What a month and what a couple of corkers we have to talk about.
Eaglemoss have actually surprised me on both counts with the Voth City Ship and the Klingon Transport being better than I had expected. One thing that has struck me in the bigger picture is how we've managed to get both of the Voth ships very close together yet we have yet to see a single Kazon or Vidiian design, both of which appeared in a lot more episodes than the singular saurian race.
On top of that metallic silver base coat we have multiple tiny coloured sections representing community areas, warp field generators and power conduits. To the rear we've also got the huge transwarp engine that powers this mammoth, seven mile long vessel. One thing I didn't expect or remember from the Voyager episode which featured it, Distant Origin, were the runes which are etched into the surface edges both on the top and underside of the craft.
The lines are very cleanly finished on the Voth City Ship but I would expect nothing less seeing as there are very few extremities to be concerned with on the sleek end product. Had this been produced as per some of the original sketches shown in the magazine I can imagine this being a nightmare for the collection to manufacture.
I had thought this was going to be a very plain design but the runic paneling and colouring make this a very impressive result which displays well in its rear-grip stand. Even flipping her over the City Ship detail carries right on down to the rune edging and smooth silver base. In fact the story within the magazine does comment about how much smoother the final design actually is. It might well be but Eaglemoss have still gone to a lot of trouble to ridge along the hull and colour specific sections giving it a deep 3D feel even though it's still a very slender ship to look at.
Could there have been any translucent sections dotted around the hull? Honestly no. I think that with the scale here that was a physical impossibility as the blue hues painted on are very small and tend not to be that close together. I can only think it would be hell to try and bore out such small areas from the large upper metal section to make that happen. The choice to only have the lower surface in plastic has been a big success here. It's the only single flat piece on the City Ship while all the remainder of the craft has had its lumps and bumps formed in the stronger silver metal.
With the magazine we have 100% focus on the brilliant Distant Origin. Having two ships from the episode, for me, is a big win and the magazine offers much more in depth background on both the episode and the design of the craft too than the sub-standard Voyager Companion ever did (synopsis, trivia, jot all else). Ok the initial ship overview is a near retread of the piece from the Voth Research Ship with a spin towards the later phase of the episode which did take place within the sprawl of the City Ship.
The next article ahead of the Key Appearance (it's only appearance by the way) covers Ancient Life Forms. Taking a lead from the saurian race of Distant Origins we are provided with an overview of some of the other older creatures the crews have faced including the Progenitors from The Chase, Apollo from Who Mourns for Adonais and even the an anaphasic life form, Ronin, from Sub Rosa...although I'm sure we'd have been happy if this had been omitted!
Finally Writing Distant Origin covers the path that led from dinosaurs with guns to a stunning Voyager story that remains a personal favourite. Offering the elements we have with this magazine and with the issue accompanying the Research Ship we now have a superb archive on a key story and certainly the package here makes issue 70 unmissable for any serious collector.
No frills, no extras here but the paint tones skip between a grey and a green dependent on the light and the raised panel effects make it stand out like no other. As I've waxed on about before, the Enterprise models have become the real hidden gems and standout entries in the Starships Collection. In fact I can only think of the Nausicaan fighter being the weak link and even then it wasn't that bad.
From a detail point of view, the underside is 100% as good as the top with a distinctive loading hatch to the rear and a lot of technical elements prominent across the surface. Perhaps there could have been a little more definition around the disruptors and the photon launcher but that is very picky of me to point out as would be the suggestion that it could do with some weathering to really look "proper Klingon". As it is it looks a bit too new although again, picky me.
Into the magazine now and following on from the standard episode synopsis and screenshots we get another whammy from the John Eaves collection through more sketches and recollections of the design process. Actually it's not totally original for the Bounty episode as you'll find out. Less articles in here than issue 70 with a section on returning aliens filling out the second half before that solus key appearance.
The point that Gene Roddenberry was never keen on bringing back Klingons, Vulcans and Romulans for The Next Generation is again documented but here we also turn to Enterprise and that it was absolutely essential that races such as the Andorians and Tellarites (with improved makeup) were brought into the prequel fold to show the evolution of their intergalactic relationships.
So to May and issues 72 and 73. We could have some interesting opinions with the former as it's the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A. Will Eaglemoss right the wrongs of the movie refit from issue 2? We pray. We really do. Second we'll have the Borg ship from Descent which has already been spotted and I'm not massively keen on so far. For those wondering where the heck my NX-01 refit review is, I'm wondering where the package itself is. Hopefully it will make it here soon....
What's your thoughts on the Voth and Klingon ships from April's releases? Better or worse than expected?
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