Bonus Edition: USS Valiant NCC-6089 (USS Defiant Concept)

If there was a concept model I always hoped for, it was this one.

Lost into the annals of the Deep Space Nine Technical Manual and teased way too often in conversations around the tough little USS Defiant, the USS Valiant Concept is perhaps even more thuggish than the craft it ultimately became.

The hallmarks of the Defiant are glaring; the almost modular warhead/nose, the curved central piece surrounding the bridge and to some degree the packed-in warp engines. Yet there are also many differences and you have to take this one with more leniency than usual since it never actually made it to the screen.

The weapons pods at the forward edge of the hull are more prominent and that warhead is even more integral to the ship than it would later become. The detail over all is pretty decent with the usual array of panelling lines evident. There are red edging strips around the drooping warp engines and a Starfleet pennant that runs front to back to finish that overall impression of what this might have looked like.

Where this wins over at least the Voyager concept is that this hasn't been tampered with from the images we've seen of this ship before. Sternbach's Voyager had been "updated" to what it might have eventually become for the show but wisely this hasn't been the case here.

What does seem odd on the Valiant (NCC-6089) is the choice to render some of the recessed sections - and the panelling around the ship name - in an off yellow. This colour makes it look as though the decals have faded and worn over time. When I saw the preview images I hoped that this would be changed for the end product but it wasn't a work in progress. Yuk.

Also, a little off from the concept art on which this is based, is the hull colouring. With an off-white base, the paintwork is flecked with a slightly grey tone. It's not azteced but more of a way to reduce what could have been a rather plain finishing coat.

 If you did line this up with the USS Defiant, the wider engine pods would be the most distinct change. While Defiant's were narrower, they also extended sideways rather than curving out and down. Perhaps a more menacing look, it does look a bit odd but that's more down to mental conditioning of seeing that tough little ship on screen for so many years.

Disappointingly the cover of the magazine makes the model out to look much better than it actually is. A lot of the panel lines just aren't as defined as they are on the CG art nor the faded yellow as subtle as the graphic illustrates. Certainly the bussard collectors aren't as bright nor a good portion of the radiator grille work painted as dark as it is on the cover. This latter piece is most evident either side of the warhead/nose section.

What is interesting from my perspective is the back end. The impulse engines are here podded to either side of the hull, almost looking like afterthoughts with them later being more integrated into the main body of the USS Defiant.  The rear of the screen-used design is also wider with the tapered design of the dorsal section more a feature rather than the full shape of the hull.

The underside retains the "speckled" finish of the dorsal plating as well as ship registry decals (and one very tiny one right at the back!) plus surface detail and more of that faded yellow detail. Strangely on the underside this does appear more golden. In all fairness this is the first time that I've seen the underside of the concept Valiant but it does seem to be in line with the design for the topside of the vessel.

The build is about 50/50 split metal to plastic with the to of the hull including the forward weapons pods, the top of the warp engines and the rear in the harder material. The joint line to the plastic piece on the underside is almost unnoticeable however at the edge of the warp engines where there is a rectangular section that rises up, the contact point feels rough. An unusual gripe for build quality but it sent a shiver down my spine a couple of times when my fingers grazed across it.

In the magazine we have a ton of further concepts for the Defiant/Valiant that, maybe, might see the light of day in the collection at some point. Some of these are truly off the wall and the mag does talk through the design process of what would become Deep Space Nine's warship. Taking up the other half of the accompanying literature are the Defiant's Top Ten Moments. I was a little taken back that we're starting to head into "Best Bits" territory but after the original issue, an XL and a Mirror Universe edition, there can only be so much to write up about the ship.

USS Valiant NCC-6089 is a great piece of Star Trek's unseen visual history. Certainly there's the chance now to whack this alongside Rick Sternbach's Voyager and the Phase II USS Enterprise plus a few of the other ships we've never seen for a great display of roads not taken. It could have done with being a little bigger but it does still manage to pack a lot of detail into a fairly small space and not make it seem overloaded.

I'm very happy that this one made it into the bonus editions. Eaglemoss continue to excel in this area especially because they are willing to make things that have never been done. Looking at the upcoming issues, this shows no sign of abating.

USS Valiant NCC-6089 is available now from Eaglemoss priced £19.99

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