Hi, saterday I was in my neighbourhood modelshop to pick up a model for my son. Behind the counter I saw a few opened transport-boxes with kits in them. Amongst those kits there were a few prepainted and lighted Star Trek models (I saw an Interprise and a Voyager), however I couldn’t see what manufacterer they were from. Unfortunately, when paying the kit my kid choose (no pun intended) I forgot to ask about those, and now the shop is closed for the next two weeks.
Does anyone knows something about those models ???
Dan, I’m not a trek builder per se, but I think the lit-up pre-paints are by Bandai, and they are supposed to be beautiful, but on occasion have frustrating little build problems that keep them from being flat-out perfect.
Apparently though those little glitches do little to reduce the ooh aaah effect when you turn out the lights and show the wife. The kit, I mean. [:p]
Thank you, do you by any chance know what kind of little problems to expect ?
The reason I ask is that I’m not used do prepainted kits and with a normal kit I don’t mind using (lots of) filler and to do some smoothing and filing, but doing that with one of those kits would completely ruin the prepainted effects.
From what I’ve heard they’re mainly just fit problems, Most people I guess are unhappy with the size. You can read up on the enterprise refit and enterprise E on www.starshipmodeler.com I heard the voyager was just up in the air and i haven’t heard much of anything on the NX01
In my opinion, the Bandai kits are just toys that you have to put together. In about three hours, you have a display. No painting, no putty, no sanding (well, maybe to get rid of sprue stubs), no gluing. Any of the mentioned will ruin the finish. All snap, with trenches for the wiring & bulbs to be inserted into. Nothing that really gives you a sense of accomplishment. I know several people who felt rather wanting after they spent so much money & so little time putting one together.
They are definantly ment for people who are either just starting out in this hobby, or just want a Q&D desk top display. In fairness to Bandai, they are marvels of engineering & are very inventive in the construction.
Oh, I didn’t know they were snap-kits, that changes a lot.
Snap-kits are the reason why still don’t have a Naboo-fighter, I can’t find any real kit for a Naboo fighter neither.
So I’m definitely not going to buy these Star Trek snap-kits either.
There are better ways to spend $100.
But in defense of snaps, there are some nice ones out there. PL has put out the TOS Enterprise & D-7 Klingon ship. Both snaps & both go together well, though I still glue mine together. Buy eight of these for the same price & make the whole fleet!
http://planetmyhill.com/Modelmaster/PICS/PLtos/1stPilot/FinalPaint.jpg
http://planetmyhill.com/Modelmaster/PICS/PLtos/1stPilot/FinalPaint2.jpg
or buy 2 1/350th scale NX-01 enterprises
Well, fair enough, but building every kit does not have to be ascending Mount Everest to be a build-up.
It depends on how you see modeling, to some extent. I used to feel exactly the way you do about painting the minature armies I wargame with – if I didn’t paint them myself, I felt like a traitor or a loafer, or something. But then I lost time as I got older, and acquired a better income, and started buying my own prepainted armies. I’ve gotten used to them and now see them as the handsome step-brothers of the armies I paint myself.
Now, I admit these are to game with rather than just display, so the analogy isn’t perfect, but I’ve also gotten in the habit lately of picking up prepainted display statues like those things from Sideshow for the Lord of the Rings – I display them right beside my own models, and do it with pleasure. After the thrill of building it yourself fades, what’s left os the enjoyment of seeing a cool build-up, and for me the feeling doesn’t vary much between my (hopefully) good work and the good work of another.
Just to give the other side of the coin. If I were more into the Federation I’d buy one of those puppies in a heartbeat, just for the coolness of the completed item, and to see how ingeniously they are engineered (apparently, they are pretty nifty). If they do a Klingon ship, especially a D-7, watch out wallet!