By Justin 'Bluesman' Miller - images & text © 2005

Scale: 1/76 - about 4½"/ 102mm long when built

Parts: 3 resin: hull and two engines

Instructions: One Sheet with instructions, paint and decal guide

Decals: Waterslide markings for three ships

Molding Quality: 9 - Clean cast, minimal pits/bubbles and flash

Detail: The concept is a very clean, smooth design so details are minimal. However, details like the engine grilles and panel lines are done well.

Accuracy: 9. The kit matches available references very well.

MSRP: $35.00 USD (~$41.00 CAN/ € 28.99 EUR) available from Federation Models

Overall Rating: 9.5

One of the little jewels I picked up at Wonderfest this year was a kit of what is commonly referred to as the "soapbar" shuttle. The ship was used in the first couple of seasons of Star Trek: TNG. The ship design follows the lines of the original Galileo shuttlecraft, but was updated with a smooth curved hull and warp engines similar to the Enterprise D.

The kit is the first in a series in a collaborative effort between Federation Models and Probert Designs called "Concept Kits". This line of kits is based on Andrew Probert's conceptual design work for film. There will be more about that from Mr. Probert later in this review.

What You Get

The kit comes in a sturdy lockable box full of foam peanuts, 3 parts for the kit, a decal sheet and an 8.5 x 11 instruction sheet that includes a paint guide and decal placement diagram. One unique feature of the packaging is that the boxes are signed by Andrew Probert.

Upon inspection of the parts I found the kit to be very well cast. There are minimal areas of flash on the nacelles which can be easily cleaned up with a few passes of an Xacto blade and a file or sanding stick. The main hull was also cleanly cast. I found a few very small pits at the forward part of the hull around the nose, but these were so small that a shot of primer will probably fill them in. I looked the hull over very carefully and it was difficult to find flaws in my particular kit. Panel lines are thin and not too deep

There was also a very small bump that was on the front of the hull. I thought this might be a detail like a light or something, but it was slightly right of center and did not look like it belonged there. Once again it can be removed with a little sanding.

The instruction sheet is well laid out and very simple. The sheet includes the decal placement and paint guide. There is also a four view drawing of the ship and a color key with Federal Standard colors called out. I thought this was a nice feature.

The decal sheet features standard Starfleet markings and names and registries for three ships: Galileo, Copernicus and Feynman. In speaking with Mr. Probert at Wonderfest, he informed me that the pennant stripe decal tapers into a single stripe in the preliminary concept but the final version of the decals will feature a double stripe. An updated sheet with the double stripe will be available soon.

Overall

Overall I think this kit a great one to add to your collection and would recommend it. With a signed box by Andrew Probert you won't want to throw the package away, and with the 25% discount offer for a print of the box art adds a little extra touch to this line of kits.

It is a quality piece of work and would make a nice model for someone working with resin for the first time. With just three parts and a simple yet attractive paint livery, this kit would also make a good weekend project. As with all resin models, be sure to clean the parts thoroughly to remove mold release agent and always prime before final paint.

I'd like to than Andrew Probert for providing the excellent sample of the box art/print for this review.

Future Plans

I had a few questions for Mr. Probert for this review and here is how he responded via eMail:

“Each kit is individually signed and also contains a 25%-off coupon for an art print of the box art. All 'Concept Kits' will follow this format and box art prints are also available through my site.

This kit premiered at WonderFest (2005) and is the first of many planned for the new "CONCEPT KIT" line. Some of our upcoming plans include an Ambassador Starship, vertical Warbird, Sphinx pod, a Klingon attack fighter, and a Cylon Centurion...all from the conceptual world of SF hardware. And, of course, I'm open to suggestions. These kits will be available through Federation Models as well as Probert Designs.”