[Model Man]

Like the title says, here it is!

POL880: Standard Edition Kit
MKA004: Supplemental Parts Pack (pilot parts)
MKA005: Deluxe Accessory Set (light kit, weathering decals, photoetch)
MKA007/06: Light Kit
MKA008: Weathering decals
MKA009: Photoetch parts
MKA010: Registry Decals

Special thanks to Jamie Hood of Round 2 for sending me this package. It all goes back to him as these are sales demo pieces the company needs for internal purposes.

Part 1 is an overview of everything Jamie sent.
Part 2 covers unboxing the Gray Lady herself, culminating with a dry fit.
Part 3 hits all the accessories that will be available for this kit.
Part 4 will have some side-by-side with other 1/350 kits
Part 5 will be the round up.

This is a veritable ton of plastic to cover and I'm taking the time to show it all off in full detail.

I expect that each new video will get it's own entry in this thread as it posts. I'll also edit this post in particular with the new link as well so it's all tidy up here at the top.

Side note:
Congrats to Paulbo for scoring the design job for the official photoetch set!

Without further delay,
Part 1: The Overview

Part 2A: Unboxing the ship with a look at the directions and stock decals.

Part 2B: The Saucer

Part 2C: 2ndary Hull and Nacelles

Part 2D: All the Lil' Bits

Part 3A: The Supplemental Parts Pack

Part 3B: 1st look Lights and Weathering decals and photo etch.

Part 3C: More Lights and the Registry Decals.

Par 4A: Side-by-Side Tamiya CVN-65, AMT 650

Part 4B: Side by side Refit and Guest

...

Viewer requests are officially closed.
Collating all viewer requests across all forums now. Will try to shoot vid this weekend.

 

[ClubTepes]

Nice Tom,

I remember that feeling the first time I opened the first test shot.

 

[Guy Schlicter]

Hi Tom, I've never seen you with so much enthusiasm! Please get the second part downloaded today. I'm anxious to see the Enterprise model. Take Care Tom, Guy.

 

[jaws62666]

Man, ive been waiting for this baby for a very long time. I hope it is still on track for us 1701 members by the end of this month. I know Jamie said there was a slight delay , but the kits were in production

 

[CLBrown]

Aaaaguuughhhhh! That was EVIL, Tom... Evil!

Showing us all the boxes, but not showing us any of the contents... my brain is about to explode!

Seriously... great to see this, and I'm anxiously looking forward to the rest of the "show."

I'm especially glad to see that Paul got the "tap" to do the photoetch set (though it's only for the big bits, and I'm sure there'll be additional photoetch elements to come later, as "garage-kit" bits (shuttlebay, bridge, etc, details) which are evidently not present in that set.

I'm one of those who isn't 100% pleased with the "registry decals" numbering sequence... it's always annoyed me that the TNG crew "renumbered" the ships, and I entirely reject the idea that just because a chart in an office set for TOS had some numbers on it, these numbers HAD TO REFLECT the "Constitution-class" cruisers. For me, PERSONALLY, the "sequential numbers" (with a couple of exceptions for ships which were uprated to new specs, like the Constellation), is the sequence I want. So I won't be buying that decal set. But then again, I was never likely to buy them anyway, since my ship is absolutely going to be the ENTERPRISE!

I'm really pleased to see that there's going to be a "deluxe accessory kit" which will have all the bits not present in the "deluxe 1701 club kit" (except for the aforementioned alternate registry decals). So, I'll just be buying two items... the deluxe kit, and the deluxe accessories. That's something I was hoping to see, and I'm pleased that they've gone that route.

I really... REALLY... want to see the bits in the box you've received. I'd be shocked if these weren't the "final, production approved" parts sprues. So you, RIGHT NOW, can confirm or deny all these things we've all been wondering about for months upon months...

GET BACK TO WORK!!!!

 

[Fozzie]

Talk about ending on a cliffhanger...!

 

[jaws62666]

Hey Model Man are you done with all of the segments or have you just told us the way the segments will be shown, and are still taping each one?

 

[Model Man]

I usually wait until an entire 'project' is done before posting, but in this case I'm still shooting and wanted to get this to you guys sooner than later.

