Twenty-five years ago this November, Star Trek: Generations introduced the last of the unseen members of the lettered Enterprise lineage, Excelsior-class USS Enterprise-B under the command of poor, befuddled Captain John Harriman.
Eagle eyed observers of Star Trek: The Next Generation already knew that the Enterprise-B was likely to be a member of the Excelsior family, thanks to the display of golden Enterprise models which lived in the observation lounge for the first several years of the series.
The Enterprise-B, however, was not a standard Excelsior-class design: under the supervision of Herman Zimmerman and John Eaves, several modifications were made to the Excelsior studio model, most notable of which were the addition of a new pair of impulse engines on either side of the saucer, and fins along the secondary hull.
The changes were not just aesthetic, but also practical. Adding the fins to the secondary hull allowed for those fins to become damaged (when Captain Kirk saves the ship but is sucked into the Nexus) without affecting the original Excelsior model underneath.
The XL-sized Enterprise-B is a gorgeous, hefty model — nearly twice the length of the subscriber-sized model released a few years ago. Both the saucer and most of the secondary hull are die-cast metal, with only the neck of the ship that connects the saucer with the secondary hull, the top of the secondary hull, and the nacelles are injection-molded plastics.
The light aztecing across the length of the ship — more extensive than on the smaller release, extending all the way down the ship’s dorsal side — provides a sense of scale, and with many of Eaglemoss’ late 23rd century starships the combinations of light greys, blues, and reds combine together to really make the model come alive.
A number of fans don’t care for the modifications that turned the Excelsior into the Enterprise-B, but they work for me, and they add additional detail and interest to the model, and contribute to creating that sense of scale.
In addition to the aztecing on the dorsal side of the ship, the XL release of the Enterprise-B also includes the addition of a red stripe around the bridge module and additional molded detailing on the flat section of the nacelle pylon (with additional paint work to add the grey patterned lines.)
However, absent from the release — which the forthcoming XL-sized USS Excelsior seems to have corrected — are the blue stripes that should ring around the saucer section. These are clearly obvious features of the studio model, and it is disappointing that they were missed from this model. (This is a shared issue also impacting the XL-sized USS Reliant we reviewed a while back.)
In addition, other small details from the studio model that are not present on the model include grey coloring of some of the pitting around the sensor platform on the dorsal side of the saucer. The forward torpedo launchers are present on the model, but to be true to the original studio model they should be colored blue instead of the same grey paint as the rest of the saucer neck.
Those minor flaws, in addition to some obvious seam lines particularly on the nacelles and Eaglemoss’ usual issues with misaligned windows, do not detract from the overall appearance of the model however. This is a beautiful ship, and it displays well. The display stand is a little loose, but grips the model on either side of the saucer firmly without much worry of unintended slippage.
Overall, this is a really nice model, and while it may not add much to the original smaller version of the ship, the XL Enterprise-B it is a well constructed model that nicely contributes to rounding out the line of Enterprises on your display shelf.
If the Excelsior-class Enterprise-B is a ship you’d like to add to your personal fleet, you can get the 10.5″ starship model from Eaglemoss’ US web shop for $74.95, and in the UK you can pick it up for £49.99.
There are also a pair of new concept models on the way from Eaglemoss, set to debut for the first time at San Diego Comic Con this week: a pair of never-build shuttlecraft prototypes!
The first is one of Matt Jefferies’ early designs for the Original Series (NCC-1701/5), a rounded craft which would have been impressive on-screen, but difficult to build for production in the 1960s.
The second, a sleek design created for the cancelled Star Trek: Phase II series in the 1970s (NCC-1701/9), with fixed flight wings. If you’re at SDCC, they’ll be on display along with all of Eaglemoss’ other offerings at Booth #4337.