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I have had this kit in the stash for quite a while I got this kit a number of years ago, part started. ARC are having a Star Trek Universe GB so this is being built for that. I have always like the lines of the Excelsior class starship, not a fan of the Enterprise - B though with that bulge they put on it all for the sake of being able to blow parts of it off for filming in 'Generations'. It's the AMT 1/1000 USS Excelsior NCC-2000 Onto some build pictures. It started with a kit...! Some assembly Some initial paint before buttoning up and then lots of masking and some paint and some more masking and paint and masking and then it all came off I think I spent 5-6 hours just masking so far which is the majority of the build time. Next more masking... usually I dread it but the is a sense of satisfaction with this as is there have been relatively few stuff ups so far ( well just the one where I used too dark a shade of blue on the primary hull and had to re-mask and paint it). To be continued...

SATURN V With Lunar Module AMT 1:200 The Saturn V rocket was the largest in the family of Saturn rockets developed by NASA for its Apollo and Skylab programs. It was a multistage liquid fuelled expendable launcher. NASA launched a total of 13 Saturn V rockets in total and it holds the record for the heaviest payload to low earth orbit of 118,000 Kgs. Even though this is the official record it has been said that weights up to 240,000 Kgs were carried (on Apollo 15). The Saturn rockets were developed under the leadership of Wernher von Braun, and Arthur Rudolph, who the Americans successfully removed from Germany after WWII under Operation Paperclip. Major industrial collaboration was needed on a programme of this scale with Boeing, North American Aviation, and Douglas Aircraft providing the aerospace expertise. IBM was to provide the computing expertise needed. The Saturn V would consist of three main stages, an instrumentation package with the Lunar Module (+adaptor), Service Module, Command module; and launch escape tower on the top. The first stage made by Boeing house 2000 tonnes of rocket fuel and liquid oxygen and generated 7600000 Lbf of thrust on launch via 5 Rocketdyne F-1 engines; stage one would run for 168 seconds getting the Saturn V to an altitude of 67km. Stage 2 built by North American Aviation would then kick in. Using liquid Hydrogen & oxygen through its 5 Rocketdyne J-2 engines 1100000 Lbf of thrust was generated. The last rocket stage 3 was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company and used the same fuel as stage 2. Stage 3 only had one J-2 engine though it burned for 2 ½ minutes to ensure allow for orbital insertion. On top of all three stages sat the instrument package designed by IBM. On top of the three main rocket stages sat the business part of the rocket. The lunar module adaptor covered the lunar module manufactured by Grumman Aircraft Engineering. This would take the astronauts down to the moons surface, and bring them back to the command module later. The service module made by North American Aviation sat above this. The command & service modules would orbit the moon while the lunar module went to the moons surface. This is where the crew would live on their journey to and from the moon. The command module would be the only part of the whole rocket to return intact to the Earth. This was fitted with a heat shield to survive re-entry. Lastly on the very top of the rocket was the Launch Escape Tower. In the event of a catastrophic failure of the rocket on launch the tower would pull the command module away from the explosion and allow it to land with its parachute system. To date the Saturn V is the only rocket to carry humans beyond low earth orbit, A total of 24 astronauts were launched to the moon between 1968 and 1972. Following the Apollo mission NASA created the AAP (Apollo Applications Program) which looked into missions which could be performed using Apollo hardware. Skylab was the only launch not related to the Moon landing program. The Saturn V remains to this day the tallest, heaviest and most powerful operational rocket system. The Kit The kit arrived on five sprues of white plastic. The rocket can be assembled as one part, or it can be made to come apart to revel all the different sections and internal modules. Construction seems fairly similar to how the real rocket was assembled. The first construction step is the rockets first stage. The five main engines are built up and attached to the engine fairing. The two sides of the first stage are joined together at the same time installing the to bulkhead for the Liquid oxygen tank. The interstage fairing is then attached. The next stage is shockingly the second stage of the rocket. The five engines are attached to the second stage engine support; this is then added to the second stage which is assembled from its two parts and the top liquid oxygen bulkhead. The third stage is is then assembled in exactly the same way as stage 2, but there is only one engine to add. None of the first three stages need to be glued together in order that the rocket can come apart to explain how it functioned. On top of the third stage is where it gets interesting. If you wish the rocket to be used for a display then the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), the LEM housing, and the service module can be assembled at this point. The LEM housing parts should be be glued together if you want to display it open. Finally the Command module and escape tower are constructed and added to the top of the rocket. Decals A small decal sheet provides the National Markings for the rocket. The decal she looks in register and quite matt. There is no mention of the maker. Conclusion This should make upto a nice model of the Saturn V rocket without it being too big to display. If needed it can be made into a good instructional aid of how the rocket worked. Overall recommended if you want a smaller Saturn V in your collection. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for If you would like more info on the Saturn V then please look at our walkaround

