EMvTW Special 13: Klingon Battle Cruiser (AKA Warbird Class)

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

I pre-ordered the next special and it apparently has come in the mail already.  Which means that this issue of Eaglemoss vs. The World is going to talk about Special # 13, the Klingon Warbird from the alternate universe.

While this type of ship is first mentioned in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode called "Broken Bow", we don't actually get to see one in action until the movie Star Trek (2009).  In fact, we only get to see these ships during the Kobayashi Maru scenario when Kirk cheats his way to a victory of the "No Win Scenario".


Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "The Klingon Warbird was a class of warship used by the Klingon Empire in the mid-22nd century. It was also used by the Klingons in the mid-23rd century of the alternate reality."

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

Warbird Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and NO Memory Beta LINK

NO MAGAZINE...  AGAIN...

Before I get into the actual review of the Eaglemoss model, I feel like I need to yet again go off on a tirade.

Back when I did my review of the Phase II Enterprise, I went off on a very long winded rant about Eaglemoss releasing thier Pre-Order models and then back-ordering the magazines.  I am not going to rehash that whole thing over again so if you want to know my true feelings then go read that review at THIS LINK.

I am happy to say that the magazine for the Phase II model finally arrived... two months later.  And guess what?  They did not send a magazine for this model.  Why?  Well... Because it is back-ordered.

The only thing I will repeat from that original bitch-fest is that when Eaglemoss does this, they make it rather difficult for me to write these reviews.  Those magazines provide me with official photos to use as comparison, and give me a solid platform on which to judge them on whether they have produced an accurate model.  I really don't like having to rely on various internet and possibly tainted sources for my comparative data.

...BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED REVIEW

Let us take a look at the different angles of the Eaglemoss model.

 

 

 

 

This is one big model, that dwarfs the previously released D-7 Class and K'Tinga Class models.

HOLD UP...

There have been times in the past that I have complained about Eaglemoss wasting the Special Edition line on NuTrek models.  In some cases, Eaglemoss could have gotten away with producing the model in the much smaller Standard Edition line-up of ships.  In fact, there have been some times that I downright despised the fact that I had to spend Special Edition pricing on some of thier NuTrek models.  Now that I've written several of these articles for the Special Edition ships, I actually have an answer as to why Eaglemoss went this route.  We can thank the morons who produced NuTrek, Paramount, for this waste of special edition time and space.  Apparently, Paramount would only grant Eaglemoss the license to reproduce the vessels IF they were done as a Special Edition sized models.

This is one such model that Eaglemoss could have just as easily done as a Standard Edition model.  I really don't see anything super exciting on the model that could not have been done on a smaller scale, so thank you Paramount for wasting our money.

One last gripe of mine about the Special Edition line-up...  When Eaglemoss produces a model in the Standard Edition line of ships, I get that they have a budget constraint to work with.  They are, after all, in the business to make money and sometimes, there will be mistakes or shortcuts that have to be made in a $23 model.  When it comes to Eaglemoss' Special Edition line of models, I expect more from them.  I am after all, paying just shy of double the cost of a Standard Edition model.  I don't necessarily expect a larger ship, but I do expect better quality, so I will tend to be a lot harder in my judgmental attitude towards the Special Edition line-up of ships.

This model has a few issues with it that I am not inclined to be in a forgiving nature about, especially at the price that I had to pay for it.  I won't be subtle about them, so you will see them pretty well as I point them out.

...AND BACK TO THE REVIEW

One area where Eaglemoss did a very good job on in regards to the model was the sculpt and mold work.  From nose to tail, top to bottom, this model is covered with all sorts of molded details.

On the neck of the ship, there are tiny little disruptor gun turrets and the part of the neck that connects to engineering has a very familiar ridging going on.

On the bottom of engineering is the very noticeable warp core cover, and the wings have the very K'Tinga Class look with the feathered panel lines.

Is it me, or does the belly of the ship look like the Starfleet logo?

Along with the normal molded parts, the model also sports some "external" greebles as well, like the extended disruptor cannons. 

Another place for these extra greebles was on the engineering section.

For the most part, the paint work on this model is not to bad.  The window paint lines up nicely with the molded details and does a great job of providing a sense of size and scale for the model.

I really wish that Eaglemoss had at least painted the torpedo launcher though, so that it didn't just blend in with the rest of the command modules paint.

Eaglemoss added some color to the neck of the ship, however, the yellow on the very top of mine looks like it was applied from a rattle can of spry paint and looks a bit messy.

The "feathering" on the wings looks really cool with the two tone paint scheme, but I think that the engine intake grill should have received some sort of attention in the form of red, or any color for that matter.

When we look at the rear of the ship, once again, the photon torpedo launcher is lacking any color.  The only thing that really excites me about the rear of the ship is Eaglemoss' use of clear yellow plastics to represent the impulse engines.

That brings me to the warp nacelles.  While the sculpt and mold on these is nice, the choice to paint them instead of using clear plastics makes me feel like they are a bit lacking.  Granted, Eaglemoss DID NOT use clear plastics on thier D-7 or K'Tinga Class starships, so perhaps I may be a little too critical here.

As for the over all construction, I think Eaglemoss did a great dis-service to themselves by putting the joins and seams on the top side of the wings.  The larger model, creates larger seams, and in this location, are way too noticeable to not point them out.

This last gap that I'm pointing out, may actually be part of the ship itself, HOWEVER, without the magazine to look at, I guess we won't know for another two months, so I'll just write it off as a mistake.

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 (June 2018).

Eaglemoss = $66

NOTE: Prices were researched last on June 2nd, 2018.  As of the writing of this article, you can also currently pre-order the Eaglemoss model right from the company themselves for around $45 (shipping unknown).

We now come to the part of my article where I like to give you my opinion of whether this model is worth the money.  While Eaglemoss did a nice job of producing a ship that we only see briefly on screen, the fact remains that this is a more expensive Special Edition model.  In my book, that means it should have been better quality than the Standard Edition models, and quite frankly, I don't see the quality being any better.

Since I didn't have the magazine to work with, I had to rely on outside sources.  Luckily for me, StarTrek.com ran an article on this model and included a very nicely rendered photo of the ship in space.  I guess I can't ask for a better source picture than StarTrek.com.  Go check out that picture at THIS LINK, and you will better understand why I wasn't very impressed with Eaglemoss' model.

Sadly, I really don't think it's worth the $45 price tag and in the end, I have to chalk this one up to yet another NuTrek model from Eaglemoss that is a bit disappointing.  It's not my least favorite though as the Altamid Swarm ship still wins out the award for the WORST Special Edition model from Eaglemoss.

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 

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