Following in the footsteps of literary sister ship USS Titan, the novel-only Federation starship Aventine (NCC-82602) warps into collectors’ hands this week as the newest special release in the Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection line of Star Trek spacecraft models.
Following a long few years of development after a fan petition rocketed the two ships to the Eaglemoss production line, the Titan debuted earlier this month — see our review here! — and now the Vesta-class USS Aventine joins the fleet as a New York Comic Con exclusive here in the United States. (Don’t worry, it’s coming to the Eaglemoss web shop later.)
Designed by illustrator Mark Rademaker, the Vesta-class line of starships is named after the Roman goddess of hearth and home; individual vessels share the names of the seven hills of Rome: Aventine, Caelian, Capitoline, Esquiline, Palatine, Quirinal and Viminal have been named to date.
The Aventine fell under the command of Captain Ezri Dax in 2381 (as of the events of the 2008 novel Gods of Night), and serves as a testbed for a variety of new technologies including slipstream warp capabilities remains one of the fastest ships in the current Federation fleet.
We’ll say this up front: even though it’s 5.5″ long, this model is tiny, especially compared to the other members Eaglemoss line — and that’s to be expected with a starship as lithe as the Aventine. From its pencil-thin warp nacelles to its just-over-an-inch-wide saucer section, this robin-egg-blue ship looks like it is meant to fly as fast as a hummingbird (given the special warp drive the ship carries).
That’s not to say the Aventine doesn’t have some charm to it, but if there was ever a pocket-sized starship, this is it. The primary and secondary hull of the ship are as solid as Eaglemoss’ other offerings, but the nacelles’ spindly struts give us a little pause in terms of long-term durability; definitely handle this one with care.
Despite the size, however, this model has a ton of detail squeezed onto its hull — from the microscopic Starfleet labeling and sharp red-and-yellow thruster and sensor nodules to the finely-detailed texturing all over the starship.
While the nacelles’ bussard collectors are the only site of translucent plastic on this ship, the main deflector dish is the one main deficiency we can point to on the Aventine — unlike the ‘real’ starship, the deflector on this vessel is a glossy blue oval with just the barest hint of raised detail, without any of the additional coloring expected on this part of the ship.
Still, despite those few tiny quirks, we’re happy to see the “beta-canon” fleet expand with the Aventine, and we hope it’s not the last time Eaglemoss’ collection expands into the secondary Star Trek sector.
If you can’t make it to New York Comic Con, you can keep an eye on Eaglemoss’ web store for the ship to leave spacedock in your sector.
In Eaglemoss’ US store, TrekCore readers can use promo code TREKCORE at checkout for 10% off any ‘Star Trek’ collectible purchase $50 or greater (Starships, Plaques, Binders, Graphic Novels).