One Big Shuttle: Delta Flyer XL

 WOW.

After the amazement of the Enterprise-B I wasn't sure if there was anything else left in the tank but then the Delta Flyer arrived and the whole range of larger scale craft made total sense.

Admittedly Voyager and by proxy the Flyer were never among the most revered of ships in Star Trek but in this case I couldn't say no. Along with the Runabout (up for apologetically late review next), this model exemplifies why the XL line exists and also that there are certain craft which will benefit even more than you expect from an increase in scale.

Featuring in the latter half of Voyager, the super shuttle was something of an enigma when it came to entering and leaving the ship but hey, there was a lot of room in that bay for all the other support craft too, right?

Let's put this one into perspective though. It's a mammoth size craft that packs out its box and has some of the best close-up detail that Eaglemoss has produced to date.  Some of it is more subtle. In some instances the lines almost blend with the paint while, towards the rear in particular, the panelling is very pronounced with the coloured grey/green Borg highlights emphasising the exposed parts. These elements do look a little blotchy on closer inspection and don't quite carry off the vibrant and pulsing nature of the ones onscreen.

What I did notice is slight flaking of the paint around the side windows of the cockpit but aside from that, the finish is pretty good. Eaglemoss have chosen to include translucent bussard collectors and warp grilles on the Delta Flyer although the former do look very plasticky (which they are) and manage to make the join line between the upper and lower hull sections fairly obvious. 

The joint line is clearly shown in the photos here and traces round the engines, skirting onto the upper hull only briefly. The join line underneath isn't as blatant with the underside from the flat end of the nose to the angled rear hatch as a single plastic insert. Big does in this case mean better and highlights the smaller detail such as the impulse engines which gain a it of colour. The forward deflector is tiny and because of a lack of illumination opportunity loses some of its depth.

In reference to the underside, the panelling is strong although the occasional Borg/Starfleet callouts do lack a little definition as on the upper side but what I do like - and is the same on the top - is the ridged effect on the phaser strips. 

The overall effect of the Delta Flyer is fantastic and trounces the original tenfold. The scale lends itself to the smaller ships (Runabout incoming) and with no extraneous parts this one is built to last. Definitely one to display and a ship that deserved the XL treatment to really show off its lines. The only downpoint here is that any of the Borg or exterior "live" sections don't have as strong a presence off the screen since they cannot be animated.

The magazine covers off the design work behind the Flyer with some highly detailed concepts. It's good to see how much made it from design to screen here and again from screen into the model which has to be one of the most accurate. Great to see the final CG also included in here for a proper comparison that highlights that lack of illumination especially around the warp engines. Why the magazine also includes repeat work on the Aeroshuttle - which had its own issue of the original collection - is unnecessary and acts as the in-series apology for the lack of its inclusion for seven seasons. 

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