Starship Modeler: In-the-box Review of the Voyager Reissue

Kit review of Monogram's Voyager Reissue.">

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In the Box Review: Monogram's Voyager Reissue

First Impressions

The new box art is what caught my eye. Instead of a picture of the studio model, we see an original artwork, apparently done by the same artist who did the Battlestar Galactica covers. Images on the side of the box are of the model built by Thomas Sasser (Thomasmdls). Also printed on the side is an image of the new decal sheet, it's huge (see below). Price of model: $25.50 retail.

Parts.

Image courtesy of Jay Chladek

The model contains 69 peices (7 more then the first model). Several improvements to the basic kit were made. The windows on the upper saucer now have dividers in them to match those on the rest of the model. The navigational deflector now has a clear dish piece (perfect for lighting) and an opaque deflector antenna. The model also has minor modifications for an open shuttle bay and a type 8 shuttle (A modified version of the shuttle originally built for Star Trek V, modified for 4th season of TNG and remodified for Voyager). Nothing else on the model appears to have been modified at all, so it will have the same fit problems and gremlins as the original.

Instructions.

This is one of the perks of the new kit. The 16 page instruction book was written by Thomas Sasser (of Thomas Models) and contains some very useful information on building and painting. The paint instructions are for doing a model with the correct colors (very nice looking). Curiously, there have been color charts for the Voyager on the web which show the model having a bluer basecoat. This chart, provided by Rick Sternbach can be found on various websites, including CultTVman's and QSFM's. Use whichever color looks best to you. Pictures of the effects model are also provided and show some excellent details of seldom seen areas. We even find out what that odd looking detail piece on the bottom of the saucer is. It is the bottom of a captain's yacht type ship known as an "Aerowing".

Decals.

The decals are worth the price of the model alone. The sheet contains all kinds of goodies. There are 161 individually numbered decals on it! Included are phaser warning stripes, docking port decals, additional windows for those not molded into the model, and lifeboat covers - among other things. Several decals are also provided to place behind the large clear windows for some additional detail. Four additional lifeboat decals are included to add previously absent lifeboats to the back of the saucer. Experienced modelers may want to make raised lifeboat covers out of sheet styrene first. There are so many decals on this sheet, that modelers will find uses for them outside of the Voyager. I also hope Revell/Monogram releases this decal sheet separately in their Pro-Modeler line, it is that good!

Construction.

I haven't built THIS kit, but it is close enough to the first issue to mention some problem areas I had when I built mine. I glued part 12, the aft spine, to the saucer rather than the secondary hull before attaching the two assemblies, the result was a really good fit, some others have had trouble gluing it the way the instructions suggest. The worst fitting parts are the four RCS thrusters on the edge of the hull, it took a lot of filling and sanding in tight spaces to get the thrusters to look right. The rest of the model has its usual share of gaps to fill, especially where the warp engine assembly meets the rear of the secondary hull. I used epoxy putty in this area. I also turned the Starfleet arrowhead stand base around before mounting the model to help it sit better. As for accurizing, other individuals have gone in depth into what is needed to accurize this model even further. Check them out.

Conclusions.

I think we have a winner! The model improvements and the decal sheet make this a must buy, even for those that have the first model. Revell/Monogram and Thomas have done an excellent job in making a good, albeit flawed, kit even better. The gloves have now come off in the SF modeling wars; what will AMT/Ertl's answer be?

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Please direct comments, questions, corrections and picked nits to me at OneZero@aol.com.

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