Trekkie reviews – Star Trek The Official Starships Collection – USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D

Eaglemoss Collections: Star Trek The Official Starships Collection – USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D

This review is all about some recent Trekkie purchases I’ve made, namely an Eaglemoss model of USS Enterprise-D.

The first ever Eaglemoss model I bought was back on 5th April 2017, an important day for two reasons – First Contact Day and my birthday! Myself and my partner, Emma, went to London for a day out for my birthday. We went to the Sky Garden in London to have breakfast and to the Shard to see some amazing views of the city– it was an amazing day! As well as this, I dragged Emma to Forbidden Planet in London to spend my birthday latinum on some geeky stuff. There wasn’t a huge amount of choice in the Eaglemoss models/magazines section (I recall a Xindi sphere as well but that didn’t really appeal to me). The one that stood out to me the most was the Enterprise D from The Next Generation, so I harnessed my inner Ferengi and haggled down the price (ok, not quite, but you get the gist)! Each Eaglemoss models come with a magazine about the ship that the model is of that gives a wealth of information about the said ship. This magazine gives the specifications of the Enterprise-D, a profile and some history of the ship and some information about its special features, such as the saucer separation. We’re also shown a blueprint and plan of the Enterprise-D and pictures and information on how the Enterprise-D was designed and filmed.

Specification

The specifications tell the reader that the NCC-1701-D is (or *spoiler alert if you haven’t seen Star Trek Generations* rather was, post Generations, a Galaxy-class starship constructed at the Utopia Planitia fleet yards. It was launched in 2263 and sadly was destroyed in 2371. It has an impressive 42 decks, a crew of 1,012 and is listed as having been captained by Jean-Luc Picard and Edward Jellico.

Profile

The profile of the Enterprise-D gives us some more detailed information on the starship. We’re told that it was the most advanced and the largest vessel ever constructed by Starfleet at the point it went into service. Compared to the original Enterprise under the command of Captain Kirk, this Enterprise has over 8 times more interior space. The profile explains that the Enterprise-D was equipped with more than 100 research labs which enabled the crew to study fields such as stellar cartography, exobiology, cybernetics, archaeology and botany.

As well as the practical equipment and technology on board, including 12 type-X phaser arrays and three torpedo launchers, the ship also has 16 holodecks (how did anyone ever get any work done!), a theatre, a restaurant/bar, a salon, classrooms and an abortorium. Some information is given about the saucer separation ability that the Enterprise-D has and how this enabled the ship to separate into two autonomous craft to achieve a tactical advantage or in order to ensure that non-essential personnel were safe during a dangerous situation. There is also a fantastic birds-eye view of the ship with labels showing the locations of different parts of the ship and explaining their functions, such as the deflector dish and the impulse engines.

Designing the Enterprise-D

The magazine gives us some insight into how the Enterprise-D was designed by concept designer, Andrew Probert. It explains how the basic layout of the original Enterprise was maintained but with some changes made including a larger saucer section and positioning the warp nacelles in between the two hulls. Several concept design drawings are shown and Probert is listed as saying that he wanted to create landing gears but got distracted and “that poor ship eventually paid the price” (made me chuckle)!

Filming the NCC-1701-D

We, the reader, are told that filming the Enterprise-D involved three different studio models and two CGI versions. Information is given about the model making team leads, Greg Jein and Bill George and also about its evolution from the original model to being refurbished and then created in CGI.

On Screen

Lastly, we’re given some brief information on the ship’s appearances on screen – e.g. which series it appeared in, first and final episodes and it’s first movie appearance.

Data Feeds

Throughout the magazine, there are several data feeds that gives the reader snippets of extra information such as… the ship’s torpedoes, some similarities with the original Enterprise and the different species aboard the ship.

The Model of the USS Enterprise-D

The model is approx. 14cm (5 and a half inches) in length and 10cm (4 inches) wide. Details include the many windows that appear on the Enterprise-D; the blue-ish deflector dish; the registration on the top front, the underside front and below each warp nacelle of the model; the red glow of the thrusters; the blue of the warp nacelles and the Starfleet delta on the top of each nacelle and on the underside of the stardrive section. The only thing I can think of that would make the model even better than it is, is to be able to separate the saucer section from the stardrive section as we see happen in The Next Generation. Otherwise, it’s a stunning model!

At the moment the model takes pride of place on my bedside chest of drawers but I’m hoping to soon buy a display case to hold my Star Trek merchandise as it’ll be much nicer to have them displayed properly and do not have to dust my models so often (I’m sure Captain Picard didn’t have to dust the Enterprise-D as often as I do!)

As always, you can get in touch with me on twitter – I’m @TrekkieRob and I’m always up for chatting about Star Trek and meeting new people who are just as nerdy and geeky as me! You can also find me on my Trek Book Club twitter account (@TrekBookClub) where we read a Star Trek book each month and come together to discuss it on Twitter at the end of every month. You can also find me with my co-host, Rick (@TrekFanRick), on our Trek Book Club podcast, where we discuss each book we read for Trek Book Club.

Until next time, LLAP!

 

 

 


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»Images are taken from the model magazine: eaglemoss.com, Feature image: startrekships.herocollector.com

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