Official Starships Collection: XL Discovery x2

Why review one XL model when you can do two and get to compare before and after at the same time?

Yep, we're back with another Eaglemoss review and this time it's two for one. Not only are we looking at the XL USS Discovery NCC-1031 as seen in Discovery seasons one, two and a bit of three but the refit Discovery NCC-1031-A from the 32nd Century.

Amazingly there are a ton and more differences between the two and not just down to those questionable detached nacelles. Let's plough straight in to this double dose of Disco dissection.

SImplicity is definitely the word when it comes to the original design of the Crossfield Class with a hint of aztecing from the paintwork but overall a very flat, composed and subtle finish to the hull. That allows for much better panel definition on the ship with some tonal changes front to back but also providing a steady consistency of look. In the show space is, obviously, a lot darker and the model allows an appreciation of the lighter tones used for the brown-tinted colour scheme.

It's also a very blocky ship. The hull is a sharp triangular shape, the primary hull a duo of crisp circles while the engines are two overly long sticks. There's nothing glamourous about the Discovery. The shape is basic, functional but Eaglemoss have still managed to shoehorn in some decent detailing.

But what is noticable here is the prominence of the windows and some of the more distinct stripes that adorn the secondary hull. It's a very, very clean recreation of the lead ship with even the bridge portholes marked out. The saucer is pretty strong as well, supported only by the neck piece and the four small struts from the outer to the inner ring. 

Incredibly this thing looks more gorgeous in the flesh than it does on the TV with a great attention to the striking lines and angular body shape. She's also light on decals with only registries on the saucer top and bottom to the front with two more even smaller (only spotted on the photos!) to the port and starboard as they were on the original Enterprise.

Discovery also carries some lovely edging detail along the sides of the engineering hull. Both the impulse engines as well as the grilles on the leading edge are distinctly marked out with Eaglemoss even managing a slight recess in the bodywork which a smaller scale doesn't account for. 

To the front the deflector dish is a bit hotch-potch. It's absolutely stuck on to the frame and sticks out with the antennae then protruding even further. If the edging benefits from the size up, the deflector dish hasn't faired any better with the probes looking way thicker than they should.

Stretching into the mid-distance from either side of the triangular body are the two lengthy warp nacelles. Discovery certainly emphasises these in comparison to the side of the other hull sections. They retain the same minimalistic panelling but even with the slim design both length and width-wise, Eaglemoss have crammed in a set of translucent blue elements along the edges and also the blue bussard collectors to the front. These could have been a paint on job as we've seen on a few other occasions over the years but the move to actually combine pieces here speaks of a push for a more premium product..

The stretched nacelles do have a lot of flexibility towards the tips which is to be expected since they are 100% plastic but they are finished well. As for the construction, the Discovery is a well-built piece carried by that solid metallic secondary hull and neck which links all the extremities together. You do of course need a ridiculously deep shelf to sit her on!

The magazine chooses a safe path reflecting on the design of the Crossfield class as does the edition included with the -A refit. 

Now for that comparison against the season three upgrade.

A more recent release, Discovery-A marked the first of Eaglemoss' attempts at mastering the detached nacelles issue and they're probably hit it in the only way they could - by adding in more transparent plastic elements. More on that, of course, in a bit but let's start at that saucer section.

For anyone with even a hint of OCD, the Discovery-A, especially when lined up beside it's previous version is a visual overload. The flattened surface of the original is replaced with a textured surface with a dulled paint finish completely changing the look of the starship. It's also wonderfully finished with a slightly worn feel which manages to capture the metallic nature of the beast. 

Worse perhaps is that the decals for the registry are almost indistinguishable from the hull patterning. Gone also are the four smaller struts securing the inner ring to the larger outer and also replaced is the squared off nek section leading from the bridge down to the secondary hull. This is a massive design revision in which only the basic shapes of Discovery have been retained. Those leading edges on the secondary hull are less blocky but still keep their blue grilled segments. 

