We're now just eight issues off the end of the regular collection run and you get the sense of deja vu...
Not necessarily from the Xindi-Insectoid Scout Ship from issue 172 but certainly from the Arcos. As you would expect, more on this gripe in a moment but first let's take some time to look over this forgotten gem from Enterprise.
I've no real recollection of this ship from one of the prequel series' biggest foes so it'll be a case of digging out Hatchery to jog the grey cells (not like I've got enough time at the moment...) but hey, it's a stunning design and I'd go as far as saying it's actually better than the Fighter we saw WAY WAY WAY back in issue 24(!) - that was almost six years ago in July 2014!
Slimmer, sexier and all round more "insecty", the Scout is all beauty and simplicity in one ship and should have been appreciated in Enterprise a lot more than it was.
While the Fighter was themed around its three aggressive horns, the Scout sticks to a more standard two pronged format with twin, elegant pincers sweeping out from the sides and projecting forward of the bug-eyed cockpit.
The projections as well as 80% of the ship are in metal and with the connecting section to the tips being so slim, this does well to help maintain the structure and strength of the model. A couple of the recessed panels here aren't too well painted in but the blue energy points and the edging lines are very clear. The remainder of the sweeping wing/arm/pincer is just as good with four darker panels and then a distinctive fan pattern curving up the inside edge.
Again the paint here is very precise with the ridges in grey and only the dipped sections in that swirling energy blue that's present at the tips as well as the shoulders and rear wing arcs.
What marks this as a much better design than the Fighter is that it looks like an insect. The bulbous (plastic clip in) "eyes" coupled with the pointed nose and finished with the over-reaching antennae from the back complete a very distinct image and make this one of the Xindi's best looking craft.
The model certainly benefits from all of the above and I'm even going to say that those energy swirls look great - something that previous ships have failed to capitalise on or have really achieved their potential - especially those organic attempts on the Species 8472 bioship for example.
Those rear antenna are also one of the add-on plastic pieces to the Scout duplicating the grey and grey panelling from the larger forward thrusting pincers. These do also have, to the back, some finely painted in engine exhausts with the tips, two rear points on the antenna and sections to the back of the wings all in a light purple. It's an incredibly minor touch but shows the level of attention that has gone into bringing this craft to the collection.
Flip her over and there's even more to appreciate. The metal wings continue the pattern established topside complete with the finned blue patterning however I have spotted that the fill colour hasn't quite made it into all the corners on one side - barely.
At the centre we have an inset piece to finish the ship with a separate raised delta-shaped piece slightly lighter than the main hull and what you can only assume are two energy weapons of some form pointing forward.
The Scout is dead simple in terms of elements but is neatly packed by using add ons to fill out the craft. Standwise it sits gripped from the rear with the plastic grip closing around the sides of the hull and the top of the curved wing.
Now, the magazine cover actually makes this ship look a little stumpier than it is - someone decided to resize the image I'm betting. All of the mages make it look a lot more grey grey than blue grey, even including some blurry images from Enterprise's Hatchery episode.
Visually there's sod all to really go on to compare this to the "real" thing but all the parts seem to be in the right place and the distinct look we have here is clearly present in the three images we have of the ship here.
The Ship Profile follows the long-established standard of offering up a few details on the Scout before retelling the narrative from the episode and then opening up a double-spread to show a good sized triple view of this time's headline vessel.
Four pages are handed over to the design process from the seminal John Eaves with a steady balance of text to sketches that cover both the episode's Scout ship and the Xindi shuttle. Then, led into with a full page pic of writer Andre Bormanis, we have his background and interest in Star Trek plus notes on how Hatchery came to be.
Right; Arcos.
Just 14 issues ago we reviewed the Batris and now we're here with a reworking of the design that would appear in The Next Generation three years later in the 80th episode, Legacy.
At the core you can see that this is still the Batris. The long hull shape, the bulky central cargo container and that plough-like nose are screamingly evident but this is a "pimped" version of that flying breeze block. With a splash of paint the bright brown and reds are gone instead replaced - pretty accurately here - with a total grey wash out.
There are a splattering of accurately placed viewports but as with the Xindi-Insectoid Scout Ship, it's minimal screentime doesn't allow for any real scrutiny.
What is most useful to look at here and compare to the Batris, much as we did with the Smugglers' Ship and the Bajoran Freighter almost 80 issues ago is look at the amendments that were made to the model for its returning appearance.
Much of the upper hull surface detail is identical to that of the Batris with a few additional greebles. The big changes are the vertical bridge fin to the nose and the addition of four large engine units, two of which bulge out and round from the front of the cargo pods.
With the new engines and the three already in place to the rear these all now have orange edging and do seem a little crisper than the brown original.
Thing is I just cannot get even slightly excited about this one for a few reasons. One is that the surface details still seem to be slightly washed out against the monotonous grey overcoat, it's still as dull as it was the first time (which was allowed because it was the first time this one had appeared and thirdly - how come we get this but not the Kazon Predator Class for example? Did this, just as with the Smugglers' Ship or the multiple Miranda variants or Nebula Class options really need to be used to flesh out the series?
This has very minimal alterations to the ship and of the pair I would have been happy just to have received the Batris and ignored this one. It wasn't onscreen for very long (less than the Xindi one I would harbour) and doesn't really deserve its own full issue.
Ok, I'll step out a little bit and say that the additional engines and nose fin are well attached to the existing Batris design. There has been remoulding work to account for the additional greebles plus the ports into which the "juggernaut" exhausts curve out from so it's not all bad. It's slightly disguised from the original appearance yet my mind just keeps telling me precisely what it is even with all the bolt-ons. A further gripe is that with the Batris some of the finer hull details were raised in grey but here they are all completely annihilated. One colour suits all except for the engines and you have to feel that this was probably one of those issues that could have been sacrificed for something more fitting.
Into the magazine and at least there's a few pages of reading to entertain you during these long, lockdown days and the cover does even more to kick you and realise how gorgeous this could have been. Sadly all that detail is lost under the grey and at least the mag reminds you of that several times.
The CG is fantastic with a good recount of the episode and details of the aging freighter. Hilariously there's ONE picture of the freighter from Legacy and it's so damn small it could be a Ford Escort Cabriolet and you wouldn't know the difference.
Do check out the magnificent plan views here. Really well detailed AGAIN and then head into the design story for the episode which, ironically, highlights that a lot of this episode was reworkings of sets from The Best of Both Worlds with a few accessories thrown in for good measure.
As Legacy dealt with Turkana IV which was Tasha Yar's homeworld, it's sort of fitting that Denise Crosby gets to voice her thoughts on Yar's first season run, Yesterday's Enterprise, Sela and All Good Things... which took us back to a point before Encounter at Farpoint.
The magazine is easily the strong 50% of issue 173 with the ship a deep disappointment before it even arrived. Between now and the final issue at 180 we have a mixed bag of reworkings such as the Husnock Warship (the original which was then converted...) and the Sheliak Colony Ship alongside the Tarellian craft and the iconic First Contact Borg Cube.
Easily the stronger of the two entries, the Xindi-Insectoid Scout Ship is one of those class Enterprise CG designs that blitzes the older modelwork especially when it's a so-so reworking of a stronger original version. Honest opinion - you can skip and you won't be disappointed if you're picking and choosing. Problem is that if you're a long time collector and have stuck with it since day one....well... you're going to have to get it anyway...
Read all our other reviews of The Official Starships Collection from issue ONE here.
Enjoyed this article? Why not like and share to spread the word!
Like our page on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Find us on Tumblr
No comments:
Post a Comment