NOTE: You can click on most pictures to get a larger view of them.
Rewrites: None
The next model up for my review is one that I have been anxiously awaiting for months to get my hands on. I was super excited when I found out that they were doing this one, even with it being a Special Edition sized model. I am speaking of the very odd looking, and even more oddly displayed Jupiter Station.
While the station is mentioned lots of times across several series, we first get to see this place in the Star Trek: Voyager episode called "Life Line".
Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "In the 22nd century, Jupiter Station served as a maintenance and repair facility for Starfleet vessels, as well as a supply stop for cargo ships and a training facility for the Military Assault Command Operations... Jupiter Station's structure as it existed in the 24th century was that of two sets of three saucer section hulls on top of each other, with a series of antennae and sensors extending from the bottom."
If you would like to read more official stuff on this type of ship, feel free to check out the following links:
Jupiter Station Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK
I was super excited when Eaglemoss started producing the models of various stations, and even forgave them for the need to do them in the Special Edition size. Let's face it, trying to do Jupiter Station in the small size of the Standard/Bonus/Extra models would have been a logistical nightmare, especially after what occurred way back in Issue #18 in the form of the Bajoran Lightship (AKA Solar Sailor). That model was so fragile that if you looked at it wrong, parts of it would break. I'm sure Eaglemoss learned some expensive lessons from that model. Or did they???
There is a lot to take in on this model. Taking up two stands in order to display it, you really have to fiddle with things to make sure it is displayed correctly.
And god forbid, you need to take a lot of pictures of the model like I did. I ended up needing to glue an antenna back on because I accidentally broke it during the photography session.
I really think that Eaglemoss is going to lose a ton of money on this model in the form of replacements. Unfortunately, the inherent design of the station, even when rendered at the Special Edition size, leaves quite a few parts of the model in a very fragile state. When I received mine, the solar arrays were not straight, and instead appear to have been bent. I'm afraid to actually try to bend them back as the support struts are so thin, they will probably break from the reverse stress I would need to apply to adjust them. And I really don't want to have to try to super glue that piece back on. I've done something similar before in my model building, and it down-right sucks to do.
The sculpt and mold work on this model is... interesting. This model has lots of cool looking parts that are well executed, but also very fragile. Thanks to the odd two stand configuration, you really can not set this thing down while setting up the stands, at least not without risking breaking something. And be sure to have it set up on a stable surface. A fall, even just off the stands, will definitely result in a broken part. I speak from experience on this.
The top of the habitat (saucer sections) area is crowned by some spindly antennas. The windows and panels are clearly defined, and tiny little greebles even encircle the antennas.
We will start our deep dive look at this model by discussing the paintwork first. When looking at the model from the top, there are a lot of great things to see. Unfortunately, when you look at the model from the bottom, things are not as great.
The saucers have been given a pretty decent aztecing and this can be easily seen from all angles. The top portion of the model is very busy looking when it comes to other painted details. The "United Federation Of Planets" label is nice and crisp while the Starfleet and Jupiter station logos are broken up with painted in windows and panels. My personal preference would have been to not paint over those as the panels and windows detract from the cool looking logos. The same feeling applies to the red stripes that run down the saucer on either side of the logos. The window and panel paint make it look like the stripes were painted on in a sloppy manner. In the end, the paint work comes off making the station look heavily used and dirty.
The saucers have been given a pretty decent aztecing and this can be easily seen from all angles. The top portion of the model is very busy looking when it comes to other painted details. The "United Federation Of Planets" label is nice and crisp while the Starfleet and Jupiter station logos are broken up with painted in windows and panels. My personal preference would have been to not paint over those as the panels and windows detract from the cool looking logos. The same feeling applies to the red stripes that run down the saucer on either side of the logos. The window and panel paint make it look like the stripes were painted on in a sloppy manner. In the end, the paint work comes off making the station look heavily used and dirty.
When we look at the model from the bottom, we can see that the window paint does not line up with thier molded tactile counterparts. This is something that irks me to no end given that we pay such a higher premium for these Special Edition models. If I'm paying higher rates for a model, then I expect higher quality. And come on Eaglemoss, the larger model makes the windows larger. How can you consistently miss the mark when applying the paint? The phaser banks paintwork comes off looking broken and applied in a sloppy manner, and leaves me shaking my head.
From the top, the solar arrays' paintwork looks great and is extremely eye catching.
