The Enterprise...a tough ship!

[Warped9]

Yes, the big E as seen in TOS was indeed a tough ship, but I'm not referring to that one.

I'm actually referring to the Art Asylum toy replica of the Enterprise.

I have two of them: a Kirk era and a Pike era version. Both of them have taken crash landings because of the unstable nature of the display stands that come with them.

My Pike era version sits at the very top of a six foot bookshelf. One day I turned when I heard the unmistakable sound of plastic hitting harrdwood floor. I turned to see that my Pike era E was missing from the top of the bookshelf. Instantly images of destroyed old AMT kits leapt into my head as I looked to the floor. Imagine my utter amzement when I found a completely intact ship without any small break, crack or even scratch, And nothing rattled when I shook it and the lights and sound still work. Wow!

Now my Kirk era E sits on a three and a half foot high dresser and its stand, too, has proven less than sound. On two separate occasions I've entered the room to find that ship crashed to the floor (after bouncing off the edge of the dresser) and it also was wholly unscathed after each event.

Anyone who's ever owned at least one of the old AMT E kits knows well how fragile they were. The sturdiness of the AA replica makes up for its flaws.

 

[Plecostomus]

Send me a sketch of the "stand" and a picture of the arrangement and I'll see if I can fabricate an improved/more stable mounting arrangement.

 

[Warped9]

The stability is a problem of the swivel/pivot arrangement where the stand fixes to the ship. It's obviously designed for you to trun the ship in different angles and attitudes. But it soon loosesns up and then the ship is no longer firmly held in place. The ship suddenly changes orientation and the mass and inertia tip it over. An immediate solution is simply to glue the joint into one position and leave it, which I've done.

The other additional thing to do is cement the support peice to the base because it, too, can give way.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I got a Kirk-era one second hand from eBay, sans stand, so not an issue here.That aspect also makes it a good companion piece to my Playmates E, which lost its stand in the eviction purge.

 

[Warped9]

I'm quite happy with my AA E's overall. I don't dwell on any inaccuracies which I attribute solely to the manufacturing faults as opposed to the fantastic work done by Thomas Sasser.

My biggest quibble with the Pike era version is that the detailing decal on the forward surface of the bridge is actually offset to one side. Argh! But from a distance you overlook it. I also try to overlook the fact that all AA did for the Pike era version was change the sensor dish, nacelle caps (fore and aft), the intercoolers and a larger bridge dome. They did not change the lower sensor dome or the window arrangements.

Besides the deformed secondary hull on both versions--which consequently changed the angle of the support pylons and thus widened the distance between the nacelles--I'm a little bugged by the fact that the font used for the name on the hull is not all sized the same. There are letters in the word Enterprise that are of slightly different size. Argh!

But best not to dwell on those things.

 

[Classic Fan]

Ahhh, the age old bitch about the AMT kits.


Those were the days...


Leave for work with the window open on a hot day, return to find a partially shattered Enterprise on the floor.

My first AMT Enterprise nacelle pylons and nacelles were glued back together so much over a few years that they never matched up when viewed from front or top, not that it was a perfect match to start off with out of the box.

My second AMT kit was also the victim of a nice display on my desk, until it too fell off for no apparent reason, well other than the stand being shitly flimsy. The saucer broke off its neck and i lost a nacelle cap this time, i found it about a year later behind my radiator. After open heart surgery, its still on my shelf on a home made wooden mount where its been for well, nearly 12 years now.


I dont own an AA Enterprise though, i'd love one. just havnt got around to getting one, after getting all the action figures and captains chair editions i gave Trek Merch a break for a little.

 

[Captain Robert April]

It is a fun little toy, although I find the random vocal bits a tad annoying. I much prefer the Playmates approach, just sound effects (looooooove rapid firing them photon torpedoes )

 

[Plecostomus]

The stability is a problem of the swivel/pivot arrangement where the stand fixes to the ship. It's obviously designed for you to trun the ship in different angles and attitudes. But it soon loosesns up and then the ship is no longer firmly held in place. The ship suddenly changes orientation and the mass and inertia tip it over. An immediate solution is simply to glue the joint into one position and leave it, which I've done.

The other additional thing to do is cement the support peice to the base because it, too, can give way.

Ah my NX-1 did that. I stuck a "pem" (press-in thread-insert for many uses including great justice) in the hole and made a display arm out of metal and threaded the end. More or less I can only rotate it now but it ain't falling anymore.

 

[Warped9]

It is a fun little toy, although I find the random vocal bits a tad annoying. I much prefer the Playmates approach, just sound effects (looooooove rapid firing them photon torpedoes )

Agreed. If I were to build a scratch build ship, or even a good 1/600 or 1/350 TOS E, then I'd love to incorporate edited sound f/x from the Star Trek Sound Effects CD.

 

[TowerPower]

Forgive me for asking this if this is obvious, but what contribution did Thomas Sasser make to the Art Asylum Enterprises?

And on a similar note, does anyone have a link to the video that stars the engineering set Sasser built that used to be here:
http://divertissementz.blogspot.com/2006/05/giant-kitten-terrorizes-enterprise.html
The video is no longer available.

Thanks,
Larry

 

[Captain Robert April]

He did the masters for the molds, essentially the same job he did for Polar Lights' 1/1000 scale model of the the ship.

 

[TowerPower]

Thanks CRA - I figured you would know!

 

[HaplessCrewman]

Well, I just got my Art Asylum Classic Enterprise Production Version today and I have to say it looks pretty nice.

There were some gripes from Amazon.com customers regarding the three circles on the bottom of the primary hull but I don't find them too distracting.

I have one question about the sound effects.
They are 1. Short Warp 2. "Battlestations" 3. "Weapons to full power" 4. Transporter 5. Red alert 6. Photon Torpedos 7. Phaser attack 8. "Kirk to Enterprise"

Who's voice is that for 2. "Battlestations"? It doesn't sound like Kirk to me.

Anyone up to the challenge to source the bits of dialogue?

 

[gastrof]

...does anyone have a link to the video that stars the engineering set Sasser built that used to be here:
http://divertissementz.blogspot.com/2006/05/giant-kitten-terrorizes-enterprise.html
The video is no longer available.

Thanks,
Larry

Go here,
http://www.thomasmodels.com/eng5.html
and click on the picture on the left side of the screen.

Or, just go here
http://www.thomasmodels.com/classicbuilds/sylvia.wmv

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

The AA Enterprise is a tough ship... in their quest for screen accuracy, they made her deflector screens as tough as nails... she can withstand the force of 100 plastic photon torpedoes.