Has anyone gotten any of the Discovery models? I've been looking at both the Discovery and the Enterprise put out by Polar Lights and was wondering about the quality.
Discovery Era Models
- Thread starter Awesome Possum
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I personally cannot attest to their quality or accuracy of DISCO models...But from every polar lights kit I've ever gotten, the general quality is rated by me as a 7 or 8 out of 10...the accuracy on the other hand, I'd say somewhere between 5-7 out of 10. There is always something off with the kits.
They're no where near as bad as the old AMT kits tended to be!
I have no personal interest in the STD models since I don't care for the show so...? Generally, Polar Lights/Round 2 does a pretty good job on most of their kits. They've gotten better at them over the years and the 1/1000 classic Enterprise is still a nice kit.
There is a thread on Starship Modeler about the 1/1000 Disco Enterprise kit:
http://www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=127212
I have no personal interest in the STD models since I don't care for the show so...? Generally, Polar Lights/Round 2 does a pretty good job on most of their kits. They've gotten better at them over the years and the 1/1000 classic Enterprise is still a nice kit.
There is a thread on Starship Modeler about the 1/1000 Disco Enterprise kit:
http://www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=127212
The 2500 disco is quite accurate, and outstanding decals for the hull.
From what I've seen the rest are okay, and the 1000 discoprise is great.
From what I've seen the rest are okay, and the 1000 discoprise is great.
This is true, but the ones cloned from them are, let's just say wanting.
There really trying lately, Some are a dud like the Grissom, but most are pretty great and quite accurate.
Only thing with me is that there plastic supplyer kind of sucks at there job and is quite cheap. There sprue is WAY to thick and the parts are hard to get off of it. and the detail level is kind of meh. Better companies like Bandai, Tamiya and others are lightyears ahead in quality of parts. All american model companies are quite Meh on there quality of plastic. China and Japan, even Europe are way ahead.
Only thing with me is that there plastic supplyer kind of sucks at there job and is quite cheap. There sprue is WAY to thick and the parts are hard to get off of it. and the detail level is kind of meh. Better companies like Bandai, Tamiya and others are lightyears ahead in quality of parts. All american model companies are quite Meh on there quality of plastic. China and Japan, even Europe are way ahead.
All American model companies use Chinese tooling companies and have all production done in China. That's been the case for quite some time now. Most issues with the quality of the tooling and materials (and oh my yes, there are issues) come from that fact.
The sad thing is, the US model companies were often looked at as the leaders in the industry. When Mr. Tamiya started his company back in the 1960's, he had used Monogram as his target for quality. Of course, since so many American model companies were bought up by larger companies - or merged into larger companies, they often stopped investing in improvements and "rested on their laurels".
Anywho...there really really aren't many choices for Star Trek kits out there. Bandai didn't continue it's line from years back and it looks like Moebius (which has it's own issues) is probably done as well. The kits from Revell AG aren't very good either - being quite inaccurate, even by AMT standards.
The sad thing is, the US model companies were often looked at as the leaders in the industry. When Mr. Tamiya started his company back in the 1960's, he had used Monogram as his target for quality. Of course, since so many American model companies were bought up by larger companies - or merged into larger companies, they often stopped investing in improvements and "rested on their laurels".
Anywho...there really really aren't many choices for Star Trek kits out there. Bandai didn't continue it's line from years back and it looks like Moebius (which has it's own issues) is probably done as well. The kits from Revell AG aren't very good either - being quite inaccurate, even by AMT standards.
The revell Germany JJPrise is quite good. There tos is okay, was based on the Greg jien one that was inaccurate. Voyager was mostly okay.
But yeah the American companies are crap compared to most. It's not about being made in China Tamiya Hasegawa bandai Ming Trumpeter all made in China and are all good molds and the problem with AMT is there cheap.
But yeah the American companies are crap compared to most. It's not about being made in China Tamiya Hasegawa bandai Ming Trumpeter all made in China and are all good molds and the problem with AMT is there cheap.
I was looking at the 1/2500 scale, I thought of maybe eventually adding the other Enterprises since they would be in the same scale.
My only crit of the 2500 disco, and that is of most of the new stuff is the use of "wallpaper decals"
Most of the 2500, even 1000 stuff use "wallpaper decals"
Ships goes together nicely, but is covered in decals. This can be abit jarring to those who don't have much experience in laying down waterslide decals.
Nice long video on it around the 48 minute mark is the decals.
It can be done, and if it breaks, its not the end of the world, just match up the edges the best you can. Just take your time and keep it wet till its placed. You can use a q-tip or a paper towel, or a rag to get the water out, and I do recomend the Micro Sol ( or similar product, there are many) for after its placed as well. it "Melts" the decal a bit so it can better go around details. It WILL shrivell or scrunch up, this is normal, don't absolutely DON"T touch it till it lays back down normally, it will take some time, and may need a couple of coats to lay down right. And you may need to take a hobby knife and cut along panel lines or detail for the solution to get in there and lay down better.
