Shuttles 8: It Ain't Starfleet

After seven set of Starfleet auxiliary craft, Shuttles Eight takes us into other territories.

Bringing together four ships from the Klingons, Ferengi, Xindi and Vulcans, this mixed set covers ENT, TNG and DS9 with something of a soup of appearances.

Each of the shuttles comes in its own package within the larger set box and includes a mini-stand, wafer-thin A5 magazine and lithograph print. The stands usually seem a bit of a waste but in the case of both the Vulcan and Xindi ships they are essential for display.

So let's tackle these in issue order. This set covers 29 - 32 which sort of adheres to the timeline of appearances. First up therefore is the Vulcan Shuttle as seen in ENT, more often than not docked with a Suurok Class vessel. It's the most streamlined of the four with some marvellous panel work and spotted detail on the hull. For a ship that was most often seen as part of another it's great to see it up close.

Of course it bears the marks of the Vulcan ships from the NX-01 era in its brown paint scheme and the hoop warp engine. What puts this and the Xindi Assault Shuttle apart from the Klingon and Ferengi options is that these two were CG creations. This shows through in the amount of surface detail they have in comparison to the ships introduced in TNG. 

The Vulcan Shuttle is by no means a very big craft, probably slightly smaller than some of the Kelvin Timeline (set four) Shuttles but with a more distinct finish. The stand also holds the craft in a certain way so watch out here the "kinks" are and line them up with the indents of the shuttle.

I do like this one even given its small stature because you can still make out the surface detail and the painting actually lines up to what it needs to represent - even down to the light blue of the warp engines on the ring. 

Number two up in this pack is the Xindi Assault Shuttle seen exclusively in the third season of ENT. Used by Degra and later Archer on an infiltration mission, the Assault Shuttle is insanely well detailed with extensive panelling from bow to stern. The metal finish is given a two-shade contrast to help distinguish the hull markings and it works more than adequately. 

The blue and darker grey elements are precisely painted in and assist in finishing off the industrial look of the vessel. The upper weapon spike is the main metal element here and ties the parts of the ship together. Visually you'd be hard pushed to tell what was plastic and what wasn't.

Seriously, the panel work is top class as is the colouring of the blue inset segments particularly up and along the edge of the upper weapons spike which protrudes from the rear. Again, it requires the stand and slots firmly in once you line it up with the half-circle grips. Sadly given its shape it just won't stand on its own.

Even the back end is well-worked with fantastic precision in the shell-like hull pieces leading back to the exhaust port. It is, like the Vulcan Shuttle, stupidly small for the price when you work out the individual price for each shuttle but it is well crafted.

Third, we have the Ferengi Shuttle. Most notably appearing in TNG's The Price and DS9's Little Green Men, the distinctive support craft is one that fans will have been waiting for in these sets.

Retaining the sandy Ferengi paintjob as well as the pincers which echo the larger Marauders, the shuttle is the highlight of the pack. With a two-tone hull colouring, the panelling remains simple but the grid lines are fairly distinct. Given the scale this s pretty nice to see and personally, the craft looks better here than it did on TV.

It's the little details here - the yellow of the warp engines and the Ferengi emblems being just two. The tonal shift on the surface doesn't even make it onto the cover of the magazine and definitely adds to the depth of this little ship. The top segment also includes blue engine exhausts to the rear and also the entry port, both of which are once more very crisply added to the model.

Last in here is the Klingon Toron Class Shuttle. Ok, this one is a bit of a love/hate model. Utilised as several other one-man craft over the course of TNG including Rasmussen's pod from A Matter of Time and the Nenebek from Final Mission, this version is as seen in season seven's Gambit.

Simple, blocky and if nothing else, functional, the shuttle bears zero similarities to any Klingon ships - but then you have to consider that the TNG production team were shaving costs wherever they could.

The pint on this one does seem a little heavy with the sharp panel lines we see on the magazine and on screen somewhat softened on the final product. With only two main colours - brown and black - there's little that can go wrong. Do note that there are some signs of wear on the surface especially around what I suspect are the engine units blocked to the sides and above the rear entry hatch. It's also quite weighty given its size but then the majority of the upper hull is full metal. 

Against the other ships in this pack, the Klingon shuttle sticks out a mile with its plain finish and blocky shape. It's also one that we would expect to turn up in this series but would it have been better as the Nenebek? I guess keeping it themed to different races took priority here.

As noted at the start, each shuttle also comes with a LCARS lithograph print. This was absolutely perfect for the Starfleet/Federation ships but with this selection it might have been more logical to use each of the different races own graphics as part of the illustrations. The LCARS images are also on the last pages of the individual magazines.

Unfortunately and in keeping with the previous 28 magazines, the CG in each of them is first class but there's almost no substance, no background and no design processes covered. I think with these fans would have appreciated a ton more detail on how they all came to be - and just how many redressed that Klingon shuttle had over time.

Shuttles Seven included the first non-Starfleet ship with Cyrano Jones' Spacematic so it was then only a matter of time until we have a series of alien race craft. These don't disappoint for the most part even if the Vulcan and Xindi versions could do with being a little bit bigger. Worth a look, especially if there are some decent Eaglemoss offers on the board.

Check out all our Starships (and shuttles!) posts HERE

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