Accurate Parts for your AMT/ERTL Excelsior and Enterprise B

Wow, my highlight for the AMT Round 2 USS Enterprise B apparently must have upset quite a few people judging from some of the email feedback I received (and how fast I am getting them). Apparently many were not aware of some of the discrepancies found on the older kits (AMT/ERTL Excelsior and Enterprise B) and wants to know where they can get aftermarket parts. Some have even felt "cheated" having bought a sub standard kit. I can understand the frustration.

Though I welcome requests, feedback and comments, I would also appreciate it if a few of you could refrain from using very strong profanities even if you're talking about the old AMT/ERTL. I know they're not directed at me, its just that I don't find them constructive and its only going to make you more upset. 

BTW .. ahem, just to be clear, I'm not affiliated in any way with Round 2 or ERTL/AMT, so I can't speak for them. But what I will say is that it is better to have a "not so accurate kit", than to have no kit at all. In some of your cases where you have already build yours, there's really not much you can do unless we're talking about "salvaging her"? For those others who have an unbuild Excelsior or the older Enterprise B kit, well, you're in luck.

What I can do is to list down some of the accurate aftermarket parts that are available to you, but do take note, these accurate parts do not address ALL the parts you may need. Some may require you to get those parts from other kits as I know of no aftermarket parts made for them. And yes, I agree that buying a second set of AMT Round 2 Enterprise B is a waste if you're buying her just for spare parts.

From Don's Light and Magic (DLM)

I can vouch for Don's Light and Magic as I have ordered direct from him and I am a very happy and satisfied customer (and no, he's not paying me for this either. Credit goes where credit's due). His resin casts are VERY detailed, with no air bubbles and flashes to clean. Comes highly recommended if you want a more accurate kit. So if you're building the USS Excelsior/Enterprise B/Lakota, and looking into lighting her and adding detailed parts:

EXCELSIOR CLASS LIGHTING AND DETAIL PARTS
The Excelsior Parts consist of:
Bridge Piece, Clear Resin
Planetary Sensor Array Spotlights (6) Clear Resin Parts
Impulse Engine Crystals (Clear Blue resin)
Photon Torpedo Launchers (2) Forward, gray resin
Photon Torpedo Launchers Aft, gray resin
Phaser Emitter Bumps (20 on a thin sheet)
Warp Engine Dekoids (2)

ENTERPRISE B LIGHTING AND DETAIL PARTS 
The Enterprise “B” set consist of:
Bridge Piece, Clear Resin
Planetary Sensor Array Spotlights (6) Clear Resin Parts
Impulse Engine Crystals (Clear Blue resin)
Navigational Main Deflector Dish, Clear Blue Resin
Photon Torpedo Launchers (2) Forward, gray resin
Photon Torpedo Launchers Aft, gray resin
Phaser Emitter Bumps (20 on a thin sheet)
Warp Engine Bussard Collectors (2) Clear Blue Resin

EXCELSIOR CLASS NON-LIGHTING AND DETAIL PARTS
These parts are for model builders who will not be lighting up their Excelsior Class Starship. Made of solid gray polyurethane resin. The parts consist of:

Photon Torpedo Launchers (2) Forward, gray resin
Photon Torpedo Launchers Aft, gray resin
Warp Engine Dekoids (2)
Phaser Emitter Bumps (20 on a thin sheet)


1/1000 scale Excelsior/Enterprise B/Lakota Decals
Check out the amount of details on the decals from Don's Light and Magic for the 1/1000 scale Excelsior/Enterprise B/Lakota Decals. You need to know that Round 2 have not announced anything on coming out with a separate set of those "Aztec" decals even for their new AMT Round 2 kit. You may want to get these.

That's about it and I'll let you all know if there's anything else new coming from DLM for the ERTL/AMT Excelsior/Enterprise B kit.

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Excelsior/Enterprise-B Replacement Neck/Saucer/Bridge
To correct the older Excelsior/Enterprise B lower saucer section, neck and bridge, you're going to need this set from Starship Modeler

Replacement one-piece neck, lower saucer and bridge for the 1/1000 AMT/ERTL Excelsior and Enterprise-B kits.  The replacement for the underside of the saucer corrects the planetary sensor array and includes the "trench" around where the neck connects. It also has engraved instead of raised panel lines.
These are drop-fit replacements; only very minor kit surgery required for use.  Master patterns by Brent Richter.

I just checked that site and WOW .... there's only 1 unit left. First come first serve guys.

And lastly with regards to the Excelsior's pylon piece, unfortunately I do not know of anyone who has made a replacement part for this. Until there's an aftermarket part made available, I'm afraid you need to ask around if anyone out there has a spare Enterprise B pylon piece they're willing to part with.

My Review of the 1/1000 scale AMT Round 2 USS Enterprise B Kit

Here's a hot one. I know there are many out there that are huge fans of the Excelsior Class starships. I'm one too but unfortunately there aren't many kits out there for these (counting those resin kits as well), and even fewer in large scales. Technically the Enterprise B is a revamp of the Excelsior Studio model, which was later re designated as the USS Lakota (they're similar in design and patterns except for the registry change).

