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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