From what I can see so far, that 5 part layout is how I think it should all go. That's why the sidebar says "part 1 one of several" instead of being more definitive like I usually am.

As to being evil, I can only say "Mwu-hahahahaha!". :devil:
You can quote me on that.

Wish I could keep all of these kits. But as mentioned, these are all internal sales demos for Round 2 and getting shipped back asap. Imo, Jamie wanted to get all this in front of everyone sooner than later to ease fears and whet some appetites. Sensible, I think. So technically, I still have to wait like all the rest of y'all. It is really cool to see everything though and I'm honored Jamie chose me to do this.

It's been a lesson in patience, I gotta say. From the time UPS dropped the box off to the time I got home with it to the time needed to set the lights and camera up to the time I strategized the process and made that first slice and unboxed everything was a full 4hrs. I then went and cut that overview video before I even opened the 1701's box, so it was another 5 hours before I even saw the ship itself! Everything in these vids is 'live' and impromptu. You are all seeing this as I saw it not much more than 24hrs after I saw it. This is going to be the fastest turn around on a video series I've ever done.

It's said that patience is the best spice... Well, this is gonna be one of the spiciest meatballs to ever hit the hobby, I think!

Lastly, it is my understanding that apart from a couple notes on a couple weathering decals, what we are all looking at is 'it'. This is the final production version being stamped in plastic as we speak. Other than that, i don't wanna hit anyone with spoilers.

 

[paustin0816]

what a thrill. I just have one thing to say.
must....seee....grid ...lines..../gasp

 

[CLBrown]

what a thrill. I just have one thing to say.
must....seee....grid ...lines..../gasp

As I said before... POP! (that's the sound of my head exploding)

 

[SJF]

Thanks for the sneak peek, Tom! Looking forward to see more.

Sean

 

[Model Man]

Be sure to thank Jamie! This was his idea to have me review the kit so early. Normally I'd be doing this weeks or months after the public release.

 

[CLBrown]

Well, I was hoping that they'd have finally dumped the gridlines, but I guess I'm not SHOCKED that they didn't... a lot of "ego" went into the addition of those to the kit, so they were not going to go away without a fight.

That said, there's no question but that the gridlines were reduced... and my hope, for some time, has been that they'd reduce them to "ultra-fine" levels, so fine that they'll be hard not to cover up just during painting, and should be very easy to fill in without too much trouble (though it'll require very, very fine-quality putty to entirely eliminate them, of course... I'm not sure what's going to be best in this case, just yet).

The decal issue is pretty obvious... they got sloppy during the coating operation. The main thing though is that the decals themselves look marvelous. I notice that the one "tailpipe decal" was clearly visible during your macro-level pan-over of the sheet, but were there others of that nature on there as well? There are a series of very, very fine textual decals which were printed for the 11' model, a number of which ended up being used, mainly underneath the several hatches on the underside primary hull. (Yes, I've got the correct text for those and have incorporated them into my CGI ship, though I'm really thinking that eventually I'll change them to be something more appropriate for an actual starship!)

As far as I could tell, excepting windows, there are only two colors of plastic there.. the basic hull gray and the copper. If that's not true, you'll likely want to point it out, as there may be subtle variations in color that a YouTube video just won't bring out. I was sort of expecting some of the trim bits (impulse deck linear accelerator, impulse exhaust assembly, nacelle aft shrouds, intercoolers, inner trench, etc, etc) to be a darker grey, and the nacelle aft domes to be pure white. Not a huge deal... I plan to entirely paint my model anyway, and may even vary in slight ways from the production version (I'm thinking that the aft domes may end up being something a bit more... "magical".... in appearance?)

I'm going to guess that the black and white windows will be the most commonly used, as they reflect the real in-studio appearance. In my case, I've already decided to use actual glass windows (microscope slipcovers for the smaller windows, microscope slides for the four topside "panels" which I treat as windows).