And then when I flipped the model over and looked at these things from below, the paintwork is marred by little white circles. We can't even chalk this up to something that is supposed to be there, because the circles are inconsistent. And yes, they appear on both solar arrays, with even the small brown colored panel having a circle as well.
The top of the habitat (saucer sections) area is crowned by some spindly antennas. The windows and panels are clearly defined, and tiny little greebles even encircle the antennas.
The habitat sections are firmly joined together and the parts in between them have been molded with some nice details.
The small bridges in between the habitats are clearly defined and even painted. The center ones make for a good solid mounting point for the solar arrays.
While they are extremely fragile, the solar arrays have been expertly rendered and other than the weird circles on the bottom of them, really give the model that coolness factor.
At the bottom of each habitat section is the power generating areas of the station. In order to conserve some white space and cut down on the need to do a bunch of scrolling, I opted to show this portion of the station in a sideways manner. This is also an extremely fragile part of the model and I broke the antenna tip off of mine when the station fell over during my photography session.
Other than the fragility though, Eaglemoss did a fantastic job of recreating this portion of the station. The shapes and colors are well matched to the on-screen model. The dark silver/grey section is particularly well rendered, creating a cool hollow effect.
Other than the fragility though, Eaglemoss did a fantastic job of recreating this portion of the station. The shapes and colors are well matched to the on-screen model. The dark silver/grey section is particularly well rendered, creating a cool hollow effect.
The other interesting thing is that I had a very hard time spotting the joins and seams on this model. Eaglemoss did a fantastic job of blending them into to natural lines of the station. This is most impressive considering how complicated this model was to produce.
And that is all the pictures that I have to share on this station at this time. At the time of this article's writing on May 6th, 2022, I was able to find the model on eBay from two overseas sellers, and not surprising, the most inexpensive one I found was going for $125 (shipping included). Luckily, for us United States collectors, the model is also available on Eaglemoss' US based WebStore for $75 (shipping cost is unknown).
The costs of the stations from Eaglemoss seems to be holding at $75 on Eaglemoss' US website, so I will start to use that as my price base when giving my opinion of whether these are worth the money. I have to say, this "end of the world" stuff from 2020 has driven the costs of Eaglemoss models up a bit. I get it though, things are different now, and some resources are harder to come by and production costs have gone up as well.
In the case of Jupiter Station, I would consider this model to be Eaglemoss' most ambitious project of the entire "Star Trek: The Official Starship Collection" line. The sheer complexity of all the parts, and fragility of certain sections of the station, all put together produce an impressive looking model from a distance. I give them kudos for making the attempt and bringing us this thing. I know I was pretty tough on the model while looking closely at the painting issues across the entire model. I admit, that I'm pretty annoyed that my one solar panel array is crooked. This makes me conflicted by the price versus the fact that this is such a rare and neat model.
But in the end, every time I look over at my display case and see it up there, it brings a smile to my face. It is, in the end, a down right cool looking model, and definitely not something I could produce on my own in my hobby room, and have it come out looking better. So I am going to say that if you can afford the price tag, and station collecting is in your preferences, than this one is worth that money. Hopefully yours will come to you with straight panels and no broken parts.
The costs of the stations from Eaglemoss seems to be holding at $75 on Eaglemoss' US website, so I will start to use that as my price base when giving my opinion of whether these are worth the money. I have to say, this "end of the world" stuff from 2020 has driven the costs of Eaglemoss models up a bit. I get it though, things are different now, and some resources are harder to come by and production costs have gone up as well.
In the case of Jupiter Station, I would consider this model to be Eaglemoss' most ambitious project of the entire "Star Trek: The Official Starship Collection" line. The sheer complexity of all the parts, and fragility of certain sections of the station, all put together produce an impressive looking model from a distance. I give them kudos for making the attempt and bringing us this thing. I know I was pretty tough on the model while looking closely at the painting issues across the entire model. I admit, that I'm pretty annoyed that my one solar panel array is crooked. This makes me conflicted by the price versus the fact that this is such a rare and neat model.
But in the end, every time I look over at my display case and see it up there, it brings a smile to my face. It is, in the end, a down right cool looking model, and definitely not something I could produce on my own in my hobby room, and have it come out looking better. So I am going to say that if you can afford the price tag, and station collecting is in your preferences, than this one is worth that money. Hopefully yours will come to you with straight panels and no broken parts.
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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