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.


Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "The DY-100 class was an early design of Earth space vessels that were in operation during the late 20th century.  The ships were especially designed for interplanetary travel. They had simple nuclear powered engines and were equipped with artificial gravity. They utilized transistors as components. DY-100 ships were launched into orbit with booster rockets."  They go on to say, "The SS Botany Bay was a DY-100-class sleeper ship built on Earth in the late 20th century. The Botany Bay was launched from Earth in 1996 under the command of Khan Noonien Singh. The Botany Bay was used by a group of genetically-enhanced Humans known as Augments, led by Khan Noonien Singh, in an attempt to escape from Earth after being defeated by non-Augments."

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

DY-100 Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK
SS Botany Bay Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK

Since I actually have one, I figured that I will give you a quick look at the MicroMachine version.

 

Since my reviews do not normally focus on such tiny model, that will be it for the shares of the MicroMachine version.  Which means, we can now jump right into reviewing Eaglemoss' rendition.

Eaglemoss

 

 

 

 

I'll be perfectly honest, I wasn't expecting much from the Eaglemoss model.  Let's face it, the original studio model was not very detailed.  What I didn't realize was Ealemoss was going to base their rendition off of the remastered version, which used a computer model that was a bit better defined as far as details were concerned.

I was most definitely wrong in my expectations.  The model boasts some nice and subtle molded in details in both the plastic and metal parts.  It surprised me to see "grill" details molded into the cargo containers.

The engineering section has some nice details molded into the rear of the ship as well.

The paint job is what really impressed me.  The original filming model looked to be plain and off grey.  On Eaglemoss' model, there is a light and subtle aztecing of the ship, but they also managed to weather it in such a way to give it a VERY old and worn look.  You can tell that this ship has been floating in space for a very long time.

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.

As far as these reviews go, I only saw one complaint about the seams and joins and they were mainly focused along the tops of the cargo containers.  As you can see from the picture here, my model also seemed to suffer from a bad join along this area as well.

My join and seam isn't all that bad though, however, it appears that Eaglemoss added extra glue and in the process nicked the heck out of the corner.  If it was any other ship, I might have complained and tried to get a new one, but, let's face it, the ship is supposed to look beat up.  In my opinion. that "scar" just added another nice touch to my model.

There are no clear plastic parts on this model, but given the type of ship it is, we'll have to let this detail go this time around.

Conclusion

And that is all I have to share on this ship at this time.  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 (March 2019).

Eaglemoss = $27

NOTE: Prices were researched last on March 30th, 2019.  As of the writing of this article, you can also currently order the Eaglemoss model right from the company themselves for around $23 (shipping unknown).

Typically, this is where I like to 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 one to get, for the best price.  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 model is definitely a must have for the completionist collector or even the TOS fanatic.  Eaglemoss has made a very nice looking model of a very rare ship, that served a very important role in Star Trek history during the TOS and TMP eras.  Even with the gap issues, I feel that it is well worth the money.

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     MicroMachine
Comparative Shots

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