.


I present to you , Marathon Station, a federation communications relay station.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Watchtower Class

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

I have to admit, this was not high on my favorites to build. I'm not sure if it was the timing of life events going on at the same time, or just that it took me way out of my comfort zone as far as using new skill sets to build and paint her. The fact that it took me 9 months to eventually finish her is testament to the fact that I was not in "the mood" to build it.

In the end though, I was happy with the outcome and now I have a very unique looking ship in my collection, so I guess I'll take it as a win.


I present to you, what has become known as the Watchtower Class.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Constitution Class Phase II Refit

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

As I was going through my oldest articles and doing some REFIT work on them, I came across my review of the Cozmo Heavy Industries Constitution Class Phase II Prototype kit.  You can read that review at THIS LINK.  I realized that in all this time of writing my articles and sharing some of my kitbashes, I have never shared my attempt at building the Constitution Class Phase II Refit.  This model has a special place in my heart as it was my very first kitbash.


So sit back and enjoy my tale of building my first and second attempts to build this unique vessel.

Thursday, April 28, 2016

X-65 Class Prototype Attack Vessel

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

I did a quick share of this ship back when I re-wrote my Eaglemoss vs. The World Article on the Klingon Bird Of Prey.  I had intended to do a full write up about it, but the project got forgotten until now.


I have always wondered what a ship like this would look like. When the Star Trek Modelers Group on FaceBook decided to have a Star Trek/Star Wars crossover contest, it seemed to be the perfect time to give it a try since she would be very X-Wing like in appearance. The class name is in fact taken from the T-65 name for the X-Wing.

I now present to you my Klingon X-65 Class Prototype attack ship.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Bonefish Class

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

A while ago, the Star Trek Modelers Group page on Facebook held a build contest where the contestants had to build a ring ship.  This was one of my entries.


I had challenged myself to not only build a ring ship, but to cobble together parts from two different sci-fi genres.

Harold White Class

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

My next share is one of my ring ship kitbashes.


This model was a grand little experiment in making a ring ship out of a non-model part.


Tuesday, April 26, 2016

3D Print Kit Review: Tactical Game Systems 1:2500 MCS-7 Class Destroyer

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

This will be my first official review of a 3D printed kit.  As is always the case when I write my reviews of a kit, I had some long conversations with the designer.  As a result, I came back with a TON of behind the scenes information.  In fact, there was so much that I decided to write a sister article to this one about the designing the actual model.  You can read that interview by following THIS LINK.

To start off this new type of review, we will first focus on the 1:2500 scale MCS-7 Class Destroyer from Tactical Game Systems.

T.G.S. Promo Mini-Poster

Dave who owns and operates T.G.S. asked me to point out that the model I'm working with is a PROTOTYPE.  So please keep that in mind when reading my review.