'Surf Woody' custom car 1:25 kit from AMT Here we have something completely different, a scale model of a car built by George Barris of Barris Kustoms in the USA. If you don’t know the Barris name you probably know his work including the original Batmobile (from the 60s TV series) and many more film and TV vehicles. The ‘Surf Woody’ was created to carry a motorised surf board with its twin rear wheels to help it drive on the beach and with this kit you can build one of 3 versions, the Surf Woody, Surf Hearse or as a Street Rod. The kit comes in box and is packed with parts, most of the kit is moulded in a bright orange with a couple of chrome sprues and the clear parts, remember it is an old kit so there is flash on the parts, nothing that will take too much to trim and sand clean. In the box you get a nice booklet showing pictures of the real car, a nice touch as details on the real vehicles are sparse as the real one seems to have vanished into a garage or barn presently. The build starts with the much modified Ford Cobra engine and there is a lot of chrome parts, I will be stripping the chrome and redoing myself as the chrome looks a little ‘toy’ like and some parts will need joining, the seams dealing with. The engine is a typical customised engine with a couple of massive supercharges poking out of the bonnet (hood) and with some help from the booklet you could add some detail to the engine with some HT leads and other cables. The instructions now move on to the tubular chassis along with the axles and suspension with some nice fine parts that will make a well detailed unit, including the Mercedes rear axle system and the front beam type axle. There are differences here between the 3 vehicles so you will need to make a decision on the version your building. The wheels are also built up in this stage, they all have ‘astro’ style rims with big duel wheels for the Surf and Hearse Woodys the wheels finish with some rubber tyres with white rings on the wall, be careful here as 2 tyres have tread for the front wheels, and there are 4 slick tyres for the back axle that are slightly taller too. Read, look again, and check you have the correct parts for the version you are building as the instructions are not very clear. Section 3 splits in two, depending on what you build, firstly the Surf or Hearse woody, the seats are very unusual being ‘Airfoam’ seats, basically lots of narrow horizontal cushions on a shaped frame that in the real vehicle ‘rock in a wave like motion’ possibly not great if you get car sick! You also get the luxury of a Sony TV, car phone and a Muntz 6 speaker stereo with tape player, but oddly no steering wheel or column? The roadster has more conventional seats and a steering wheel! Both versions have a chrome fuel tank made from a 10-gallon beer keg behind the seats. The main body comes as a single moulded part in the same orange plastic, there are some strengthening bars that need removing, 2 at the back and one at the front, don’t remove the one closest to the front as this needs to stay. In the nose is a headlamp pod that is built up and sandwiched between the upper body and a lower nose, if you are careful this can be made to rotate between the clean nose, or to show the horizontal fluorescent tube headlamps. Now the 3 versions split on the instructions to finish the upper body, both the hearse and the woody have a box type body that has some large decals for the murals on the sides, with the roadster getting a flat rear deck and low windscreen. You get a clear sprue, and a second that has a retro orange tint, both are the same so you can choose to suit your build. Both look to a scale thickness and they are bagged separately to save them from getting scratched in the box. A decals sheet is included and is well printed it includes some nice surfer murals for the surf woody, with some wood effect decals for the outside of the body, and other details and scrolls for the bodywork. The sheet gives details of where each decal should go, but take your time as some will need to be applied before putting the parts together, study the construction sequence again before making a start on this build. In the box you get a stand/ backdrop for your finished model, this comes flat and will need folding and sticking together to get the best from it, mine is just temporarily held for the photo. Conclusion Now this is something completely different, straight from the mind of George Barris, onto your model bench! Not the most straight forward instructions I’ve seen, so go through the option you want to build, and make a plan of action! One for someone who likes something unusual! Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Hello All, I present my first 'WIP' of the AMT General Lee, I started this kit a while back and this post will bring you all nearly up to date with the build. After finishing the Polar Lights Batmobile, I fancied doing another TV show car. I have had this kit in the stash since I was about 10 years old (or about 17 years) so I pulled it out the cupboard blew off the dust and recoiled in horror as I opened the lid to this orange blob of a kit. Now I'm no rivet counter, but I know what the Dodge Charger used in the show looked like... definitely not a fastback, so after some internet digging for inspiration and becoming bewildered seeing the animosity this car seems to attract on forums, I closed the laptop lid and dug out my Corgi version of the car so I could make some rough measurements. After scaling up the dimensions and fudging them until they looked 'Right' I applied some 'Dymo' tape to the lines that needed trimming. After sweating whilst thinking twice about cutting up a fresh kit, I set too and run a fresh scalpel along them several times until I had enough cut out. After a trip to the local(ish) LMS I returned with some styrene sheet and evergreen strip to fill in the gap. After a few hours fiddling I had this, I also decided to trim off the window surrounds on the side windows as they were not a consistent thickness and replaced them with evergreen. First time using styrene sheet and evergreen, don't know how I did without it After a few days fettling which involved re-scribing dull lines and adding evergreen round the tail light section for the missing trim, I sprayed Tamiya fine surface primer through a rattle can, wet sanded then gave it a few coats of VW 'Brilliant Orange' from Halfords. After trying out homemade decals for the first time on the batmobile, I decided I'd detail up the engine bay with some more. A quick search online bought up some period correct 'Mopar' logos and whatnot, I added them to the oil filter, Battery, air filter and radiator. I added hoses with electrical cable and cut 'O' rings from the £ shop. I wanted to recreate the dusty dry mud look that the TV show car usually had from blasting round Hazard County, I achieved this using Humbrol washes and pigments. Interior next, I airbrushed the interior with a Humbrol acrylic shade... I can't remember which one atm and will edit when I have checked. The carpets are sticky-back felt from Hobbycraft and the dials were added with some homemade decals with Humbrol 'Clear' brushed on for the lenses. I also added a veneer decal for the centre console and will add a picture next time I update. A quick mock-up to make sure everything still fitted after the mods. I detailed the trim parts with Vallejo Chrome and a steady hand. The roof decals are from the kit and worked fine. There should be a roll cage inside, but it just did not look right even after heavy modification so I left it out. I am a little further ahead than this at present, but will include pictures with the next update Hope you enjoy the general, C&C's welcome, Happy modelling. Andy.

