Agis Star Trek minis - Modiphius Troi and Riker

[Agis]

Federation USS Prometheus - model is again a bit sloppy and difficult to repaint, the Prometheus design is always in good memory since the Voyager 414 “Message in a Bottle” episode!

mre as always on my site: http://www.adpublishing.de/html/star_trek.html

[Agis]

The 22nd century Romulan Droneship and Warbird. From Enterprise 4 Episodes 12-14.

More (two stealth Warbirds) as always on my site -> http://www.adpublishing.de/html/star_trek.html

[Agis]

Klingon D7 cruiser - ADB (former Mongoose) Starline 2500 model. The ActA SF line of minis is now owned by ADB. The model is reasonable good. Not a scale model but a tough all metal wargaming piece. I am planning a small 1500 pts Klingon fleet that will also use some Raptors from the 21st C ENT era, so I added the additional support rods for each warp nacelle. I will do similar hyperdetailing for the whole fleet to give them a unique and hopefully cool “before TOS” look.

The D7 was the standard cruiser of the Klingon Deep Space Fleet. It was designed as a tough warship with a good turn mode and lots of Marines and transporters for boarding actions and hit-and-run raids. In many ways it is THE iconic Klingon ship.

It is also one of the most often showed ship models in Star Trek with a lot of continuity problems (see: The Everlasting Klingon Battlecruiser -> http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/klingon-battlecruiser.htm).

more: http://www.adpublishing.de/html/star_trek.html

[OSHIROmodels]

Lovely work as always 

I missed the previous posting and that Droneship looks very different 

cheers

James

[Hobby Services]

Lovely work there, as usual, and a surprisingly good base model.  Hadn't realized that ADB had improved the castings on the 2500 stuff so much since getting them away from the bunglers at Mongoose.

[Agis]

Federation Constitution class  cruiser “NCC 1701 - Enterprise” - ADB (former Mongoose) Starline 2500 model. 

The model is reasonable good but the cast is not as good some other models of the line, I presume since everybody interested in the miniature line wants an Enterprise, the mold is very well used. Consequently the model was a challenge to build. Warped disk, flash, rough surfaces etc.

But all in all I like the ship! And the smaller ships from the line are in much better shape.

More pics as usual - http://www.adpublishing.de/html/star_trek.html

[Steve F]

Nice painting, but, oh, those circular and radial lines on the upper saucer!  The 1960s prop didn't have them, but for some reason the Aurora model kit added them, and they were canonised in the Star Trek Technical Manual that Amarillo used as the basis for all their models.  In fact, I can't think of a model of the original Enterprise that doesn't have them.  If anyone does know of one, please let me know: I'd love to get my brother one for Christmas.

[Connectamabob]

Nice painting, but, oh, those circular and radial lines on the upper saucer!  The 1960s prop didn't have them, but for some reason the Aurora model kit added them, and they were canonised in the Star Trek Technical Manual that Amarillo used as the basis for all their models.  In fact, I can't think of a model of the original Enterprise that doesn't have them.  If anyone does know of one, please let me know: I'd love to get my brother one for Christmas.

As far as gaming minis go, the model from Amarillo's 2400 line doesn't have them.

The Polar Lights kits don't have them. Those aren't gaming scale though. They have 2 kits of the TOS Enterprise one in 1/1000 scale and one in 1/350. The former is a good size for a small shelf/desk display, the latter is huge; basically big enough to use as an old-school filming model in it's own right, and unfortunately I think OOP and thus commanding high prices everywhere.

The Polar Lights kits are very well regarded. They made a big effort to make them as accurate as possible, and the part engineering is good. All the UK sellers I found are asking stupid prices though, so it might be cheaper to buy them from the US, even with postage/customs factored in.

The ERTL/Round 2 1/2500 3-piece set version doesn't have them either. That one is also too big for most gaming, though small enough that you actually could use it depending on the ruleset and table size. It's an old kit though, so fit is rough and detail is minimal.

The tech manual actually fanonized the grid lines, not canonized them. None of the published manuals are officially canon according to CBS/Paramount, even though some of them are written by people who worked on the shows/movies, or have been used as references by people working on the shows/movies. IIRC the worst sin as far as canon is concerned is some of the old Franz Joseph TOS designs making blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos on some bridge screens in TWoK (these ships are popular with older fans, but some of their design principles have been Jossed by the movies and later shows).

The original TOS shooting model actually did have the grid, but it was penciled on, not engraved, and basically invisible in anything other than high quality close up photos. Unfortunately, when the model was "restored" by the Smithsonian, they did an infamously kak-handed repaint, so what you see in modern photos is not at all what the original looked like during filming.

[Marine0846]

Love the ships.
Very nice painting on the captains.
Thanks for sharing.

[Agis]

Thanks folks!

The circular and radial lines on the upper saucer were actually a real pain. Meant to make the painting easier the opposite was true.

The worn mold the lines were just not crisp enough to create lines that support an easy painting, in addition the lines were too deep to make the decals properly show.
Next week I will show a wardestroyer from the same line that is now on the paintable that is much better!

[Agis]

The ERTL/Round 2 1/2500 3-piece set version doesn't have them either. That one is also too big for most gaming, though small enough that you actually could use it depending on the ruleset and table size. It's an old kit though, so fit is rough and detail is minimal.

Funny thing, I was really tempted to do my recent ST models in 1/2500. In the end I decided against it since the models done in this scale are still limited or very expensives.
I would love to have a decent wargaming ST line in ONE scale.
I like Attack Wing and repainted a few already but the different scales just annoy me  a lot.

[Steve F]

Thanks, Connectamabob.  That's a very useful rundown: and I never knew about the pencil lines.  My brother is neither a modeller nor a gamer, just a Star Trek fan, so I may get that Ertl* one and make it up for him.

* Fun fact: ERTL is not a set of initials: it's the name of the founder of the company, Fred Ertl.

[Connectamabob]

I'd actually really recommend the PL 1/1000 kit over the Ertl 3 piece set. Despite being larger and having more parts, it's an easier build due to the far superior engineering and fit. Plus the PL kit makes for a way, way nicer looking finished model, without being very big.

The 3 piece set is more useful if you're wanting to put together a display with lots and lots of ships in scale, but the trade offs are harsh, as the kit really is quite rough (seriously: don't lets the Amazon reviews fool you). The Ertl kit, despite it's simplicity, needs lots of shimming, filing, and puttying. Plus the Refit and E-B models in the set both have raised panel lines and lots of details that should be present, but are soft, omitted, or outright obliterated by ham-fisted seams and mold drafts.

Size-wise "on the shelf" the two options could be compared to a fighter jet in 1/72 vs. 1/144. Detail and fit wise the 3 piece set is... kinda crappy, really, and the current reissue leans HEAVILY on the decals to hide that, while the PL kit is about 85% of the way to Bandai or Hasagawa quality.

[Steve F]

Thanks, Connectamabob.  I was worried by your comment about the Polar Lights kits that, "All the UK sellers I found are asking stupid prices though ...", but I just bought one for £20.

The next problem will be how to pack the blessed thing once I've made it up, but I'm sure I'll manage!

[Agis]

More Star Trek! This time 2 smaller but MUCH better cast ADP models!

F5 Frigate - ADB (former Mongoose) Starline 2500 model



Federation Ortega class  War Destroyer “NCC 701 - Mandela” - ADB (former Mongoose) Starline 2500 model.

More as always on my site: http://www.adpublishing.de/html/star_trek.html