It's very easy to get drawn into the changes here and not look at the model in perspective. Eaglemoss have got this one down to a tee and lining the before and after up, the two are almost identical in size.

I love the recessed deflector dish of the -A, the cutaway sections from the rear of the secondary hull and the more sweeping majesty of the upgrade that marks the leap of 1000 years in technology. The impulse engines are now slightly reshaped and the shuttlebay appears to have narrowed but this remains instantly recognisable as the series' lead ship.

When boxed in the newer style collectors case, Discovery-A is a rare kit form. Coming in three separate pieces along with connectors and stand, the ship only really comes together once you've pulled everything out. The two engine clasps fit perfectly to a set point on the nacelles which means you don't have one poking out back more than the other and that they also line up identically with the main hull. Further note; the engines are very, very light and flexible - but not too much!

That section again as with the original is metal with the two engines in plastic as well as the rings of the primary hull. As you can also see from the pictures, the -A has a much smoother look to its underside and loses the angular pod look behind the deflector dish  while also seeing the bussard collectors on the warp engines enclosed. 

Here there are no translucent elements just paint striping in a very light blue. Gone too are all the window ports that were raised on the hull of the original and painted in where required. This version eliminates that as well as those distinctive light grey hull stripes and adds weathering to the hull plating that lifts this beyond the flat scale of its 22nd Century overcoat. 

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting a great deal to come from this one because of the notoriety of the plastic engine clips if nothing else. However I've been pleasantly surprised by a ship which has some incredibly intricate surface patterning and easily an increased amount of attention to the fineries. Adapting the design cannot have been easy - as we see from the magazine - but the result is far more spectacular than you might expect.

The visual differences between the two are considerable and so it's well worth getting hold of both. Having them on the same scale is also a plus point. Of the two, the -A is by fat the most interesting to look at - but definitely don't discount the original.

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The New Bird: The Official Discovery Starships Collection Issue Four

I think this ship has received the most bad press from any ship in the new Discovery range, mainly due to how different she is to previous incarnations. To those people I say suq ghoD; I’ll let you translate.

Liam is back with his second review from the Discovery collection - so what's this new ship like...?

I must admit after seeing her she didn’t tickle my fancy but seeing the model in the flesh really changed my mind.

First impressions with the box is that it’s a lot smaller than the other ships in the range but this in no way makes up for her quality you observe when lifting that polystyrene lid. he overall is design is that of a gothic cathedral, something that they delve into in the magazine, which is a nice accompanying read.

Starting at the bridge we have a tiny blue view screen with the same shade carrying on to highlight the details along the neck to the main hull. Below the bridge we have two mini cannons which show no signs of weakness or coming loose. From the head, along the neck and carrying on down the ship we have the most amount of gold piping and strips that I have ever seen. These help to brighten up the solid green base coat on the model, and also give the appearance of hunched shoulders to the ship, thus adding to the established  bird design.

Aft, we have a some very ornate ribs leading to what looks like a secondary bridge and I’ve just noticed if you pivot the ship back it looks like it could be a hawk attacking, holding it from this angle you get a great view of my favourite part of the model, the underside and what I consider to be the best use of plastic insert in any model, the finish of which really draws the eye to the "abdomen" of the ship.

Last stop on our tour is the wings, Eaglemoss have really gone to town on the black here to give an authentic weathered look, almost looking like feathers, a detail that is mirrored on the underside too. In fact this ship seems to be designed to be viewed from both top and bottom, almost like a real predator so that you can’t tell if it’s looking at you or not.

On display she fits firmly in the stand in a level attacking stance, or in its hawk attack as I'm calling it. So far she’s sitting top of the Discovery releases purely for the detail and originality. If the rest of the Klingons are anything like this ( and judging by the Las Vegas convention news they will be) this is going to be a great collection.

What did you think to the new style of the Bird of Prey?