Hi guys This is my first completed model of my overall project, the Klingon Bird of Prey.

Morning folk's put the finishing touches to this one over the weekend,a 1/48 Warhawk was on the hit list at the recent Northern show but proved to be thin on the ground I was on my way back to pick up a Monogram kit I,d seen when I spied this AMT one for a tenner.The decals were beyond help so I ordered a set from the big H.I always admire Russ C's Warhawk builds hence the kit but also some of the different far east schemes too so on the sheet was an "N" flown in 1945 by Cpt. Wang Kuang Fu,7th F.G. 3rd F.G. of the Chinese air force.A nice kit to build,some beautiful engraving the only part I didn't like was having to cut out a section of the fuselage for the extended glazing but I just about managed!Thank's for looking in.

This going to be the first Star Trek model I have built in a few years, and the first build of 2016. It is a commission of the AMT 1/2500 USS Enterprise C. These photos are upon completion of the first day. Enjoy! What you get in the box Another image of the kit unboxed After grey primer (Halfords grey primer) Some detailing work And another. So after opening the box and looking at the decals, I decided I would rather paint than use the decals supplied. The reasons for this are I think they are too bold and not very screen accurate. I also think "wallpapering" decals like this cover up a lot of the detail on the kit, so instead I will be painting the various shades and tones on the hull as well as some of the detailing.

