EMvTW Extra #11: USS Voyager (Rick Sternbach Concept)

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

Another cool Extra Model has come to the Standard Line of Eaglemoss Star Trek Starships.  Unfortunately, the fanfare came as rather sour sounding to me as Eaglemoss has back-ordered the magazine on this one.  I despise when they do this to me as it hinders my reviews a bit.  I typically will use the pictures in those magazines as a reference point to help judge how good of a job that Eaglemoss did in replicating the ship in the smaller scale.  Since I don't have that reference, and I don't feel like waiting a month or two for said magazine, I will just have to press forward with using other internet sources and hope that I don't sound like I'm talking out of my rear facing torpedo launcher.

So here it is, the Rick Sternbach Concept Model of the USS Voyager.

In case you never got around to it, be sure to check out my review of Eaglemoss' work, as well as a few other manufacturers' attempts at producing the actual USS Voyager.  You can read that review at THIS LINK.


Per Memory Alpha, "The "Voyager Prototype Model" was a 48 inch long, 1:240 scale study model, designed and built by Rick Sternbach out of foam core and Bondo during the pre-production of Star Trek: Voyager. This was a mock-up only; it was not built as a filming miniature. Featuring many details that eventually made it into the producers' final choice for the design of the Intrepid-class USS Voyager, this prototype featured sharper, more angular shapes, and long, down-swept warp nacelles mounted on pylons designed similarly to those on the Danube-class runabout."

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

Intrepid Class Prototype Model Information: Memory Alpha LINK and NO Memory Beta LINK

Sadly, the real world model that Eaglemoss is basing thier work on, is now in the hands of a private collector, and all I/we really have to judge thier model by, is the following picture, and of course, whatever pictures Eaglemoss may have included in the magazine that they failed to send me.

Photo Credit: Memory Alpha

I'm going to step out on a limb and take a wild guess that Eaglemoss at least talked with Rick Sternbach bout this ship.

Eaglemoss

 

 

 

 

Since this is the prototype of the USS Voyager, you are probably wondering how it measured up to Eaglemoss' rendition of Voyager.  Well my dear readers, I try not to disappoint.  😁

 Final Model vs. Mock Up Model

As you can see, while the Concept Voyager is longer, it is also smaller from a width point of view.  This is not a surprise occurrence to me as the models do have to fit inside the standard sized boxes.  We saw the same issue with the Sovereign Class USS Enterprise E, and the Vesta Class USS Aventine.

Don't let this size throw you off though.  Sometimes, good tings come in small packages.

The sculpt and mold work on the new Eaglemoss model is just awesome.  All sorts of details were crammed onto the model from top to bottom and front to back.  It is very cool to see the details that were carried over from the Concept to the final product.

In fact, there is no signs of EMMS (definition can be found a end of this article) either, which is a VAST improvement over the original Voyager model that Eaglemoss released way back in issue # 6.

The paint work is superb... for the most part.  There are no signs of misaligned window paint, although this is because Eaglemoss chose not to paint them.  I'm OK with that decision as Eaglemoss sometimes has a bad track record with those window details.

The concept model is rather colorful with well applied paint to all the important key areas of the ship.

I really love the amount of paint work done to the spine of the ship.  The core cover was a nice touch too.

I'm not sure what that box is on the back of the ship's neck, and I'm rather confused because that is not on the original model.  And since Eaglemoss chose to back-order the magazine for me, I have no reference material to go off of.  Is the box a shuttle bay or an impulse engine?  If it is not an impulse engine, then this model is missing them completely.  If that box is supposed to be the engine, then Eaglemoss forgot to paint it.

Editor's Note: Rick Sternbach is a member of a Star Trek Modeler's Group on FaceBook and was kind enough to bring an end to the mystery for me.  The box is indeed an unpainted "impulse engines".

The nacelles are slim and graceful.  The only clear plastics that Eaglemoss put on them are for the bussard collectors.  I'm OK with this choice of painting the grills, as the the nacelle grilles were gold on the original model.  Wait, the Eaglemoss model has them painted blue.  Uh-Oh, another detail that is not true to original foam model.

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

None of the pictures I've seen of the original model show the deflector dish, so I can not speak for the accuracy of the Eaglemoss model.  

I did not notice at first that the photon torpedo launchers were not painted.  This is because the deflector dish WOWed me when I first laid eyes on it.  The molded details are crisp and clear, and the paint work is as spot on as Eaglemoss could manage.  I would dare say that I like the concept dish over the final model's dish.

The upper sensor dish is also done far better than on the model of the final Voyager.  While there still is some sort of gap right behind the vertical yellow piece, that gap is not as pronounced on this ne model.

The joins and seams were blended expertly into the natural lines of the ship so that you have to look really hard to find them.

And that is all I really have to share at this point on this class of ship.  As for pricing, 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 writing (August 2018).

Eaglemoss = $58

NOTE: Prices were researched last on August 26th, 2018.  As of the writing of this article, you can currently pre-order the Eaglemoss model right from the company themselves for around $25 (shipping unknown).  That is what I did and actually got mine set to me right away, although they back-ordered the magazine.  So, if you are not like me, and don't care about the magazine, I highly recommend going the direct route and save yourself a ton of money.

Is the model worth the money?  If you can get it for under $35, then I am going to say "Yes!", very loudly and very exuberantly.  This is one of the better produced models to come out of Eaglemoss, and it certainly makes for a great piece to the avid Star Trek: Voyager collector.

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:

Eaglemoss     Comparative Pictures

Other Reviewers Take On The Eaglemoss Model:
Some Kind Of Star Trek   [NO REVIEW YET]
Star Trek Starship Collection   [NO REVIEW YET]