EMvTW Special 21 - Surak VS-5047-81192259584-5 (Vulcan Long Range Shuttle (SW7 Class))

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

Rewrites: NONE YET

Our next Special Edition model from the Eaglemoss Star Trek collection is the SW7 Class Long Range Shuttle, and is from one of the movies rather than a series.

It's been two month since my last review.  This time, the delay wasn't financial.  I actually have completed collecting all 180 of the Standard Edition models that were released and I am continuing to collect the Specials and Extras as they trickle into the collection.  Sometimes, life throws curve balls at you.  And I think we can all agree that 2020 has... how shall I say it... not been the best year.  Well, there have been lots of things happening behind the scenes for me which can best be summed up with the following picture...

But, I really want to push through and continue with these reviews, so enough of that introduction and let us move forward.  Hopefully I can get back into some sort of groove and keep writing these things on a more regular basis.

We first get to see this starship in the movie called Star Trek: The Motion Picture. (1979).  My collection consists of the very large Eaglemoss model, and the very small MicroMachine model.


Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "A long range shuttle was a type of shuttlecraft in the late 23rd century. Some of these ships were Federation-registered couriers.  These long range shuttles featured a detachable fuselage pod, capable of acting as an independent craft from the stardrive section."

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

SW7 Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK

My reviews do not cover smaller models like HeroClix or MicroMachine because they are quite frankly to small for my collecting tastes.  But, since I already had the MicroMachine model from years ago, it has appeared in the article for a quick fly-by.

 

And there it goes... you missed it.

Which brings us to the Eaglemoss model review.  I am not sure why Eaglemoss felt the need to produce this as a large Special Edition model instead of a Standard Edition version.  My guess is that Paramount was being asinine about licensing and forced Eaglemoss to make it a Special Edition.  Unfortunately, with Special Edition size comes Special Edition pricing on a model that could have very well been produced as a much cheaper Standard Edition line model.

That being said, let us take a look at what Eaglemoss brought us.

 

 

 

 

Before we get into the discussion of model quality, let us talk about the stand.  If the stand works fine, then I will not even bring it up in my reviews.  The issue with the stand for this one is that if you mount it the way Eaglemoss recommends, the model becomes very front heavy and unstable.  Given the price tag, we don't want to see this baby fall off out display shelf.  If you turn the model around in the stand and mount it as shown below, while it still does lean forward, the weight is better distributed and the whole thing just feels more stable..

As is the case with any scale modeling, when you take a relatively small sized ship from in-universe, and scale it down to a real world model, details can either be enhanced or lost.  The smaller the in-universe ship, the more details we get to see on a standard sized Eaglemoss model.  Case in point, the Delta Flyer is a small in-universe ship, but when Eaglemoss produced it as a Standard Sized model, LOTS of details could in essence be shown off.  The Voth City ship which was extremely huge in-universe, could essentially lose details when rendered as a small scale Standard Edition model in our Real World.  And then Eaglemoss goes and renders this small in-universe long range shuttle, in the extremely large Special Edition sized model.  Which brings out LOTS and LOTS of details.

The sculpt and mold work is really nice, with lots of tactile details spread all over the model.

Doors, engineering and external hatches are all represented in nice crisp details.

The paint work is equally impressive.  The entire model has a weathered, worn and scratched look to it thanks to some well painted on details.

Paneling, thrusters and even the ship's registry are painted on in a nice clear manner.

The warp sled's main engineering section is very impressive with this long and pointy nacelles.  The paint work on these gives the sled a look of something that has done its share of planetary landings with some well placed scorch marks.

Nacelle: Outer Edge

Nacelle: Inner Edge

The front of the nacelle shows more RCS thrusters paint work.

And the bottoms of the nacelles show the retractable landing pads, which also bear a lot of wear and tear paint work.

The rear of the nacelles are highlighted with RCS thrusters as well, but also have translucent yellow inserts to show off the exhaust ports.

And that is all the pictures and comparisons I have to share on this ship at this time.  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 (October 2020).

Eaglemoss = $50

MicroMachine = $7

NOTE: Prices were researched last on October 28th, 2020.  As of the writing of this article, you can also currently order the Eaglemoss model right from the company's US WebStore for around $50 (shipping unknown).

The Eaglemoss model is BIG.  In my opinion, it is TOO BIG.  However, I can not argue that for the $50 price tag, you are getting your money's worth in model.  The sculpted details are fantastic and they are accentuated by equally great painted on details.  As for Special Edition sized models, this one ranks among the best of the ones produced by Eaglemoss to date.  Other than the giant size and the goofy stand, I can't complain about this model and in the end, recommend that you add it to you fleet.

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

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