Scale: 1/2500 - about 3"/ 7.6cm long when built

Parts: 4 white resin

Instructions: 1 small sheet showing decal placement

Decals: 1 tiny sheet ink-jet printed markings for Enterprise

Molding Quality: 8 - a little flash, but no other defects

Detail: 7 - somewhat soft, but acceptable at this scale

Accuracy: Not rated - see review

MSRP: $16 USD (~$24.27 CAN/ € 14.77 EUR), plus shipping, available from Sci-Clone

Overall Rating: 8 - nice, simple kit. Should be an excellent introduction to resin kits.

Image: Decals

Image: Instructions

What You Get

There's not much to this kit. That's a factor of the scale - at 1/2500, the ship is barely 3" long. You get four resin parts, a tiny set of decals and a decal placement/assembly guide.

The resin parts provide the saucer and booms, separate warp nacelles, and a very small nav deflector. Parts are well cast, with only a very little flash to clean up. Detailing on the parts consists of engraved panel detail and some raised panels (especially on the nacelles). The raised detail is a bit soft, but the engraved lines are clean, consistent in depth, and straight. Overall, the detailing is certainly satisfactory for the scale - I'd say easily on par with the ERTL plastic kits. The pieces in my sample felt a little slippery - wash them down before gluing to get rid of any residual mold release.

Decals look to have been printed on an ink-jet printer. You get name and registry for one ship (Enterprise), along with formation lights and a couple of surface structures. The decals are legible and clean, though the colors are a bit "muted" when compared to WLPS-printed or silkscreened offerings. Still, given the grey background they'll sit against, they are perfectly useable.

As far as accuracy - this model looks like what we see on the screen. I don't have detailed schematics to compare against, but a quick check through the usual reference sites indicates no errors in proportions or outline. That's good enough for me.

The instructions are really more of a decal placement guide. That's OK, because parts placement is a no-brainer. Dryfitting the pieces doe not reveal any surprises. The kit should go together as close to instantly as anything in this hobby. About the only trick spot I see is replicating the "aztec" pattern on the saucer. I'd recomment accrylic paint in a drafting pen for that.

Conclusions

This is a nice kit of a subject near and dear to many sci-fi modeler's hearts. If you've been afraid to start with resin, it's a good choice with which to overcome your fears: inexpensive, well-cast and well-engineered. Recommended to any level of builder with an interest in the subject.