THE ELM CITY HOBBIES SPRUE VIEW

Posted Jul 30, 2010

Make it so #1..............

This is the new re-release of the 1/2500 Star Trek Enterprise C & E variants. These were originally released by AMT many years ago, and now the keepers of all things AMT, MPC, and Polar Lights (Round 2) have re-released these little gems of a spaceship.

I have decided to combine these 2 kits into one review, as there really isn’t much to either kit, and other than being an Enterprise from a different era and design, both kits go together pretty much the same.

The Enterprise C kit consists of 13 pieces in light blue styrene, and the Enterprise E kit consists of 12 pieces in light grey styrene. Both kits are what is considered “SNAP” kits (something this author didn’t know about the original kits), and other than a little clean up, both should build relatively quickly. Each kit has a 4 page instruction manual that has been redone by Round 2, and come in a unique triangular shaped box that opens on the end, as opposed to the traditional square box that you pull the top off of. These were first released by AMT in a 3 pack set with the Enterprise B of the same scale, (which will be released later this year in it’s own 3 pack, along with a TOS, and Refit Enterprise, as well look for a separate release of an Enterprise D, all in the same scale).

Here are photos of the sprues and instruction sheets. The gallery will open in a popup and you can click through to the next and read descriptions.

Both kits have some great engraving, raised detail on the saucer, and engraved detail elsewhere. And had I been reviewing the original release of these kits, that is probably where the review would end. However, Round 2 being the company they are, couldn’t just do a straight re-release on these kits, and decided to give us a massive, beautiful pair of decal sheets for both kits. Essentially what they have done, is allow us the modeler to decide if we want to paint the ships, or just use the decals to outfit the ships in their proper colors. This is something that they started with their 1/1000 Enterprise Refit release from a couple of months back.

Each has their good and bad points.

Choosing the painting option, you have many small sections (remember this is 1/2500 we are talking about) to mask off and paint various colors. However choosing the decal option can be a daunting task in itself, as there are no less than 80+ decals for Enterprise C, and 78+ decals on Enterprise E. Is either option easier? Depends on how much you like decals.

Take a close look at sheet #1 for Enterprise C….see anything wrong? I will give you a minute to look…….. Here is a hint…..look at the bottom of the sheet, just above my watermark. See that? “ENTERPISE” Yup, a mistake in the decal sheet, seems they forgot the second “R” in Enterprise. Each kit comes with a comment card in the box, and Round 2 is promising to send you the customer a new set of decals for your Enterprise C if you send the card in. There are rumors that this is going to make this particular kit a collector’s item because of the wrong decals….only time will tell!!!

So….how do I rate these kits. First off, they are a Snap kit, which means that anyone even beginners should have no problem assembling these kits, however that is where the easy stuff stops. Faced with the choice of paint or decal (or a combination of both, which is what I probably will do), neither of which, either option is any easier than the other. I would say that despite having so many decals, these would still be kits that beginners can enjoy. Your time decaling will far out weigh your build time on these kits, however take your time, follow the directions, and you should have no problem with either of these kits. I would of however liked to have seen a small stand included with the kit, so that it could be mounted when complete. Round 2 chose not to include a stand to keep the cost of the kits down.

If you have any questions or comments about this kit, you can post them here:

http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/forum/index.php/topic,1115.0.html

This kit retails for $21.00CDN and can be ordered from Elm City Hobbies

I would give it 3.3 out of 5 Sprues!

Scott Millican lives in Elm City, New Brunswick.
No one is exactly sure where that is.
He owns an awesome hobby shop
and has a really cool website too.