Rewrites: NONE YET
Our next Eaglemoss Standard Edition model review is of the dark and foreboding, yet strangely familiar looking Sheliak Colony Ship.
We first get to see this starship in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called "The Ensigns of Command".
Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "A Sheliak colony ship was a type of starship used by the reclusive Sheliak species for the transport of "the membership", which was their term for "colonists"."
If you would like to read more official stuff on this type of ship, feel free to check out the following links:
Sheliak Colony Ship Information: Memory Alpha LINK and NO Memory Beta LINK
If the Sheliak ship looks strangely familiar to you, well that is because the show producers reused a studio model from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).
The ship was called The Merchantman, sometimes called the Monarch Class. Eaglemoss produced this model back in Issue #143 and if you feel like it, you can check out my review of it at THIS LINK. The show's producers repainted the studio model and gave it lots of additional parts, thus making it look a lot more menacing than the original ship.
While the show's creators reused their studio model, Eaglemoss did not reuse their molds. As you can see in the following pictures, the Sheliak Colony Ship's main hull is a lot smaller than The Merchantman's. Eaglemoss needed to so this in order to allow it to fit in their standard Issue box.
Top View
Bottom View
Even though the model is technically smaller, Eaglemoss still managed to cram a lot of detail into their rendition of the ship.
The paint work is really well done on this model. The primary hull color is gray with Eaglemoss streaking whites and lighter greys across the entire ship to give it a heavily used look. The model also bears window paint to help give a sense of size to the ship as well. As best as I can tell, the windows are precisely placed and line up well.
Other areas of the model have been overlaid with a black and silver undertone paint job, which darkens the look and mood of the ship.
I really like that Eaglemoss painted the exhaust ports of the model to make it look they are fired up and moving the ship along. It makes a great contrast to the otherwise dark model.
I love the sculpt and mold work on this model. First, the join seams are well hidden within the natural lines of the ship. If you are lucky enough to have The Merchantman, it is cool to be able to put the two models together and see what changes the show's producers made to "create" the Sheliak ship.
The very noticeable warp pylons are well detailed when it comes to the sculpting. The paint work comes off looking light but that is because they have the darker underside of the ship to contrast against. I almost would like to see some sort of glowing strips along them, but then the model would not be screen accurate.
Eaglemoss did a great job of recreating the pipe and pods along the top of the ship. Honestly, they did a fine job across the entire model with sculpting in all the conduits and panel lines, and have given us a crisp looking ship.
Even the engine detailing is well done, although the darker paint scheme back here makes it difficult to make out the rough tactile detailing of the engine exhausts.
And that is all the pictures and comparisons I have to share on this ship at this time. At the time that I wrote this article (February 7th, 2021), you could find the model on both eBay as well as Eaglemoss' US based Webstore for around $25. If you bought it through eBay, shipping was included while on Eaglemoss' website, you might have to pay shipping costs.
I was very pleased with this model. Eaglemoss did a great job of recreating it and putting it in my alien ship collection made for a nice addition. I also like displaying it next to The Merchantman from time to time just to show off the progression of the studio model.
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:
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