The Ship. The USS Enterprise-B - featured in the movie Star Trek: Generations - was technically the third ship to carry the name Enterprise, and was an upgraded version of the Excelsior class. As well as having a different colour scheme to the standard Excelsiors, Enterprise-B also featured additional engines and a flared engineering hull as well as capped nacelles, all of which gave it a slightly beefier and more aggressive appearance. The studio model was an alteration of the existing USS Excelsior model, with the flared hull intended to accommodate a hull breach without damaging the existing model (as it turns out the glue did that anyway and the alterations ended up becoming permanent). The model. The model is by AMT and is in 1/1000 scale. For hull markings I purchased a set of aztek decals by Acreation for use in conjunction with the supplied decals, which give the finished model a more realistic and detailed appearance. They are also somewhat tricky to work with and tear very easily - I made many errors, but most of the imperfections are concealed by a coat of Humbrol matt acrylic varnish. The decals also negate the need for most of the painting, although I had already painted most of the model before I decided to opt for the additional decals. An unsettlingly small display stand is included in the shape of a Starfleet logo with the name of the film in moulded detail. I shall be keeping this one away from sources of wind. By way of size comparison, here's the Enterprise-B alongside her older sister (Polar Lights 1/1000 USS Enterprise NCC 1701 refit): And that's my last build for 2015! Thanks for looking in, and as always any comments/questions are most welcome. Regards, Ross.

This is the ancient 1/520 AMT kit as resurrected by Round 2 Models.

Hi all, This was meant to be a quickie build to fill time whilst waiting for aftermarket parts for my F-4F Phantom in the Britmodeller Phantom STGB. Because i used enamel paints and there was loads of masking, it eventually took a lot longer than i expected! It's the good old AMT/Ertl kit with a Cutting Edge cockpit, Squadron canopy (the kit one was short shot) and PJ Productions pilot figure. Everything else from the box, even the yellow decals turned out OK. It was also my first go of using masks for national insignia, and the stripes were also painted rather than the provided decals. I will say this is one of the nicest kits I've ever made. The quality is very good, it fits perfectly and needed hardly any putty at all. Very therapeutic! I decided to build it wheels up as it's a horrendous tailsitter and I wasn't going to spend extra on crappy white metal gear from Scale Arcraft Collapses. The props will spin in a moderate breeze! I did experiment with some home made prop blurs, but it just didn't look as good. Something a little out of the ordinary - hope you like. Al

The ES-3A Shadow was a spin off from the Lockheed S-3 Viking which was designed as a specialist in Anti Submarine Warfare. The ES-3A was developed for Long Range Electronic Reconnaissance (ELINT). 16 S-3's have been converted to ES-3A with numerous antennas and specialized equipment. ES-3A's replaced the aging EA-3B Skywarrior and joined the US Navy in 1991. ASW and ELINT where used less and less and the ES-3A's quickly had another task, airborne refuelling station. A rather expensive solution. Only two squadrons where formed, VQ-5 Sea Shadows and VQ-6 Black Ravens. VQ-5 was assigned to Pacific Fleet Squadron and VQ-6 to the Atlantic. The ES-3A's flew as a Detachment (DET) to the carriers air wing. They used the groups letters on the tail. In 1999 all 16 ES-3A's where retired early and put into AMARG storage at AFB Davis Monthan, Arizona. Ordinary Vikings flew until 2009, often also a tanker with the well known Buddy Pod and a 300 USG tank on the other wing. I got this kit from a friend of mine and I have a lot of extra's. I plan to build a S-3B in the distant future where I will be using the Goffy Models sets as well as the Paragon wing folds. So it's Eduard and Wolfpack. I am thinking of backdating the Wolfpack IP to a ES-3A as some might be seen through the canopy. I don't plan to correct all other panels, since I only have picture of the ES-3A cockpit.. Thanks Erik! fltr.. AMT S-3A canopy, ES-3A and the Squadron, which has been vacformed over the other, making it a bit too big.. Doug's lovely Royale Resin wheels vs AMT.. AMT vs Wolfpack 133.. I'll be using Attack Squadron 300USG tank and the Wolfpack set for the Buddypod.. I like a lot.. IT FITS right away.. Let's check what will be visible..

