Scale: 1/2500 - about 2½"/ 64mm long when builtI>

Parts: 5 resin pieces

Instructions: One photocopied sheet showing basic part placment and painting instructions.

Decals: None

Molding Quality: 9 - almost zero clean up on the three models I built.

Detail: 9 - sharp and plentifull but a few crooked windows lowers the score a bit.

Accuracy: 8.5- the detail on the deflector doesnt exactly match the schematics I've seen online and it's missing a few select windows, but it's otherwise an amazing piece of work.

MSRP: $26.50 USD (~$35.30 CAN/ € 21.95 EUR) available from the Odyssey Slipways.

Overall Rating: 9 - A great weekend project that will beef up your 1:2500th starship fleet and add to your painting skills at the same time.

Any Trek fan can tell you that the movie First Contact introduced radical new ship designs -and the Sabre class is a departure from all previous starfleet ships. It's also a design never before available in 2500th scale.

So...I was looking forward to the first 2500th offering from Odyssey Slipways. I'd been given a sneak peek at the Sabre's masters a month or so prior to actually recieving my initial order and I was happily suprised how much better the actual model looked in person!

What You Get

Detail

The model's detail is extremely impressive. Several details that are only represented as decals on the 1400th version of this ship are molded on this tiny wonder of a model (most notably the grey recessed panels along the ship's "spine"). All the ship's lifeboats are raised and molded on the ship's hull (easy to paint with a steady hand and some drybrushing).

As a picky reviewer, I should point out that a few windows are crooked and from the CGI images I've seen the model is missing a few windows on the saucer's dorsal side. Also of note, the bridge is slightly off center (prahaps by .05mm).

Instructions

Intructions are one photocopied sheet and are adaquate for assembly -there is an added paint guide on the same sheet. The paint guide looks correct except for the deflector -which should be bright blue with a yellow-orange center piece. Look online to get painting refrences (hint: you're already online).

Image: Instructions

Image: Ships, primed

Assembly

Dry-fit the warp nacelles prior to attaching them- I found that a bit of work with a sanding stick (read: emery board) will save you much aggravation later. Aside from that bit of sage advice, it's a snap.

As with any resin model, be sure to wash this model in warm, soapy water to clean off any mold-release agents. With this model in particular, I HIGHLY reccomend using Comet cleaner (or something equally abrasive) to give the paint some "tooth" to adhere to. Initially, I used dishwashing liquid to clean the model and even with primer I ended up shamefully hosing Easy-Off on my models and sarting all over. (Lo-Ser, I know)

After cleaning the model properly, I primered it with automotive primer from ye old hardware store and began painting in earnest. I also filled in the ship's windows with putty (not required by any means, but I intended to replace them with decal versions).

I started painting with a base coat of Testor's Flat Light sea Grey and oversprayed the model with Light Aircraft Grey to lighten it up a few shades. All the detail work is molded on and quite easy to paint with a steady hand and some paitence. I weathered the model slightly with some thinned black enamels. Lastly I added the bright blues, oranges and purples of the main deflector and nacelles.

The model looks great fully painted, but I've never been one to leave well enough alone, I took some decals from my "spares" file and made a registry via Adobe Illustrator to complete the models. I'm sure someone will offer a complete decal sheet for this ship soon enough.

Final Thoughts

This is among the top five models I've ever had the pleasure of building in 2500th and the overall quality (as well as the customer service from Odyssey Slipways) is among the best in the garage industry. This is an impressive first venture into the scale of 2500th for Odyssey Slipways and would make an excellent first resin model for any fan of the Star Trek universe.

Many thanks to Odyssey Slipways for the review sample.