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Spaceboy's Re-Tooled 1/1400 Defiant Preview


By John Lester - images & text © 2000

Scale: 1/1400 - about 5"/ 13 cm long
Parts: 4 resin, plus detail bits of indeterminate origin and resin base
Instructions: 1 page assembly guide plus 1 page paint guide
Decals: Waterslide, Ink-jet printed. Markings for one ship.
Molding Quality: 9 - almost no flaws on my sample
Detail: 8 - sharp, with newly engraved panel lines
Accuracy: 9 - looks good to me
MSRP: $25 US, available from Spaceboy Productions
Overall Rating: 8+ - good weekend project, excellent first resin kit.

Spaceboy Productions has recently retooled their 1/1400 scale USS Defiant, and this is the result.

What You Get

It's a small kit, but you expect that for this subject at 1/1400 scale. Inside the bag are five resin parts, comprising the ship and the stand; one bag containing details, a decal sheet and two pages of instructions.

The resin is nicely cast in an off-white material.

[Click to enlarge]

^ The ship is almost all in these four pieces.

Image: The other side.

[Stand and bits]

^ Stand on left. Bag contains docking clamp and plasma vent covers.

[Instructions]

^ Instructions appear adequate to the task.

[Decals]

My kit had very little in the way of mold flaws, bubbles, pits, or other nasties. There was just a little flash to clean from the nacelles before a perfect fit could be obtained with the main hull. The pieces don't feel slick with mold release, like many other such kits do, but I'd bathe the parts in pine oil or equivalent cleanser just to be sure. I'm not sure what the detail parts (docking clamp and plasma vent covers) are made of - they're too small to tell - but they shouldn't be a problem at that size. A nice resin base in the shape of the Starfleet logo is provided, but you're on your own for the stand (find an old coat hanger is my suggestion). Whatever complaints there may have been about the engraved panel detail on the previous version, I can't see making them here. All lines are nicely engraved (not too fine, not too wide), of uniform depth and straight.

Decals are waterslip, printed via an ink-jet. Markings are provided for one ship, the first USS Defiant (others are available from both McDaniels Models and JTGraphics). The sheet included with my kit prevents it from being a near-10; the black ink was flaking off.

Rounding out the package are two photocopied sheets, one with assembly instructions, the other with paint guide. The pictures are a little dark, but useable.

Is it accurate? I can't say for certain that every dimension is exactly correct, but the outline and details look spot on. That's good enough for me!

Assembly & Finish

Assembly is almost a no-brainer. Glue nacelles and "head" to hull. Afix docking clamp. Paint. For the detail-painting challenged - myself included - the separate plasma vent covers are a nice feature. Paint the vents with our favorite clear blue, then center the covers in the depressions and glue. Slap on decals and admire your handiwork.

Conclusions

If you've never built a resin kit before, this could be a good kit to cut your teeth on. It's also a good candidate for a weekend build, for those looking to get the juices flowing again, or build something with a kid. Recommended to any level modeler.

Many thanks to Spaceboy Productions for providing the review sample. Manufacturers and retailers, interested in getting your wares reviewed and publicized on a site averaging 2000+ readers a day? Contact us!

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This page copyright © 2001 Starship Modeler™. Last updated on 4 January 2001.