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Third Instalment: The Official Discovery Starships Collection Issue Three: USS Kerala

Eaglemoss' latest Discovery release is the Shepard Class USS Kerala NCC-1255. Liam Maccreadie is our new collection reviewer and here's his first entry! 

I don't recall seeing this ship during Discovery, so which one is it you might ask? Well, it's the ship that's become affectionately become known to me as the upside down Shenzou. If you're really keen you'll probably spot it during the Battle at the Binary Stars back in the episode of the same name!

The Kerala also reminds me of the NX class Enterprise but re-envisioned. I'm going to call it more than a passing family resemblance but don't get me wrong, this isn't just a cheap cop out by reversing the design as she has all her own perks.

Let's start with the registry which looks great in white and is the proper way around unlike the sideways saucer-running NCC-1227 on the Shenzhou.

Carrying on along the dorsal section the aztecing is really well pronounced and helps separate the detail with the grey sections of the hull. Heading on along the warp nacelle struts are some nice decals and small window details, which luckily aren't ruined by misalignment as there wisely are no indents which have ruined the final impression of many a regular collection starship.

Over to the warp nacelles and they are reminiscent of the Discovery engines although they are slightly shorter in this case. The paint application is well executed on the bussard collectors to the front complimented again with some nicely defined Starfleet pennants on the sides.

Flipping to the rear and we have bright red impulse engines however I can't help but feel they would look better with plastic inserts instead of just painted blocks. The fronts of the nacelles are nicely detailed and recessed, almost the "upsode down" versions of the ones from Discovery minus a bit of that substantial tapered lengthThe double nacelle struts are a nice touch and give the ship an impressively detailed look from the back.

Saving the best until last, the ventral section is what I consider to be her best side.

The underside is almost entirely metal and we have some really nice detailing starting at the rear and running along the middle; think Shenzhou top side but slightly more discreet. We also have aztecing, running lights, lots of tiny windows and Starfleet pennants running along several different hull levels. Indeed there's lots of great work has gone in here which culminates on the deflector housing and dish. This has been askew on a lot of models and can be easily adjusted but on mine was fine.

The magazine has a nice feature about designing the USS Kerala and shows how the design came about. Subscribers also get their hands on a free binder which has some wonderful shots of the upcoming ships. Personally, I prefer the magazine size as they store a lot better and take up less space than the regular collection issues.

The previous two ships in the collection have been great and this is no exception. I'm glad I decided to keep with the subscription and already the preview shots of issue four - the Klingon Bird of Prey and issue five's USS Europa are showing Eaglemoss is continually pushing the barrier to deliver us better ships each month and if these carry on at the £30 price tag it's a very reasonable price to pay for the quality..

What are your thoughts on the Kerala? Good execution by Eaglemoss?

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Title Contender: Issue Two of The Official Discovery Starships Collection

It is both a joy and with sadness that I write this piece because while the USS Discovery has finally arrived, news is also out there that the Discovery Starships Collection has been suspended until later in the year (nb probably June...!)

But hey, at least we have the Shenzhou and the Discovery herself to drool over while we wait for any further releases so every cloud an' all that...

So here she is, the newest addition to the franchise’s ever-lengthening line of hero starships, the Crossfield Class, spore drive powered, USS Discovery and I have to admit, it is one of Eaglemoss’ best efforts to date.

Really?! Yes, absolutely. I mean I was blown away by the quality of the Shenzhou with Issue One but the Discovery dials it up to warp 9.9. For one thing, this ship is bloody long. In fact having seen pictures and the ship on the TV I still didn’t appreciate just how long she was until the box arrived and I popped her out of the polystyrene packaging.

Proportionately the Discovery is very different from what you might expect with a small, segmented saucer, stumpy neck section, wedge-shaped body and those striking, long, pointed warp nacelles - it’s like she’s been squashed and pulled in all sorts of new directions and of course there's the echoes back to the Planet of the Titans USS Enterprise concept that are more than evident in the craft.

