EMvTW Extra 12 - USS Bonaventure NCC-1000 (Bonaventure class)

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

I have grown very fond of the next type of starship that we are going to take a look at.  And I was rather excited when I learned that Eaglemoss was going to produce it.  I am referring to the USS Bonaventure (NCC-1000), a Bonaventure Class starship.

My fleet of this type of this kind of starship consists of the Eaglemoss model, and two models that I built and painted.

Per Memory Beta, "The NCC-1000 was a Federation Starfleet starship in service in the late-22nd or 23rd centuries, she was a member of the Bonaventure-class, a newly advanced class of starship that followed on from the success of the NX-class."

This ship is very non-canon.  In fact, she was first introduced to fans as artwork in the 2006 Ships Of The Line Calendar.

Photo Credit: Memory Beta

Since then, this ship has been the topic of many message forums, and the subject of several garage kit model makers.  Sadly, there isn't a lot of official information about her online.

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

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

USS Bonaventure (NCC-1000) Information: NO Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK

When Eaglemoss first announced that they were going to produce some non-canon vessels, I was initially against buying them.  Luckily, my feelings for them have changed, and in most cases, I'm very glad that I bought into this sub-section of the collection.

This review did get delayed slightly due to a SMALL mix-up on Eaglemoss' part.  Rather than rehash that entire story, go check out my review of the USS Enterprise F at THIS LINK to find out what happened.

When I reviewed the Enterprise F, I found that that the stand was EXTREMELY tight, almost to the point of wanting to scrape paint off the model.  Many people had filed their stands to fix this issue, AND THEN, they received their USS Bonaventure model.  That model suffered the same stand issues.  BUT THEN, some smart individual tried reversing the support pieces and guess what?  THEY FIT perfectly!  SOOOO... before damaging your stand, wait to buy the other Extra model and then you will have a perfectly fitting stand for each model.

Normally, I don't talk about the stands, but I felt that this was a very important service announcement to make.

Next, I want to share what I call the Gravy Shot pictures.  Back when I had other manufacturer's versions of the same ship, I would give side-by-side comparison pictures to help my reader's with making their own decisions.  This would also help with the judging of the models' sizes.  Now, normally, I would not include a model that I built, but in the case of this review, I think it would be helpful to know that the ships that I built, were 1:2500 scale kits.

 The Delta Quadrant vs. Eaglemoss vs. The Delta Quadrant Kitbash

With those pictures out of the way, let us take a closer look at the Eaglemoss model.

 

 

 

 

I really liked the sculpt and mold work on this model.  It has the TOS style simplicity while still showing off details like windows and panel lines.

The paint work is really well done too.  The model sports an aztecing pattern across the entire ship that is not overbearing.

Panels, and even the under-belly of the ship sport extra detail painting.

The running lights on both the top and bottom of the saucer have been painted in, and even the shuttle bay door was given a little paint to allow it to stand out better.

In fact, there is quite a bit of registry marking and Starfleet pennants, lines and markings that just pop across the entire model.

The nacelles are beautifully done.  While they don't have any clear plastics, the mold and paint work on them have come out looking rather cool.

 

The only place that really has me upset when it comes to the sculpting or painting, is the impulse engines on the rear of the ship.

It appears that Eaglemoss has forgotten to paint them.  The magazine points them out, and I just shake my head at the fact that Eaglemoss slipped up on such an important area of the ship.

The other thing that bothers me about this model is the rather badly done join and seam that is very prominent on the underside of the saucer section.

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.

I really love the fact that Eaglemoss went with the traditional TOS era copper color for the dish on this one.  And the molding of it are as good as can be expected for such a tiny piece.  In the end, I was very pleased.

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 (re)writing (February 2019).

Eaglemoss = $28

NOTE: Prices were researched last on February 21st, 2019.  As of the writing of this article, you can currently pre-order the Eaglemoss model right from the company themselves for around $24 (shipping unknown).  My experience has been that they will then ship the model and back-order the magazine.  The magazine will typically come about a month later.

Is the Eaglemoss model worth the money?  As a collector of the Standard line of models from Eaglemoss, I am used to paying anywhere between $25 and $30 for them on eBay.  The Eaglemoss model falls in line with that.  Putting the ugly join and seam aside and ignoring the missing impulse engines, I would have to say that I'm still very happy with the model and would definitely recommend it.  It is very unique, and will only serve as a point of interest in your collection.

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.

As I stated at the beginning of this article, I also built two models of this starship.  Both of them were made by the same company, however, I decided to have a go at building the ship a second time as a TMP era ship that had undergone a major refit.

Since this article focuses primarily on the pre-built and pre-painted type of model, I will just share some brief pictures and give you direct links to read up more on these models if you so desire.

USS Bonaventure (NCC-1000)

Bonaventure Class

1:2500 The Delta Quadrant Kit

 

I love building in 1:2500 scale as most of the models I have are relatively small and allow me to display a LOT of models in a small space.  When I discovered that this model was available through a garage kit maker, and the price was relatively inexpensive, I jumped on the opportunity and bought and built it.  You can read all about this model and follow along with my build process at THIS LINK.

USS Bonaventure (NCC-1000)

Bonaventure Class Refit

1:2500 The Delta Quadrant and AMT Kit Kitbash

 

The original Delta Quadrant model was a breeze to build, and quite frankly I had a lot of fun doing it.  At the time of that build, I was on a kick of re-imagining and then building old TOS style ships into their TMP era counterparts.  Since I had so much fun with the Bonaventure build, and the fact that the kit was rather inexpensive, I went and bought a second kit to bash into this model.  You can read all about this model and follow along with my build process at THIS LINK.

Replacement Decals

Right after Eaglemoss released the model, and we all found out about the missing impulse engines, our friend Bobmat343 came to the rescue by producing some new decals for the troubled model.  

Besides being able to get different registries, he also created some impulse engine decals as well.  I immediately bought them.  And they do make the model look nicer.

The engine only decals come with enough to do two models, but I will be the first to admit that they are a bit tedious to cut and apply due to their tiny size.  I found that using my jewelers headset and a pair of tweezers made applying the tiny decals a little easier of a task.

You can check out his work at his FaceBook Page (at THIS LINK), and his eBay Page (at THIS LINK).

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

TOS Build ( The Model     Work In Progress )

TMP Build ( The Model     Work In Progress )

Comparative Pictures

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.