In the end, just give it your best try. Any questions I'm on here daily.
Mine:
Most of the 2500, even 1000 stuff use "wallpaper decals"
Ships goes together nicely, but is covered in decals. This can be abit jarring to those who don't have much experience in laying down waterslide decals.
Nice long video on it around the 48 minute mark is the decals.
It can be done, and if it breaks, its not the end of the world, just match up the edges the best you can. Just take your time and keep it wet till its placed. You can use a q-tip or a paper towel, or a rag to get the water out, and I do recomend the Micro Sol ( or similar product, there are many) for after its placed as well. it "Melts" the decal a bit so it can better go around details. It WILL shrivell or scrunch up, this is normal, don't absolutely DON"T touch it till it lays back down normally, it will take some time, and may need a couple of coats to lay down right. And you may need to take a hobby knife and cut along panel lines or detail for the solution to get in there and lay down better.
In the end, just give it your best try. Any questions I'm on here daily.
Mine:
Actually - the main thing is to "have fun".
Don't worry if something doesn't turn out perfectly. That's not the point of building a model. Fun is...
Don't worry if something doesn't turn out perfectly. That's not the point of building a model. Fun is...
The decals worry me a bit, but I think I can handle it if I take the time to do it. Yours turned out beautifully though. The Discovery has really grown on me. I didn't like the initial art they released of it, but it's become one of my favorite ships. The redesigned Enterprise is a beauty too and I'd love to have both on my desk.My only crit of the 2500 disco, and that is of most of the new stuff is the use of "wallpaper decals"
Most of the 2500, even 1000 stuff use "wallpaper decals"
Ships goes together nicely, but is covered in decals. This can be abit jarring to those who don't have much experience in laying down waterslide decals.
Nice long video on it around the 48 minute mark is the decals.
It can be done, and if it breaks, its not the end of the world, just match up the edges the best you can. Just take your time and keep it wet till its placed. You can use a q-tip or a paper towel, or a rag to get the water out, and I do recomend the Micro Sol ( or similar product, there are many) for after its placed as well. it "Melts" the decal a bit so it can better go around details. It WILL shrivell or scrunch up, this is normal, don't absolutely DON"T touch it till it lays back down normally, it will take some time, and may need a couple of coats to lay down right. And you may need to take a hobby knife and cut along panel lines or detail for the solution to get in there and lay down better.
In the end, just give it your best try. Any questions I'm on here daily.
Mine:
I was thinking the same thing, starting with Discovery and the Discovery version of Enterprise, then going from there.
I've been slowly starting to work out other kits to build, since I've found my family's old stock from our hobby shop. So I've got the TUC Enterprise, the first issue of the TNG Enterprise, the AMT 18 inch Enterprise and a few others to also choose from to work on!
The Enterprise A and the refit were my favorites growing up, I was basically raised on the movies and TNG since it was all my dad watched.
Hmmm... Sounds like you need to consider these then:
https://round2corp.com/product/pola...-wrath-of-khan-edition-11000-scale-model-kit/
https://round2corp.com/product/pola...-wrath-of-khan-edition-11000-scale-model-kit/
The Enterprise kit is right at 1 foot long (30.5 cm) and both are pretty dang accurate - plus, fairly easy to assemble.
https://round2corp.com/product/pola...-wrath-of-khan-edition-11000-scale-model-kit/
https://round2corp.com/product/pola...-wrath-of-khan-edition-11000-scale-model-kit/
The Enterprise kit is right at 1 foot long (30.5 cm) and both are pretty dang accurate - plus, fairly easy to assemble.
Almost the same with me! We had TOS reruns on one TV station, with the TOS movies coming out and then TNG episodes each week. My dad and mom watched TOS from the night it premiered, and were fans since that point. I was 7 when we went to see TMP in the theatre (yep, I'm old!) and the hobby shop we had always had to have the AMT Trek kits in stock, at least! My parents opened it in 1972, and when I was real little I do remember us having all the original AMT Trek kits stocked.
I think I recall Tom Sasser saying he had a LOT of back-and-forth with the Chinese factory over the 1/350 refit Enterprise, with them always looking for shortcuts that impacted accuracy.
I recall a conversation with a guy who designed airplane models for an American model company way back in the 80s. He wanted it crazy-detailed, so he designed a 25-piece cockpit with intricate detail. When they got the test shots back from China, the factory had combined parts and redesigned the cockpit to be five parts. That fit poorly.
Possible. Unless they modified the molds like they modified the molds for the Excellsior to the Enterprise B. The molds are solid chuncks of aluminum or steel that cost $100,000+ to cut, so doubt it went away, probably just stored somewhere, Near the Ark of the Covenant.. "Que Music!"
Those metal clips are fantastic to hold pieces of the ship together! I have one of those, and even though the only part of the ship that has electronics is the saucer, that assembly method could be used for anything (like Playmates did for their electronic TOS and TNG Enterprises!)
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