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.


Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "The Norway-class was a type of Federation starship in service with Starfleet during the 2370s. Armament included a phaser emitter mounted on the dorsal bow.  In 2373, at least four Norway-class vessels saw action at the Battle of Sector 001. "

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

Norway Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK
USS Budapest (NCC-64923) Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK

The Norway class marks the 4th and last of Eaglemoss' foray into giving us the Borg Buster Fleet that we see at the infamous Battle of Sector 001.

Normally, I would not compare an Eaglemoss model to a model that I've built, but in this case, it gives you a great idea of the size, which by my book, is why I started writing these articles.

Eaglemoss vs. Odyssey Slipways

As you can see, the Eaglemoss model is smaller than 1:2500 scale.

Since I only have the one model to talk about, let's jump right into reviewing Eaglemoss' rendition.

Eaglemoss

 

 

 

 

Ben Robinson had shared publicly that this was not one of his favorites to design for the Eaglemoss collection.  Given that the original CGI models were lost forever after the ship appeared in First Contact, I can only imagine the difficulty in trying to recreate the model in small scale.

Honestly, this is one of Eaglemoss' better models.  It makes for a great final addition to the Borg fighting tactical fleet.

The molded details in both the plastic and metal are superb.  They chose to highlight all sorts of little parts like windows, escape hatches and phaser strips.  They even highlighted paneling on various areas of the ship as well.

Although the paint job isn't as detailed as the Steamrunner or the Sabre Class models in Eaglemoss' Borg Buster fleet, it still is rather impressive.  I say that it isn't as detailed simply because those other two ships show a very distinctive aztecing while this one does not.

Don't let that detract from the looks though.  The ship is decked out in the militaristic gunship gray like its sisters.  She also features some off gray panels, as well as having the escape pods, phasers strip and windows all nicely painted.  If you look closely at the bridge module, you will see that they even painted in the windows of the observation lounge which to me further demonstrates just how nicely detailed this model is.

In some of their past model, Eaglemoss has dropped the ball when it comes to shuttlebays.  On a lot of models, they are "hidden" and because of this, Eaglemoss tends to gloss over them and not highlight them.  Not so for the Norway class.  The high attention to details carried over to the rear of the ship and the bays.

In their traditional fashion, Eaglemoss used clear plastic parts to accentuate the nacelle grids and bussard collectors.  I love when they do this as it definitely adds a nice touch to the model.  The impulse engines are just painted on, but they did a good enough job with them that this is forgivable.  😃

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 their models.  Let's face it, this is a very important part of the ship and should be accurately represented.

And in my opinion, this is the only place where Eaglemoss dropped the ball.  The sensor palette is all nice looking and I suppose they figured this area would take your attention more, but it seems that they forgot to mold in any details or even paint the deflector dishes.

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 (April 2019).

Eaglemoss = $28

NOTE: Prices were researched last on April 1st, 2019.  Unfortunately, at the time that I am re-writing this, Eaglemoss does not have this ship in stock on their website, so we are at the mercy of the eBay sellers.

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.  And since there is only one manufacturer, I think you can guess what my answer will be.  😃

When I have to buy from eBay, I figure to pay on average, anywhere from $25 to $30 for a Standard Edition model.  So the current pricing is right on mark in my opinion.  

Other than the missing deflector dish details, I found this to be a very nice looking model and well worth adding to your fleet.  It makes for an especially cool display if you can show it off along side of the other Borg Buster ships.

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.

Since I used the Odyssey Slipways model for comparison purposes, I figured I would share a few more pictures of it here.

USS Belair (NCC-64933)

 Norway Class

 1:2500 Scale Odyssey Slipways Kit

 

 

 

 

I'm not going to go into an all out review of this model kit though.  The guy who runs Odyssey Slipways never responded to any information inquiries so I'll just point that they molded in details for the deflector dishes on their model.

And that is all we are going to share as these series of articles are about pre-built and pre-painted models.

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     Comparative Shots
Odyssey Slipways ( The Model     Work In Progress Pictures )

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