With the overload of Star Trek news coming over the last several weeks – between the amazing week at Star Trek Las Vegas and the ramp-up of Star Trek: Discovery promotion and hooplah as we approach the new series’ launch – we’ve fallen a bit behind in our coverage of new Trek products… but we’re rectifying that today with a return to some of the latest Eaglemoss starship releases!
If you missed it, be sure and check out our coverage of STLV’s Eaglemoss news: our interview with program director Ben Robinson about the future of the Collection, and the news on upcoming Star Trek: Discovery ships too!
First up is the Starfleet Academy Flight Training Craft (Eaglemoss #97), flown by Wesley Crusher and Nova Squadron in the classic Next Generation episode “The First Duty.”
This ship didn’t make a huge on-screen appearance in “The First Duty,” only shown in partial views or long-range sensor imagery during the Academy courtroom proceeding following the death of cadet Joshua Albert.
Nevertheless, Eaglemoss has rendered the original Greg Jein-built studio model into a 5.5″ reproduction of the small one-man craft, complete with minuscule text adorning the various hull plates and access panels – including a reproduction of the Nova Squadron logo on the nose of the craft, replacing the in-joke G.I. Joe “Cobra” logo which appears on the original model.
That studio model was on display at the 2017 STLV convention in Las Vegas earlier this month, providing a great opportunity to really compare it to the small-scale version – and in our opinion, while there are some small differences necessitated by the size of Eagelmoss’ model, it’s certainly a mostly-faithful recreation of that original design.
As with most of the Official Starship Collection, the top of the craft is a die-cast metal, while the underside of the ship is a plastic component – but because the Flight Training Craft lacks separate warp nacelles or other extended components in its design, it feels much more solid than some of the other ship reproductions.
Second is the Nova-class USS Rhode Island NCC-72701 (Eaglemoss #98), commanded by Captain Harry Kim in the Star Trek: Voyager finale “Endgame.”
While still part of the Nova-class design lineage, the Rhode Island is different enough from the USS Equinox NCC-72381 (Eaglemoss #15) that it really feels like a different type of Federation ship from Rudy Ransom’s ill-fated vessel.
Harry Kim’s Rhode Island was a modified version of the original USS Equinox digital model, updated by artist Robert Bonchune for “Endgame” with an alternate bridge dome, nacelles, and most notably, the updated ‘nose’ with deflector array.
The Rhode Island does, however, feature an almost-overloaded amount of hull markings on its small 5.5″ presentation, with blue escape pod hatches, red and black outlines around various components, brown phaser strips, grey sensor panels, and golden thruster assemblies — perhaps a sign of just how cluttered Federation ship designs were becoming towards the end of Voyager‘s run.
(Our copy also featured some paint wear on the ventral phaser strip, likely because of how it extends from the hull and contacts any surface the ship touches when not on its stand.)
From a structural standpoint, the thin warp nacelles also feel a bit vulnerable to breakage if not properly handled; because of the small contact point between the nacelle and strut, we’d recommend handling the Rhode Island model only by the solid-feeling primary hull if you can.
Finally, here’s a look at the Assimilated Arctic One (Eaglemoss #99), an Earth vessel taken over by revived Borg drones in Star Trek: Enterprise‘s “Regeneration.”
Starting out as a basic transport ship used by the Earth Sciences institute and slowly transforming into a fully-assimilated vessel during the ENT Season 2 episode, this Borgified ship was designed by longtime Trek artist John Eaves.
This is an interesting model to examine: it’s covered in intricate surface detail, and features several thin components extending from the vessel – each molded in plastic, and at risk of snapping off if not properly handled.
Because of the high complexity of the assimilated vessel, the majority of Arctic One is plastic, while the ventral portion of the ship is the usual die-cast metal segment seen in other Eaglemoss models.
It’s also a nearly monochromatic ship, with every surface painted a uniform charcoal grey, save for intermittent dots of Borg green on the hull, mimicking the lighting seen in the on-screen version of the ship.
The Arctic One model also comes with what has to be one of the more confusing plastic stands in the Eaglemoss line, due to the unusual shape of the model ship it took us a few minutes to figure out how to properly mount the vessel on its included display stand without damaging the thing.
These ships can be ordered now from the Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection in both the US and UK.
…and for those of you interested in something special, Will Riker’s USS Titan model is now available for preorder in the US, headed for Earth this October!
Come back to TrekCore often for more Trek product reviews!
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).