Received the Ultimate Bridge Upgrade Set and Aurora Vampirella from Moebius

Received 2 packages today from CultTVman and Hobby Search. One has the Ultimate Bridge Upgrade Set from Creature Arts/Don Lights and Magic for the AMT Original Series Enterprise Bridge Set along with the Aurora issue of Vampirella (Ulala) re-issued by Moebius, and the box has some wonderful PE Sets I've been meaning to get for my scratch build activities.

I had highlighted the Ultimate Bridge Upgrade set before over HERE and today, after inspecting her up close, I am able to give everyone a more comprehensive look on the parts.

Accurizing the Classic Enterprise Bridge Set (from AMT)

Anyone who grew up watching Star Trek during the 1960s and who are also into scale modelling, would surely have one of this, the AMT original series USS Enterprise Command Bridge set. I saw this a long time ago but I didn't buy it since I favoured the ships more, but now that I am seriously into scale modelling, I decided, why not. I saw this kit lying around in a local hobby store a few months back and decided to get her, thinking one day, I'm going to give this one a go and make her as authentic tot he classic show as possible. Below are 2 box art design done for the kit, with the lower one being the earlier issue.

JJ Abrams second Star Trek movie? And a 1/350 scale TOS Enterprise coming?

Lots of talk happening regarding this 2 topics and its even reach as far as Malaysia. Well, exciting news tends to do that with the Star Trek community. First of all was this image of the JJ Abrams Enterprise promoting the second movie in the Summer of 2012 found HERE.

Is it for real? The picture cannot be verified by Paramount or ILM officially, and its too good to be regarded as a fake. It is also taken at an angle not shown in the movie or any official promotional materials. So is that poster truly a promo for the second movie, or to promote some merchandise, or is it simply a really good fan created material? Whatever it is, thanks, we now have a new angle of the new Enterprise for reference. Nice shuttlebay there.

Then comes Round2's supposed announcement about a coming 1/350 scale kit of the Classic USS Enterprise NCC 1701. It has by far garnered so much interest and attention to the extent many online shops are setting up Pre-Orders for her. I myself have pre-ordered a unit from CultTVman . Well, its too good an offer to pass by.

So why is this one setting up much controversy? For starters, this piece of news was never meant to go public. Jamie Hood of Round2 stated it was a book keeping error sent to all retailers to generate a price list. According to the news, the big kit is scheduled for a “premiere edition” with a retail of $150 to 160 that will supposedly include extra parts.  A standard release is scheduled for late 2011 that will include fewer parts, retailing for $120-130.   Also scheduled for late 2011 is a “Star Trek 1:350 scale supplemental parts pack” and a “Star Trek 1:350 TOS Enterprise Accessory Pack”.  You can read all about it at CultTVman's blog HERE

So this kit may or may not happen, and its causing a lot of backlash to retailers in general. Round2 may not be perfect (as also seen in their decal errors for the Star Trek AMT kits), but at least they are producing these kits and making them accessible for fans across the globe.

Right now, anyone interested in the 1/350 scale TOS Enterprise can express their interest by pre-ordering them. The numbers generated will indicate to Round 2 whether it is profitable for them to produce her or not. I for one am hoping this kit becomes a reality.

What if the new USS Enterprise looked like ...............

When JJ Abrams announced the new Star Trek movie was going to be about a young Kirk and crew, everyone was naturally curious how the Starship Enterprise was going to look like. We already knew then the actors and actresses that was going to play the original crew that made Star Trek what it is today, but the ship's design was a much kept guarded secret. And everyone knew a new design was coming.

I remembered googling daily just to catch a hint of what the ship was going to look, and the teaser add of those workmen building the Enterprise on Earth only added fuel to the fire. Then came some breakthrough when people started putting up their version of a "Reimagined USS Enterprise". Of course a lot of these were mere speculations and some of the designs were .... well, lets just say I'm glad those didn't make it to the movie.


The JJ Abrams USS Enterprise - a detailed rendition by Master artist Tobias Richter


Of course we know what the Enterprise looks like today. What that is truly baffling is the fact that the specs given .... well, the new 2009 Enterprise NCC 1701 dwarfs the Enterprise D and is longer than the Enterprise E. That's huge. I know a lot of people don't like the new designs (those that loved the original), and then there are those that simply adore her (the new found Trekkers). And many still cannot grasp the fact that she's a big ship. Well, that's Hollywood.





Capt Picard protesting against the new Enterprise design .. ;)

 Here's another design I found that is more true to the original TV series in the 1960s. Its created by Gabe Koerner whose work is well known, and shown in the “Ships of the Line” Calendar, Gabe Koerner’s (of Battlestar Galactica – The New Series fame). His re-imagined Enterprise 1701 was thought to be for the movie STAR TREK being released in May 2009, and for a while, I really believed that design was it. I have to admit when I saw the other design in the cinema, I was a little dissappointed. For one, the phasers on the 2009 ship was lame, kind of reminds me of Flash Gordon, and the engine room looked ... like a factory (It was a beer factory actually). But I love the new bridge and the shuttle bay.

What's interesting here is the fact that this new design gives the NCC 1701 more credibility. And many older fans can still identify her with the old series. Though she didn't make the cut, it was nice of Koerner to at least gives us this alternate design - a food for thought if you will for those who wants a more feasible USS Enterprise during Kirk's era.

Now, I wonder if a scale model kit for this design will ever materialise? Who knows .... it may just happen one day - abett a resin kit. I don't mind.