Once more the starship is a masterful combination of metal and plastic and unusually for a Starfleet ship this one is bronzed, brown and a shade of silver rather than grey or white. Definitely a different vibe on this ship to anything else that's graced any point of the collection.

The split concentric circles of the primary hull are themselves plastic moulded with a beautifully subtle and underplayed aztec paint scheme on both inner and outer rings. There's noticeably no panel scoring and the inside edges of both rings are painted up in a dark brown which turns up to highlight sections of the Discovery. On both these edges Eaglemoss have managed to etch in rows of tiny windows but have not avoided the usual misalignment to the recesses. Tiny detail to make out but they're not in the right places. Oh, one thing - they don't spin so you won't have to worry about your model suddenly disappearing into the Mirror Universe anytime soon.

The windows on the underside edge of the inner circular section suffer from the same issue although there is a bit less surface greebling which is offset with a slightly higher level of panelling. The paint variations are incredibly fractional and you have to get the right light to make out the changes - that and you need a good bit of sunshine to show where the USS Discovery name is curved around the hull surface of the inner ring. 

To the front of the primary hull and almost indistinguishable from the paintwork is the NCC-1031 registry and ship name just above it. At the centre and in metal is the distinct bridge dome successfully highlighted - in the right sections - in white. 

The underside of the saucer Now one of the clever bits of construction here is that the saucer is "clipped" into the neck of the ship by a section of dark brown hull which runs back down to the Engineering Section. This whole neck piece is finished with printed-on windows but Eaglemoss have avoided recessing the window ports first which means that these aren't misaligned to anything and are flush to the surface. Definitely a good choice to just mark straight onto the hull.

The neck itself is actually two pieces with the rear plastic and the bronze front section in metal. The two pieces reach around the saucer section(s) and meet at that bridge module with the underside and the piece surrounding the bridge dome also being in the heavier material.

Drop down again and we find ourselves at the metal secondary hull. Once more there's the aztec paint scheme and what you come to realise is that whatever angle you view her from, there's always a hint of the slight pattern that covers the whole surface. It's not as obvious as the two-tone on the Enterprise-D but it's there.

The large metal delta shape of the secondary hull carries a lot of weight but look again and you'll see that the leading edges of the hull are actually plastic with sensor and window detail from the front to back. Both the upper and lower pieces are mainly bronzed with striped highlights in silver which are raised from the main surface and add much needed depth to the ship. It doesn't seem like overkill either with the colours striking a visually exciting balance.

Along the back of the secondary hull we also have the shuttlebay framed by the red glow of the impulse engines. This is actually a single translucent red strip right across the back painted up for the bay, the engines and then the brown of the bodywork at the ends. It's a clever use of the single piece of plastic to edge the hull and the metal.

Underneath there are again the simple panel lines on the delta-shaped body but there is another inset piece to the hull. It's an almost triangular section that stretches from the midpoint of the underside and encompasses the tiny deflector dish at the front. The deflector is one of the few translucent (blue) elements of the Discovery and even bears a small protruding sensor point. The choice to put it in plastic and translucent is brilliant. It works very well and again the combination of building materials is genius.

The metalwork extends under into the base of the warp engines. These are the most spectacular piece of the Discovery shape, tapering almost to a point and extending far further back than any warp engine has ever gone before. The design is gorgeous with Eaglemoss setting a blue translucent bussard collector at the front and thin warp field grilles along the sides. The detail on the surface of the engines is as minimalist as the rest of the ship with only a few panel markings and some darker brown highlights along the top and just visible at the back.

They're very solid as well and first impression out of the box was that they would be a nightmare and bend like anything. Luckily the metal gives a lot of support and they don't taper to too thin an end. 

