EMvTW 140: Starfleet Tug (24th Century)

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

As the collection gets ever so closer to a hypothetical end, we are seeing some real unique models coming at us from Eaglemoss.  The next one for our review table is the Starfleet tug as seen very briefly in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode called "A Time to Stand".

I am a huge fan of kitbashing, and have often used this "art form" in many of my own builds over the years.  Having Eaglemoss bring us one of the show's kitbashes was very exciting for me, even if the actual ship was a bit, how shall we say this delicately?  Ugly?


Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "A Federation tug was a class of small specialized tug starships used exclusively for towing damaged or disabled vessels. These ships were used by the Federation and operated by Starfleet in the 24th century. Federation starbases were equipped with these types of tow ships."

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

Tug (24th Century) Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and NO Memory Beta LINK

Before we get into the actual review, let us take a quick side track trip into an area that I don't normally talk about, the stand.  My reviews are meant to talk about the model, but the stand for this Eaglemoss model is the most unique of them all.  You see, the ship actually mounts to the stand, face first, so what you might think is the front with extended arms, IS ACTUALLY, the rear of the ship with partially extended tow bars of some sort.  Yeah... it threw me for a loop until I tool a good look at the following picture:

Photo Credit: Memory Alpha

And I didn't realize my mistake until AFTER I took my normal array of photos for this review.  And that meant, I had to redo the whole photo shoot again.

With that out of the way, and our model now facing the right way, let us take a closer look at it.

 

 

 

 

The thing about kitbashed ships is that you sometimes need to REALLY take a close look at them to appreciate how they were made.  The scene in Deep Space Nine where we see this ship, is so brief that you never really get a good look.  But now that Eaglemoss has reproduced a new physical model, you have to keep looking at it over and over again to make sure you don't miss anything special.

That being said, the sculpt and mold work are very well done with all the details coming out crisp and defined.

 

The greebles are well executed from the extended tow bars to engines and emitters.

 

Remember how I said that you have to look closely?  Well, I discovered this little detail while I was positioning the model for one of my more intimate photos.  Eaglemoss managed to squeeze in tiny hydraulics between the hull and nacelle.

The paint work is what really brings this model to life though.  Besides the faint aztec pattern across the entire model, Eaglemoss also gave the ship a bit of a weathering paint job as well.  The down and dirty and heavily used look really works for this equivalent to a space tow truck.  I can almost imagine a greasy mechanic with a big cigar climbing out of the vessel.

The nacelles which are re-purposed from a Romulan WarBird model, are well done, and they even sport some of Eaglemoss' famous clear blue plastics for the grills.

The blocky odd shaped vessel really works well when it comes to hiding the joins and seams.  These joins are really hard to spot on this model.

For those familiar with this series of articles from me, you will know that I typically go in for a close-up of the Starfleet ship's deflector dish.  In my opinion, you can tell a lot about a company's attention to details by just looking at this area of the ship.

Well, guess what?  That is not a deflector dish.  The gold circle is actually a power resupply tap.  It still nicely done though.

And that is all the pictures and comparisons I have to share on this ship at this time.  As of February 27th, 2019, you can get the model on eBay for around $30 (shipping included), and directly from the U.S. Eaglemoss WebStore for around $23 (shipping unknown).

Is the ugly duckling of a Starfleet Tug worth the money?  I have gotten used to paying anywhere from $25 to $30 for the standard edition Eaglemoss models and have used that price range as a basis for my recommendations.  Let's face it, she won't be the prettiest ship in your fleet.  But given the uniqueness and good craftsmanship, I would have to say that this actually is a good model, and personally, it is well worth the money.

And before I bring this review to a close, I present to you one last picture of this model and the next one in line for the Standard Eaglemoss ships.

I shared the above picture on a few of the FaceBook groups that I frequent, and a friend took the picture and took it way further with it than I ever could of.

A special thanks goes to Sean Kelly of DCE Digital Studio.  You can check out his FaceBook page and all the cool projects he is working on at THIS LINK.

Article Update: I've received a few comments about the model being in the stand.  I was making a point about the absurdity of Eaglemoss telling us in the magazine to mount it that way.  So in order to calm the nerves of those individuals, here is a picture of it sitting with the stand mounted the way it SHOULD be.

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]

NOTE: Whoever was running the Star Trek Starship Collection Review blog at THIS LINK, seams to have dropped off the grid after their review of Warship Voyager.  While commenter's have asked the writer if he/she was OK, there has been no reply.