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.
Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "The Raven-type starships were small, modular long-range Federation exploration vessels. They mildly resembled the Danube-class runabouts. They were designed to be operated by a minimum crew. According to the MSD of the USS Raven, this class also had a shuttlebay in the aft section."
The ship was never given a canonical classification name and according to Memory Alpha is just called a Raven Type. According to Memory Beta though, this class of ships is called the Aerie Class. Supposedly, the ship is capable of planetary landings, but also houses a small shuttle in it's rear shuttlebay.
If you would like to read more official stuff on this type of ship, feel free to check out the following links:
Aerie Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK
USS Raven (NAR-32450) Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK
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. My collecting preferences is that the model be between 4 to 6 inches which is why I don't include certain manufacturers like HeroClix. The only reason I show MicroMachine from time to time is because I happen to have obtained the full collection of them years ago and want to show them off.
While my articles typically will only focus on the pre-built and pre-painted stuff, I would be irresponsible to not share a size comparison of the different models I do have.
Middle: Eaglemoss vs. Right & Left: Odyssey Slipways
Since there is only one manufacturer of a a pre-built and pre-painted version of this type of starship and that would be Eaglemoss. Unfortunately, that will make this article rather short.
One of the things that I have learned is that they do a much better job with the sculpt and molding of plastic parts as opposed to metal parts. Typically, the molded in details on the metal parts have a softer and more rounded look to them. I eventually coined a definition for this symptom called the Eaglemoss Melted Marshmallow Syndrome or E.M.M.S. for short. There is a better definition for this syndrome at the end of this article.
As I re-write the article, I'm not sure what the reasoning for me to have mentioned that fact as this model certainly DOES NOT suffer from E.M.M.S. This model is made mostly of plastic parts which means the details are super nice and crisp looking. The fact that this is supposed to be a smaller ship is a plus as well, for when done in this scale, it gives Eaglemoss much more area to show details for.
Eaglemoss has molded in all sorts of little details and quite frankly, I am very impressed with the look. The personnel access door has even been molded in.
The painted details are great as well. I love the fact that the painted on window details match up with their molded components.
One last little awesome point is that they painted on the navigation lights on the nacelles.
Eaglemoss used clear blue plastics for the nacelle grills and this is a nice touch. Although the bussard collectors are painted on, they are still well done on my model.
They even did a great job with the join seam as it blends in well along the sides of the model.
It took me a while to notice the one issue with my model. I was just so in to it, with all the great little details, that I missed it until one of my fellow reviewers pointed it out. My nacelles actually were not at an even horizontal positioning with the rest of the ship. The rear ends of of both nacelles angle up slightly when you look at the ship directly from the side.
Unfortunately, it was really hard to get a picture of this issue from a good angle. Trust me that it is there, but given that I can't really show it, maybe we just let that problem slide.
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.
In this case, I'm doing this because I never knew that this part of the ship was considered a deflector dish and I wanted to share what I learned with my readers.
Those gray triangles on either side serve as the navigational deflectors. They are not very detailed, but given the quality of the details on the rest of the ship, I'll forgive Eaglemoss on this detail.
NOTE: Prices were researched last on May 1st, 2019.
As of the writing of this article, you can also currently order the Eaglemoss model right from the company's US WebStore for around $23 (shipping unknown). It also looks like you can get this model from eBay sellers for around $24 (shipping included).
Is this model worth the money? I have to say that I was impressed with this model from Eaglemoss. They provide us with a great version of this ship and for the prices that I am finding, it makes for an awesome addition to your fleet.
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.
If you like to build and paint your own models, Odyssey Slipways produced a resin kit in 1:2500 scale. However, I'm going to warn you that at 1:2500 scale versions of these types of ships is SUPER small.
I won't go too much more about this set of models, but I will share with you the final product.
USS Raven (NAR-32450)
Aerie Class Science Vessel
1:2500 Odyssey Slipways kit
USS Tern (NAR-33199)
Aerie Class Executive Shuttle
1:2500 Odyssey Slipways kit
I pretty much did most of my detail painting with the pointy end of a paper clip.
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!!!"
Definitions
EMMS = Eaglemoss Melted Marshmallow Syndrome. This is best described as a softening of details where they appear more rounded, less edgy and a bit out of focus. Sort of what happens to a marshmallow as you heat it up to it's melting point on a camp fire.
Additional Links To Photos Of My Collection:
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