Not only do you get the ship in the box but also the mini-scale magazine covering some of the ship's more notable details and specs plus a section detailing exactly how the design came about as well as evolving from those first early CG shots that teased us well before the show launched. John Eaves has produced a real winner and Eaglemoss have done it justice on page as well as in 3D with a host of design sketches and stories behind the difficulties in finalising the shape of the warp engines. What the magazine does contrast to the model is the colour scheme with a more distinct bronze/silver paint job on the page. One grumble is that there are no screenshots from the series to see the ship in action and the only pic we do get from the show is a promo one of Lorca in the captain's chair. Luckily all those sketches more than make up for it.

The shape and form of the Discovery is destined to become iconic and Eaglemoss have produced a replica of it that is absolutely goddamn stunning from every angle. It's one of my all-time favourites that hey have produced from regular, special and bonus issues. Love it and I'm shocked it's not already sold out - but that might be down to the £29.99 price point.

What did you think to the USS Discovery model?

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New Ways of Thinking: Star Trek Discovery The Official Starships Collections Issue One: USS Shenzhou

The USS Discovery might be the main ship of its series namesake but as fans will know it wasn't the first hero starship of the latest Star Trek show.

These larger starships come at just under three times the price of the regular starship collection issues and are limited to just one every four weeks. How will we survive? 

Scaling in relative to the special issues in both price and cost, the USS Shenzhou is a masterful piece of work from Eaglemoss. Packaged in its own polystyrene carton in a unique Discovery Collection box, opening it up and taking the first look at her nearly took my breath away. It seems that Eaglemoss may well have a real winner on their hands with this new series.

Getting her out of the pack and taking a closer look impresses even further. The upper hull from the front of the saucer to the shuttlebay at the rear is one solid piece of metal with the shuttle landing deck, the warp pylons and engines plus the lower half of the saucer all being in the lighter plastic material - much in the same way as you would find in the other much longer running Starships Collection.

The detail is just as good as you would expect in the special issues but somehow it feels as though Eaglemoss have really nailed this collection given that issue one launches just before the finale of the first season and in the fact that they have had direct access to the original files from which to build these brand new scale replicas.

The saucer section itself is incredibly eye-catching with that two shades of grey paint scheme and then the sharp red striping bearing the registry and name which arcs around either side of the hull as well as cutting a scythe down the centre of the circle. Right at the front we have the main deflector including the double prong and this little dish is actually made in plastic and attached to the front. 

You do notice the lack of purple hue around the dish and also just behind it, leaving this forward feature a little dark yet there are still some lovely finishing surface details around and on the deflector itself. To either side it is guarded by two "shoulder"-like features which bear recessed hull detail.

Examine these more and you'll note that these should not be so flush to the hull as they are on the model and that they are missing the white dashing to indicate windows. In fact the surface detail in both these hollows is a bit blurred. While we are on the subject of windows, those coloured around the edge of the saucer do not line up correctly and are straying across both the dark and light grey striping that marks the end of the hull.

Step back from the deflector and you have a raised central feature which extends right back to the top of the singular shuttlebay. There are a series of white dashes to indicate the windows on the hull and Eaglemoss have wisely avoided the classic recessed windows with an attempted paint alignment which has failed on virtually every model since the original collection started four years ago. 

What I would say here is that given the Shenzhou is supposed to be an older ship and that the red paint coupled with the greys does make it seem of a more senior age, there is a glaring lack of aging on the surface of the craft. 

One of the more distinct things about the hull to the rear of the primary hull are the fins and the printed surface detail which has been worked into the original ship mould. The saucer has some sublime subtle hull panel lining while the darker panelling is also privvy to some careful work which impresses when it comes to accuracy.

Take note that there are four small squares to either side of the saucer. Look at the mag and you'll see there appear to be phaser banks but on the model these must have just been too damn fiddly to reproduce and are missing from the scale Shenzhou. While I am niggling, it could have done with a bit of weathering just to show the age of the NCC-1227 which has seen, I would guess, much better days.