As far as lighting goes... well, I've been giving my lighting serious thought. I'm certain I'll buy the "deluxe accessories kit" but full expect to expand on it, possibly dramatically. For instance, the three front lights are what I treat as the main forward scanners, and they'll be "flashlight-quality" bright cool white LEDs. Other circular lights will be small "surface mount" cool-white LEDS (in rectangular surface-mount packages with circular dome emitters on the top surface). These all reflect scanners and sensors, The interior setpieces will be lit up with warm white LEDs. If the LED set in the lighting kit uses warm-white elements, I'll likely use that (though I may have to expand it a bit). If the LED set does NOT use warm LEDs, I'll have to work from scratch on those.

(FYI, for anyone who doesn't know what I mean, conventional white LEDs... what I called "cool white"... have a slight bluish tint. They scream "high technology" but are actually not very much like natural light, and are harder on the eyes. "Warm white" LEDs are very similar to conventional incandescent lamps, and provide a light which has a slight yellow tint, very similar to natural sunlight. Most lighting sources used in inhabited spaces will use that type of light, and it's scientifically proven to be the best light for the human eye (which makes sense, since our eyes are designed to work in our planet's natural light!).

I'm considering a few other lamp colors in a few areas... but haven't decided if any are necessary or appropriate. I was, for instance, thinking of something a bit more blue for the saucer "rec deck" section which will include the ship's swimming pool (not a full pool, more like one of those "forced flow, stationary swimming pools olympic swimmers use to train, and used as one of the main fitness facilities aboard.) I was also thinking about something different for the "landing bay observation dome" (red light is best for the human eye when looking at things in the dark, as the red light doesn't spoil human night-vision). The thing is, both of these are deviations from the on-screen version, so I'm not sure about either, yet. They both make perfect sense, from an engineering and a human-factors standpoint, but they'd be deviations from screen-accuracy.

As for the nacelle lighting... I'm very anxious to see that. I've been wondering if it makes sense to use that exactly as provided, or to put in additional elements to further "distort" the light provided by the LED circuit boards. Until we see this up-close-and-personal, it'll be hard to say for sure.

I get the impression you're not being permitted to unbag the parts... shame about that, but oh well, huh?

At least try to get some "macro" shots of the gridlines, the front sides of secondary hull, and the B/C deck superstructure, as well as you can through the plastic bags.

Thanks!

 

[Guy Schlicter]

very nice review Tom. I'm not one for big kits in this scale but it is of something I love and it is very well done.I am pleased with the muti color window options and I love that the sensor dish is molded in copper. Making it a breeze for people who don't want to do alot of detail work on it like me. I love the interior bridge decals and the others are well done too. As I said I'm not into big kits but I will pick one up when its available and do a simple paint job and a grand time assembling it. Thanks for the good review Tom and thanks to Jamie for letting us see the kit early.

 

[robiwon]

Get video again. I'm not to worried about the decals. I'm sure with the amount of attention to detail on this kit that the decals will arrive just fine. Hopefully you will be able to open the saucer bag!

 

[Chris Pike]

Great review... it is a phenominal job Gary, Jamie and the rest of the team have done here...

 

[Hunch]

Damn, I just KNEW they'd get those darned grid lines on there! How fine are they? Can you take a caliper to them for us? Got my bondo ready, should have them eliminated by the time the lighting kit hits the shelves, barring any major hold up on the club kits.
I'm sooo excited that its almost here I can hardly control myself! I've been driving the wife crazy for the last two weeks and I think she's about ready to divorce me. As long as I get the paints and the airbrush in the divorce...such is life!:tongue:

 

[paustin0816]

molded in cooper......that's pure genius

 

[Paulbo]

Good review. People are going to be VERY pleased with this kit ... I know I am!

...Side note:
Congrats to Paulbo for scoring the design job for the official photoetch set!...

...I'm especially glad to see that Paul got the "tap" to do the photoetch set (though it's only for the big bits, and I'm sure there'll be additional photoetch elements to come later, as "garage-kit" bits (shuttlebay, bridge, etc, details) which are evidently not present in that set...

Thanks!

The Supplemental Photoetch set is designed and will be available the day the kit starts shipping. It includes a bunch of parts, mostly for the shuttle bay and bridge, and is setup to make lighting even easier with etched masks for the windows and bridge consoles.

I'll have a more detailed post tomorrow. :wave:

 

[Opus Penguin]

Model Man, Thanks for these. You just made us all very excited over this kit. Great reviews!!!