REVIEW OF THE ART ASYLUM USS ENTERPRISE-D
After a long long wait due to the extended delays from Art Asylum (AA) for their rendition of the the USS Enterprise-D, all I can say that it was well worth the wait. This toy or model is near perfection that the reason for the delay was probably because Art Asylum wanted it to be perfect. Well, almost perfect. I'll explain the flaws later. Overall, they got the model right. Unlike their Enterprise-E which was a disappointment, the Ent-D in my opinion is a winner. Every tiny bit of detail on the ship from all the painted windows to the tiny ship registrations on some parts of the hull, down to the colour scheme of the ship, the guys from AA have not missed a single detail, well except for the missing windows on the neck section of the engineering section. Kinda disappointed abt this as there were windows on the prototype models prior to its development... Other than that, this model is just perfect and a great model to represent the Galaxy Class Enterprise-D. This one knocks the Playmates Ent-D in terms of details that was released many years ago off the shelve...
Now for the flaws that is really bugging me. I can't get the battery compartment on the engineering section to open!!! It requires some forcible entry which would damage the hull surrounding the battery compartment. I need to get to that compartment in order to activate it to "Play" mode. So now, its currently on "Try Me" mode so Picard will only be saying one phrase and thats it. No saucer separation sounds etc unless I switch it to Play mode.. But I can't do that coz the batt compartment is just really on there!! This is a design flaw on Art Asylum's part. Damn... Even the batt compartment on the saucer section is difficult to remove.
And lastly, the display stand. Due to the saucer section, the model tend to be top heavy, so you will have to find the right balancing spot to display the ship. Otherwise, the ship will just topple forward and you risk damaging it. In my opinion, AA shd have used a different display stand for the Ent-D.
For now, the photos...
SAUCER SEPARATION
And now the main attraction of this model is the saucer separation. And this gimmick is very well done! Probably another reason for the delay from Art Asylum as they wanted to make it close to perfection. Indeed they have and I'm pretty satisfied with it. The magnet used is probably the most powerful magnet ever used in a toy! You can simply pull off the saucer section with a bit of force and it will come off.. And don't worry about the saucer coming off while on display, don't worry coz it won't... The magnet is just too strong.
But please be careful while attaching the saucer section back to the engineering section. The magnet is very powerful and once the saucer is close enough, the magnet will pull the saucer into the secondary hull with a lot of force, this will risk damaging or breaking the pegs underneath the saucer. The best way to attach the saucer back is by sliding your hand in between the magnets so that the force will not be as great, from there, you will slowly adjust the saucer to its appropriate position.
Model comes with two display stand, one for the saucer section, and the other for the engineering section.
CONCLUSION
All in all, a must have for Star Trek fans, especially fans of The Next Generation series such as myself. Minus the flaws mentioned above such as the battery compartment etc, this is one of the better releases from Art Asylum thus far and you can see that they have put in a lot of effort for the Ent-D. Highly recommended!!!
Fly by over Old Trafford...
PS: Whoever has managed to get the battery compartments to open, please let me know!