Scale: 1/1400

Parts: Three resin, plus base

Instructions: 7 - enough to get by

Decals: None, rather disappointing

Molding Quality: - a few problems and an overall rough surface

Detail: 7 - oversized gridlines

Accuracy: 8 - could be better, but pretty close

Fit:

Ease: 8 - for being resin

MSRP: $20 USD, available from Spaceboy Productions or JF Green Models

Overall Rating: 7 - Lack of decals, the surface and gridlines were disappointing, but could be worse.

Inspection/Preparation

The kit is made of three parts: the main body and the two warp engines. I was surprised to find no decals. I expected at least a few simple decals. The instructions were enough to work with, but the lack of decals was a big minus in my book.

One of the first things I noticed was that the grid lines were deep and quite thick. Granted the model is only about 4 inches long and gridlines would most likely be a little deep for the scale, but they went overboard on the lines. I also noticed that the surface wasn't smooth. It was actually quite rough. I looked like it was covered in a fine sand. But on the good side, the lines were crisp and didn't have the slightest waver, and they seemed to be fairly accurate.

The molding was actually very good, with only a couple minor voids needing filling. Dry fitting the pieces together was a little tight, but there was enough room so I didn't need to sand them any. So after filling in voids, I used a little super glue and had the model together in about 5 minutes.

The base is in the shape of a DS9 communicator badge and was a good size for the model. Unfortunately, there was no connecting piece. That's unfortunately typical for kits like this. (How do they expect us to connect the ship to the base?)

Painting it started out standard for a resin model: a primer coat followed by the base coat. I hand painted the details because there were so many and masking would be more pain that it's worth. The gridlines actually made that part quite easy. I used a base color of Light Ghost Gray with panels ranging from Flat Gull Gray to Gunship Gray, all Testors Model Masters paints. I mixed the warp engine and deflector colors myself. I used "Star Trek Mechanics: Official Guide 4" as my guide for painting. If you don't have that book and you want to make accurate Star Trek models, it's worth getting.

I was able to get McDaniel Models to make me a scaled-down version of the ETRL Defiant kit's decals, and they worked quite well. The rough surface made some of the decals not want to stick, but a little microsol snugged them down. The deep gridlines also caused a problem, but I decided just to let the decals 'float' over the gaps. If I had let them dip into the lines, the decals would have been quite deformed. Another minus.

Finishing it up

I put a couple pegs on the stand so I could cradle the ship instead of directly attaching it. (I wanted to be ble to take pictures of the bottom at a later time.) After I painted the stand black, I set the Defiant on top and set it next to the rest of my 'fleet.' The finished product turned out ok, but the problems I mentioned detracted from the appearance. If you want a 1/1400 scale Defiant, this one will do. But if you don't have to have it, then it's no big loss if you skip it.