Now that you've all probably stopped laughing out there, yes, I'm going to try and build this one! Bought back when the film came out... Box art with a screen grab from the movie... A tease on the box side... What's inside (minus the instructions)... Pod & cockpit sprues plus the funky base.. Close up of Anakin...even for 1/32, he looks about 12 years old....I thought he was meant to be 6 or 7?! The engines sprues... Close up of the engine parts - some very soft detail in places.. The energy binder-thingys (purple sprue) and some metal wires so you can model it 'in flight'....which is racing mode I guess. Also in with the metal is a flat piece of clear plastic you need to curve for the windscreen...jeez, they broke their hearts in the AMT offices with that.. And that's it. I'm going to attempt to model this in flight but with only one engine supported underneath (like some other builds have done). This will be either be great......or as annoyingly bad as a certain Mr JJ Binks himself. Good luck with your builds! Dermot

Hi Everyone, In memory of Leonard Nimoy, 1931 to 2015. Here is one of my four submissions for this group build : AMT 1/537 scale USS Reliant NCC-1864 from Star Trek The Wrath Of Khan. Here is the box art : The starship is 20 inches long once built and includes a display stand which fits into the warp nacelles. Sprue shots to follow. ATB, Rick

Today is a 'good day'. A couple of months ago, my six-year-old started becoming very interested (then obsessed) with the whole Star Wars genre. This interest coincided with a Sci Fi 'Campaign' or 'Group-build' over on www.modelersallaince.com where I spend quite a lot of my time when I'm not hanging-around Britmodeller. . Long story short, I took advantage of Bens interest and bought this old STAP & Battle Droid kit to enter in to the campaign and to see if he'd like to have a go with Dad at building a kit. He did most of the major assembly with the minimum amount of help form me, whilst I was allowed to do the painting. We finished at 0700 this morning (only just) in-time for the last day of school and this mornings' 'Show & Tell'. Yes, today is definitely a good day. Kit - AMT/Ertl 1:6 STAP & Battle Droid Paint - All Tamiya acrylics. Decals - None Extras - 'pins' (wrist joints), patience and lots of strong coffee. As ever thanks for taking the time to look and/or comment. Because I enjoyed this 'change-of-pace' so much I spent a lot of time over the last week or so wandering around eBay looking for more Sci Fi builds to spend my money & time on. As it's turned-out, on a purely 'modelling level' this is not one of my best, however as a fantastic experience of building a kit with my wee son, it's absolutely bl**dy marvelous. AFN Ben & Ian.

Hi all, I was busy ordering a Helicopter kit from king Kit on Friday and checking out the TV/film section(searching once again in vain for that Starsky and Hutch Torino) and saw these AMT figures for a tenner and with the sad news of Leonard Nimoy,s passing,well it was a no brainer! It arrived today and apart from the fact I,ve never seen a vinyl kit I was surprised how detailed and big it was.I won,t get a start for a week or so until I have finished a few aircraft kits but looking forward to a new Genre.I also need some advice on what glue to get and any pointers to what primer would be needed for it.

AMT are releasing two versions of the old 1/25 Piranha Super Spy Car as seen in the Man from Uncle many years ago. - one in January and one in April this year. This is great news as the original kit is hard to find and goes for upwards of $150 on ebay, and I've been wanting one for ages to sit beside my DB5 Super Spy Car January Edition http://www.round2models.com/models/amt/piranha-spy-car-origin April Edition http://www.round2models.com/models/amt/piranha-spy-car

Kit manufacture: AMT/ERTL Scale: 1/48 Type: A20G Havoc Extras used: Quickboost engine and wheels, Aeromaster decals Paints used: Tamiya and Vallejo An old kit, very basic. Enjoyed making it though. Would certainly build another. Completed this a while ago but my camera was being repaired so only just got round to taking pics so may have a bit of dust on it. Still need to work on my photos but were getting there.

Italeri is to re-release the ex-AMT/ESCI 1/72nd Stratotanker kit as KC-135A - ref.1353. Source: https://www.facebook.com/ItaleriModelKit/photos/pb.454765391262753.-2207520000.1412880396./744625815610041/?type=3&theater Box art & profiles V.P.