Also back there we have the ship name across the top of the shuttlebay again in hull colour against the red decals. The added colour on this one really helps bring the ship to life and helps highlight her most important attributes. The shuttlebay door itself seems a little under detailed and fairly simple, sitting just above the main join line. Either side we have two pink hued impulse engines painted out rather than being in translucent plastic.

The stand fits around the back end of the Shenzhou very cleanly, gripping above the impulse engines and underneath the lower pylon. Very smooth fit and holds the weight well although my plastic sprew was a pain in the ass to get into the standard black base. Note as well, Eaglemoss, make sure you have a spellchecker as it should be labelled Shenzhou and not Shenzou!

On the underside the most prominent feature is that underslung bridge with its large forward windows. The detailing here is less vibrant however it continues with the two shades of grey and red highlights. Significantly though the windows painted on  to the two concentric darker grey bands are perfectly aligned which leaves me wondering how the hell they cocked up the ones on the top.

The panelling lines are also a lot stronger in the plastic underside in comparison to the top of the saucer.  Again we have some lost definition when it comes to the recessed sections towards the front but the amount of defined panel lines and also the inclusion of the teeny tiny registries to the port and starboard sides more than makes up for the lack of depth on some of the sections.

The distinctive red markings draw your attention back to the business end of the Shenzhou and the warp engine assembly. This is great piece of design and build work with struts arcing out from the underside of the saucer and also between the two nacelles creating some interesting open space work that is fairly unusual for a Starfleet vessel.

The lower of the two supports again bears that dark and light grey colour scheme blocked out to remove that solid uniform finish. In fact it's very noticable that there is no aztec pattern anywhere on the Shenzhou leaving the four different hull colours to define the ship in a very different way to anything else we've seen in recent years in a Starfleet vessel. We shall return to that issue shortly...

Then we're down into the warp engines with a more aggressive look than we've seen before. These are almost blades to cut through the fabric of space rather than the tubes or oblongs that we see on an Enterprise for example. The very shape of them is spectacular, sweeping to a sharp point at the rear. Nor are these particularly flexible which I might have expected from the length of the engines.

I would be careful around children and the points however because they are quite sharp. Looking from the front edge back you can see that there is an inset translucent section within their structure opening to a vent-like slit about a third of the way along. It parallels to the red markings again present as a continuation of the paintwork on the main hull and with this on both sides, the engines are also finished off with a Starfleet pennant that's probably more suited to the movie era than to ten years before The Original Series. These might be small but from a timeline point of view they are massively out.

I suppose that's actually the thing with the Shenzhou; it highlights the creativity of John Eaves' work as well as the advances that Eaglemoss have made combined with the chance of recreating this direct from the source reference materials that are mere months old rather than decades.

It's a stunning model and the scale works wonders although many will feel it is horrendously expensive at just shy of £30 a pop - and even more wallet destroying if you're already committed to The Official Starships Collection and the Graphic Novel Collection.

Also in the box this month we have a leaflet giving an overview of what's to come plus the first magazine. The artwork is a bit of a bummer because it shows off some of the subtleties missing from the good but not perfect scale model. For one there are those missing phaser banks but also there's the screamingly obvious aztec pattern. It's not as blatant as before but every CG image of the ship clearly shows off the tonal differences. Frustrating? Yes.

The compact 16 page mag, which fits inside the delivery box, is spit between the ship profile and then a designing section. It's a format that Official Starship Collection fans will know in a second as it's been around for over a 100 issues elsewhere. The stories around its creation and design necessities to be distinctive from previous Starfleet ships as well as being different enough from the USS Discovery is fascinating and with all this it feels right that this should be the first craft released into the wild as part of this new series.

Ok, let's shut this down finally. It's going to be an incredible if expensive collection. As yet the subscriber gifts are still unannounced so signing up is a little bit of a gamble (looking at you freebie Borg Cube) but I don;t think it'll disappoint in any way when it comes to the main attractions. Winner - yes. Path to bankruptcy - definitely.

What are your thoughts on the first of the collection? What are you looking forward to?

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