For this review, I will be comparing all 3 available plastic kits that are in 1/1000 scale from ERTL/AMT, PLATZ and from AMT Round 2. Interesting to note that PLATZ is a Japanese brand (I think) and their release merely improved on the decals. The parts' mold remain virtually identical to ERTL/AMT kit

Problem with both the ERTL/AMT and PLATZ kits was that the inaccurate parts are similar since both kits used the same mold. The most significant part in question would be the lower saucer section where the "neck" connects to the secondary hull. Major corrective surgery and aftermarket replacement neck was needed to correct these, but not so with the new AMT Round 2 kit. Those parts were corrected from the mold, hence you get a more accurate rendition of the Enterprise B seen on the movie screen.

From the different brands packaging, I'll vote for AMT Round 2's as the box is sturdier, and the parts fit in snugly inside unlike the ERTL/AMT and PLATZ boxes where there were like 70% empty spaces inside. PLATZ did use better cardboard material for their boxes though.

UPDATE: Aftermarket parts for the ERTL/AMT Excelsior and older Enterpise B kit are highlighted HERE

Excellent Build Ups of AMT's USS Excelsior NX/NCC 2000

Okay, you've seen the kit's parts from my last post. And I know of some people who owns the AMT kit but has yet to build theirs (me included .. blush). I'm sure you'll find many reference to other people's build on the net, so what I'm going to do here are to just highlight some of these excellent build ups and hopefully this would encourage some out there to start working on theirs.

Here are some prime examples of professional build ups of the USS Excelsior by people who does commission work (they will build for you for a fee). Their work are truly excellent compared to an everyday Joe's standard, and if you are one who insist on perfection, why not contact them. Just remember, opting to light up this kit up will truly add a sense of dimension to this baby since she is suppose to be a big ship.


NCC 2000 Excelsior by Trekmodeller

Build Up by Trekmodeller.com, a professional outfit that specializes in AMT kits and the big Polar Light 1/350 scale USS Enterprise. Trekmodeller also provides "plug and play" versions of lighting sets for the Enterprise kit, easy sets for those with no electrical background.

His USS Excelsior buildup is excellent and the lighting provided with the kit adds a lot of realism and a sense of weight to an otherwise simple AMT model kit set. You can't even tell its from AMT. Trekmodeller does commission work so if you have the mullah, and choose not to build up this kit, you might want to consider Trekmodeller.

Images were obtained from modelermagic.com

NCC 2000 Excelsior by Steve Jurgens

Steve Jurgens did an amazing job with this small AMT kit by varying over a hundred colours to the kit and thus adding a sense of scale to an otherwise small miniature representation. Detailed parts are brought out in his assembly, and the Aztec tones are done up very clearly.

Images were obtained from modelermagic.com

Composite Art using the completed AMT kit

The Great Experiment - The USS Excelsior NX2000

"She's suppose to have Transwarp Drive" Sulu commented. "Aye, and if me Grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon" Mr. Scott retorted. Remember that scene? Its from Star Trek III : The Search for Spock, when the USS Enterprise docked at Spaceport. We got to see the USS Excelsior for the first time off the Enterprise starboard, a humongous Starfleet Vessel that's suppose to be the epitome of new technologies and the future of the United Federation of Planets.

Her overall size and armaments remained a mystery as not much was shown about that ship, besides her being sabotaged by Mr. Scott. We do know from feedbacks that her length is somewhere around 400 plus metres (corrected - how da heck did I miss this?).

It is interesting to note that several designs were given to Leonard Nimoy (who was the Director and actor for Spock) before the final design were approved. Here are some of the submitted designs for the USS Excelsior for STIII

By the advent of Star Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country, Captain Sulu is the master of this vessel, and we got to see her more internally and externally. We also got to see the Excelsior in action, including a special 30th Anniversary episode where the entire original crew for the NCC 2000 returned for TV.

 

NX2000 Bridge under Capt Styles



NCC 2000 under Capt Sulu







USS Excelsior in the 30th Anniversary Star Trek Voyager Episode against Kang's Klingon Battle Cruiser



Excelsior Class seen in Star Trek Deep Space 9

 
We will focus today's post toward the NX2000. Remember, when we first saw her, she was a mystery. Beautiful to some, intimidating to others. And if you're Mr.Scott, she's still a wagon. The design for this ship was somewhat radical as she was suppose to be huge, sleek with a "pregnant guppy's belly". Her nacelles incorporated a new design for the Transwarp Drive, assumed a failed project later on as no mention was ever made after STIII.

ERTL/AMT came out with the Styrene kit for the NCC2000 (and later the NCC1701B, a refurbished excelsior class) but it was not up to scale with the 1:537 scale USS Enterprise. Hence what we got was a smaller version of this mighty ship.

There were some discrepancy with part's accuracy and fitting issues, and the decals then were too simple. Aftermarket parts and decals were required to make this kit reasonably acceptable. There's not much images made available of the original studio model for reference and those that were taken were done before the digital age.

I'll try to provide as many studio model reference shots here as possible, but I would advise everyone to search the net thoroughly. You may just get lucky. There were 2 models kits made, one is a miniature version of a bout 2 foot in lenght, and the other was a 6-7 foot scale model. I'm not sure which one got refurbished to become the 1701B, but images for the Excelsior are rare. You can see the 1701B version under my highlights for the USS Lakota

Coming up next .. Fantastic Builds by Professional Scale Modellers of the ERTL/AMT 1:1000 scale USS Excelsior. But first ..... my dinner is getting cold and my wife's calling. Be back ... promise!