Hi Everyone, Here is my completed build of the Ghosbusters Ecto 1A by AMT in 1:25 scale. I am dedicating this build to Harold Ramis who died this year. RIP Harold, you were a great Ghosbuster. Anyway onto the photos. Comments welcome. Thanks for looking. Rick

Finally got round to putting this on a base and finishing it off. Base has a on-off-on switch so you can have the interior lit, or the 2 LEDs in the base light up the model. Cheers, Warren

Hi all, this is my next build. Mark, a good friend of mine, is really into his science fiction and has been good enough to lend me a lot of DVD box sets recently. When I asked him which was his favourite Enterprise from Star Trek, he replied that it was the D from the Next Generation series, so I'm building this for him as a thankyou. I'm going to chronicle the build so he can follow along, and so this thread will be written with a non-modeller in mind. Here's the kit - I got it from Modelzone in Portsmouth before they closed down, and it's been waiting for a reason to be built ever since: There aren't many parts, but then again it was intended as a snap together kit: The decal sheet however, is another matter. Each of these three sheets is about A4 size, and I reckon they'll cover about 95% of the finished article: Hardly needs the instructions: Except for the decals - without the map, I'd be lost! Being a fairly old kit, the sprue attachment points are huge, and there are a couple of ejector pin marks to sort out - the big circular depression on the base of the nacelle pylon: A smear of putty: ...and some careful sanding later, and it disappears under a coat of primer: The warp nacelles were a pain to clean up the seams, as the joint goes right across the corrugations. It took a lot of careful scraping and trimming to get them acceptable. The one in the foreground is done, the rear one shows the blobs of liquified plastic squeezed out from the joint still awaiting treatment: The engineering hull presented a challenge, as there should be a prominent recess all the way around the chines. One side of the hull was badly moulded, so I had to build up the mating face with plastic card to ensure the gap for the star drive was even on both sides: Next I turned my attention to how to display it. These kits don't come with a stand, as I assume that the makers thought they'd be bought by kids who'd spend all their time flying them around the living room to the accompaniment of whooshing noises. (Actually, I'm not sure what sound the Enterprise does make, but I bet Mark could imitate it - you should hear his TARDIS impression!) I bought a Tamiya stand off ebay, which I cleaned up and sprayed with grey primer: and modified it by carving out the mounting point to fit snugly against the underside of the engineering hull, and adding a piece of square section brass as the support: I broke out the square drill, and made a hole in the underside of the hull: ...and used epoxy resin to attach a larger diameter square section inside, at a suitably dynamic angle: This allows the Enterprise to be firmly attached to its stand, but still be detachable for safe transport or warp drive fantasies... A coat of matt black later, and here's the stand awaiting final assembly: I attached the main saucer to the top of the engineering hull at this stage, as test fitting showed that there were gaps to be filled here and sanding would be a lot easier without the warp nacelle pylons in my way. Here's the sanded and primed result: The edges of the saucer section gave problems too - there's a recess all the way around as on the engineering hull, and getting the gap consistent took a LOT of carving, sanding, scraping and filling. In this photo, the impulse engines still need tidying up a bit yet. One piece which needed to be painted before I closed up the engineering hull was the main deflector. As I'm not lighting this model from inside, I thought the best way to get the glowing effect in this area was to prime it, give it a coat of gloss black which acted as an undercoat for the Alclad Chrome paint on top of that as a reflector, and then a coat of Tamiya clear blue on top. I hand painted the brown areas according to my references. The idea is that once it's installed and blended in, I can use my airbrush to feather the hull grey colour over the electric blue, giving the impression of luminance. That's the idea, anyway, yet to see if it works or I'm just talking rubbish: Anyway, the engineering hull has now been closed up, and the final (hopefully) coat of white primer has been added. Here she sits, awaiting paint: And a mock up on the stand to make sure everything works. Looks ok to me: Next step, painting... Keep watching, Dean

