Some Kind of Star Trek: February 2022

Wednesday, 2 February 2022

Bonus Edition: Kazon Predator Class

This is one of those editions that should have been part of the main line. No question.

Ditch off an Excelsior concept or another later one-off guest ship (or a multiple of the Merchantman etc etc) and this would have easily slipped into the 170's.

First appearing in Voyager's pilot, Caretaker, the Kazon Predator Class was a true force to be reckoned with, leading Chakotay to destroy his own vessel to stop it.

We've already had the Kazon fighter that appeared through the first and second seasons but this was perhaps the ore anticipated of the two. Bullet-like in its appearance, the Kazon capital ship model does lose out when it comes to scale since this dwarfed Voyager onscreen.

Coated in a golden paint finish with slightly darker rectangular panelling, the Predator Class ship is much more about the lines and sculpting than tiny decal touches. Just take that nose; Eaglemoss have really gone to town to get the lines right and not over paint it. The edges are clean and visible although the join between the metal front to plastic rear is a little clumsy mainly due to the slight change in paint tones. Note as well, it's nowhere near as yellow as it looked in the show nor does it look as sandy-toned as the cover of the magazine - so what colour should it be?

Just to the sides of that lump of a nose section the Predator has two deep recesses which are detailed to a respectable level but not as crammed with tech as they were on screen. Under that distinct curved nose, there's a similar exposed mass of tech which contrasts against the otherwise smooth surface of the Kazon vessel. This is well crafted and the colour does help to add definition to the elements on that section of the ship.

Heading to the rear there's more of the angular design with overlapping panels and fins that add a design link to the smaller fighter Eaglemoss have already released. While I do like to see this one finally available to buy, I have two issues with it; no, make that three.

One is the engines. The slots along the sides just look ugly and very basic. I reckon a nice bit of translucent plastic in there would have worked wonders rather than the slotted yellow/orange pieces we have here. It's probably a best finish but I'm not a fan. Nor am I thrilled with the window painting (said everyone everytime). Just don't paint them in. They're incredibly tiny here and horrendously misaligned to the recesses. The worst thing is that I didn't notice they were painted in until about a week after it arrived because they blended so well into the hull paint where they weren't supposed to be!!!

Last up; the stand. It's awful. The rear grip slides around the narrowest part of the ship. I'm not convinced that this is the only way it could have been displayed and it's coming ever so close to being at the same level as a Romulan Warbird. I lost count of the number of times it dropped out of the stand while I was taking photos for this review.

The magazine splits cleanly in three. First up there's the onscreen biography of the Kazon starship calling on its sprinkling of appearances. This in turn gives way to a section on Designing the Predator Class with some wonderful sketches. It's incredibly short (two pages) before finishing up with Aliens of the Delta Quadrant which chooses to focus (very sparsely) on the Hirogen, Kazon, Vidiians and Species 8472. Not the best piece in a mag but it fills out the space. I would suspect if I look back over the collection that most of the info contained therein has already been thoroughly covered in regular issues.

You can order the Kazon Predator Class starship from Eaglemoss here

Check out all our Online Starships posts HERE

You can find out more on the Star Trek Online Official Starships Collection by visiting the Hero Collector website HERE

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Tuesday, 1 February 2022

Bonus Edition: Steth's Ship

As featured in the Voyager fourth season episode Vis a Vis, Steth's ship isn't one that will have been up there for 2022's Most Wanted.

Yet that's not to say that it's without its merits nor have Eaglemoss done the one-off craft any disservice as part of their bonus editions.

Niche it certainly is and I can't imagine it will be one of the highest sold from the series. But Steth's starship has some fantastic detailing that you just don't truly appreciate on the screen. While the eponymous shuttle from Alice made it into the regular issues and was something f a bland disappointment, this edition is chock full of surface intricacies top, bottom, front and back.

Carrying the experimental co-axial warp drive, the one man vessel looked beige onscreen with much of its finery not fully realised to viewers through the small screen. Here in this model there's a lot to appreciate. Ok, some of the extremities on the wing tips and the nose have a little flash still attached but they are fairly small to mould. ALso they are nowhere near as thin as they should be. Trouble is I would imagine that creating them in such numbers and so thin would be a nightmare to produce so this is one thing we will have to live with.

The nose probes especially aren't all pointing the same way although that's more a drawback to the scale being rather unforgiving to smaller elements.

The real beauty here is in the metal body. Distinctly lined with segmented panelling, Steth's ship is further nuanced with red highlights.

What you do notice is that both the metal grey hull (benefitting greatly from actually being metal) and the red markings are weathered. There are signs of wear and rust right across the ship even with exhaust charring around the engines. This looks worked, lived in almost and having those few additional touches manages to lift the average into a bit of a hidden gem from the collection. Credit too for the grilled effect blue/black panelling across the top as it looks very effective and on pictures you'd think it was a grille and not just painted on.

The black recesses of the hull and the cockpit too have detail leaving no surface as a bland flat panel. This really does feel finished and with every possible space properly worked and looking at it best.

Even that plastic underside hits the mark. On the off-grey panels to the rear there is extensive exhaust dirt with the hull itself then mottled with wear. The panelling is devoid of the red markings but that doesn't matter since the paint job is so good albeit fairly simplistic. The main feature under here is the co-axial deflector. Slapped in the middle of the underside of Steth's ship, the triangular shape is easy to spot and decently painted up for this model.

One gripe with Steth's ship is that some of the join lines are quite wide. To the front, the point where metal and plastic meet around the two forward facing probes is a little gaping. The choice to drop the deflector through a gap in the bottom of the ship and therefore have it in metal is inspired and a twit on the usual top is metal process.

The stand is a decent grip too, holding the ship from the rear to provide the illusion of flying. It also fits snugly into the black base which seems to be an option these days.

The bonus magazine included in the new style box travels over the details of the personality-swapping episode as well as the standard run down of the ship itself with most detail paid to the co-axial warp drive.

For the second half of the magazine there's a substantial interview with Tom Paris actor Robert Duncan McNeill on the character's journey from Caretaker to Endgame touching on several key highlights including Vis a VIs in which Steth's ship appeared.

A decent model here if only let down by the spindly antennae that extend from the nose and wings but still a ship that is packed out with detail and good weathering touches. This isn't one that really "does" it for me but it's far away from the worst of the collection and demonstrates some really good techniques. Average but probably forgettable and one you'll only remember when you're unpacking it to have a shift around on the shelves.

Steth's Ship is available now from Eaglemoss.