NCC-1701-C & NCC-1701-E Enterprise 1:2500 AMT Just how does one commence a review of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise in its many incarnations? It is very probable that more has been written online and elsewhere about this fictional family of vessels than will ever be written about a good many real spacecraft and I’m not sure that my commentary can add greatly to this vast body of knowledge. To summarise then, the various starships to bear the Enterprise name have traditionally been representatives of the Federation’s premier Cruiser Class (or euphemistically renamed Heavy Explorer Class) vessels, large multi-purpose starships that are equally capable in the exploration & scientific, diplomatic and military roles. The line starts in the mid 22nd century, in the timeline of the official canon at least, with the NX Class Cruiser NX-01 Enterprise of the TV series ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’, commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer. The NX it appears is then superseded in the 23rd century by the iconic Constitution Class Cruiser NCC-1701 of the original sixties ‘Star Trek’ series, which with its familiar crew led by Captain James T Kirk, is subsequently seen, post refit, as the graceful Enterprise Class in each of the first six Star Trek films. With the retirement of NCC-1701-A, the second of the eponymous Enterprise Class ships, the name is transferred to an upgraded variant of the troubled Excelsior Class Exploration Cruiser with the NCC-1701-B in the seventh feature film, ‘Star Trek: Generations’. Chronologically the next iteration of the Enterprise is, probably unsurprisingly if you’ve followed me so far, NCC-1701-C, an Ambassador Class Cruiser and this version is the first subject of this review. Enterprise-C, like its ill-fated predecessor, does not actually take the ‘Lead Starship’ role in any of the TV series or movies, only appearing alongside its immediate successor in the Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, one of those time-warping episodes that the Star Trek script writers are so inordinately fond of. Despite its brief on-screen appearance, the Enterprise-C has a particular significance in the official canon because the gallant actions of the crew, as depicted in the episode in question, are critical in forging what will eventually become an alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. The co-starring starship of that episode, Galaxy Class Explorer NCC-1701-D Enterprise, commanded in the mid 24th century by Captain Jean Luc Picard, is possibly the most familiar Federation starship after the original, featuring in the long running TV series ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’. A much larger vessel than those that had come before, the Galaxy class Enterprise-D introduced the concept of whole families joining the complement of a Federation exploration vessel for long duration missions. Following the destruction of the Enterprise-D in 'Star Trek: Generations' Captain Picard’s crew transfer to the fifth and, in the primary timeline of the official canon, final iteration of the Enterprise, the Sovereign Class Heavy Explorer NCC-1701-E, which is the second subject of this review. Featuring in the final three movies of the original timeline, the Sovereign Class starships are, despite their innocuous description, designed to a slightly more militaristic formula than previous Federation Cruisers as a result of numerous hostile encounters with the Borg Collective. These vessels are heavily armed with powerful collimated phasers and regenerative shields that render them almost immune to most contemporary weapon systems. Slightly longer but significantly narrower in the beam than their immediate predecessor and lacking the ‘neck’ between the saucer and hull seen in previous designs, the Sovereign Class are really rather elegant, yet like their predecessors, they remain recognisably of the lineage of the original sixties Starship Enterprise. The Enterprise-C Kit Inside the rather spacious box of the Ambassador Class Enterprise-C we find two plastic bags containing just thirteen parts between them, these are numbered 18-30, revealing this kit's origins as part of a boxed set. The parts are moulded in a very slightly translucent pale blue plastic giving them a somewhat toy-like appearance. Detail on the parts is rather variable in both quality and quantity, the saucer section is nicely done with sharp raised lines representing the vast bulk of the detail and rather soft incised areas, primarily for windows, phaser arrays and so on. The situation is largely reversed on the primary hull parts, which are festooned with rather soft looking inset portholes and have some quite generous panel lines engraved into their surface, these parts also feature a rather fine grille around the 'neck', which though nicely done might prove problematical when it comes to eliminating seams. The lower hull plate and attached warp pylons feature only rather soft raised panels and look quite plain compared to the other hull parts. The warp nacelles themselves have the same mixture of features, soft inset detail, yet more more grilles and some ribs along their upper surface that align reasonably well when test fitted. Along with the bagged plastic parts we find a third sealed bag containing two large sheets of rather beautiful looking pastel hued decals and a trio of single-leaf gate-fold instruction sheets, one each in English, French and Spanish. The centre two pages of these sheets cover the actual assembly of the kit which is broken down into four steps, these are simplicity in itself, as you would expect for a kit with thirteen parts. The final page of the instruction sheet covers painting and decals using drawings of the top, bottom and right side of the subject that are literally plastered with letters and numbers, the former for the recommended generic colours and the latter for the fifty plus decals that we are to apply. This model is clearly intended to fit on a stand and includes a part that appears designed to receive one, however no stand or other means of displaying the finished model is to be found in the box. The Enterprise-E Kit The packaging and format of the Sovereign Class Enterprise-E kit are in all respects identical to that of the Enterprise C kit, once again we find two bags of parts, one containing the saucer section, the other with everything else, this time for a grand total of only twelve parts, numbered 31-42. The plastic of this kit is off white rather than blue, but displays the same hint of translucency as that of the previous subject. Detail on this kit is perhaps very slightly softer than that of the Enterprise-C, but it also appears to be just a little bit more uniform. As one might expect, the best of the detail is again concentrated on the saucer section, but in this kit the warp nacelles appear to be the weakest link, looking a little plain and also demonstrating some questionable alignment of the raised details when test fitted. As In the previous kit we find two large decal sheets sealed in a third bag, these being rather more colourful and striking than the subtle pastels of the Ambassador Class while equally nicely printed and over sixty in number. The instructions of this kit share a common format with those of the preceeding subject, again with just four steps detailing the whole assembly process, but in this instance a little more space is devoted to painting and applying the decals, a wise choice given just how many of the latter there are. Once again no display stand is included with this kit. Conclusion The first thing to strike me on opening the boxes of the AMT 1:2500 Enterprise kits was just how much room there was in there, one could easily pack two of these kits in each box and a third wouldn’t be too much of a squeeze. What plastic there is appears rather toy-like at first glance so it would be very easy to be instantly dismissive of these kits, however closer examination reveals that they do have some potential; they fit together reasonably well and obviously they will be extremely quick and easy to build and relatively simple to paint, with a brush at least, masking them for airbrushing may present some challenges. The sole area in which these kits genuinely impress is the decals and applying these appears to be the ‘make or break’ issue for most builders of these models. It seems that some of the larger decals are rather fragile and somewhat prone to shattering, however if they are applied with sufficient patience and care, they can really lift the appearance of the finished model to a level well beyond that suggested by the parts alone. See BM member Deanflyer’s build of the AMT 1:2500 Galaxy Class NCC-1701-D Enterprise in this thread: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234965681-enterprise-d/ In conclusion then, these are very basic kits indeed and while they would very probably hold little appeal for experienced sci-fi modellers, in my opinion they do have some merit as a subject for beginners or as AMS busters. Frankly speaking though, it would be for the decals and for the decals alone that I could recommend these kits.....Any modeller seeking to improve their decal application technique, or who wishes try out new products on a quick to build yet challenging subject, could do a lot worse than look at one of these Enterprise kits. My only real criticism in relation to the decals would be that, even with the increased space allocated in the Enterprise-E kit, far too much of the instruction sheet is taken up depicting an incredibly simple assembly process and nowhere near enough is devoted to detailing the application of the numerous decals. My biggest criticism of these kits overall would be the absence of a display stand, which to be honest I find very irritating indeed, as it suggests a distinct degree of disinterest on the manufacturer’s part. Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

Hi Everyone, As my Shelby GT500 project is close to completion, I will be making a start on this kit in a couple of days time. As the kit includes decals for the Ecto-1 and Ecto-1A, I have decided that I will be building this kit as the Ecto-1A from Ghosbusters 2. Anyway here are the sprues. I have just noticed that the interior body section is missing from my photos. Thanks for looking, I will be posting the first WIP shots in a couple of days. Rick

W.I.P. thread: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234955041-two-flying-wings-xb-35-and-db-lk-172/

Hi Everyone, I have been looking at the AMT 1:25 scale Ghostbusters Ecto 1A kit for a while now (since I saw several builds on here) and was wondering how many people amongst the members have built it and if it could be considered a challenge to build as it doesn't have many parts ? Thanks, Rick