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Star Trek Model Kits: The Eagle (well maybe just a bird) Has Landed
We ordered a big batch of tooling to be moved from our Dyersville warehouse a couple months ago. We heard earlier this week that the factory had received the tooling and we were told to expect test shots from the tools soon. Well, the first one arrived today and low and behold, it was the Romulan Bird of Prey.
It had one little bit of flash on it but other than that, it was immaculate. She went together really well. A few parts could use some extra locator pins and the parts will be numbered. We’ll open the hole in the belly to accept the base. Once the plasma weapon and clear domes are added in place of the nacelle balls, she’ll be good to go. This is another case of it not being a super accurate Star Trek model kit but it is a nice representation of the subject.
Very nice! Looking forward to this kit!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE leave the original stand in the kit as well if you absolutely insist on including the awful, ugly new one (which, BTW, I absolutely HATE!!).
But at least if you leave the original stand on the sprues when making the kit we’ll be able to choose which stand we want.
Thanks for making this kit available again…haven’t had one since its original issue.
One more thought….are you guys planning on removing the nacelle balls from the mold????
NO!!!!!!!!!!! Just include the new parts along with the old original ones already in the mold if you HAVE to dicker with this kit. (Which seems to be an overriding passion of yours in this case.)
Again, I’m not looking for an accurate ST kit here….I want the kit I had as a kid, nacelle balls and all, inaccurate or not. Like the stand issue, if you include the new parts AND the old ones we modelers can choose how we’ll build the thing.
Just issue the kit as it is and throw in some new parts if you gotta, but I want the original AMT Romulan kit back.
Thanks!
*** Rather than punch a hole in that beautiful belly ***
Included two neodymium magnets. One glues on top of the stand, the other on the inside of the belly! Maybe give it a test at least? Filling that hole you punch smooth is gonna be a pain. The ship is the bird decal! I hope this idea works for everybody’s sake.
Checked the link , this is going to look great when it’s updated.
Would love to see it in 1/1000 but will get this one too.
I’ll try to have the belly left intact. Maybe we can handle it the way it was before. It has a hole that doesn’t punch all the way through. I hadn’t planned on leaving in the old stand. I’ll see about leaving it in. The old nacelle balls were always going to be included.
JamieH:
I agree with ModelMan……please remember that this kit has the beautiful BOP decal for the bottom, so PLEASE PLEASE think about NOT altering the mold to punch a hole in the bottom of the ship….and as for the original stand, one reason it looked like it did was so that you could put the decal on the kit and not have to poke a hole in that wonderful decal for a stand. ModelMan is right….if you punch a hole in the kit bottom it’ll be a pain in the A** to fill it in and use the decal. (And yes, I had the original kit in about 1976 or so and I never punched out the bottom hole to hang the kit on a string – that is what that funny looking little plug is on the sprue (there are two in the Klingon Ship kit as well) – and thereby ruin that so nice decal on the bottom.
Really – how hard is it to just leave the original stand in the kit? It just means not blocking off those feeder lines to that part of the mold – heck, the stand is already in the mold. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!! Just leave it in!
This is a sweet little model – please don’t go mucking around with it too much. Don’t ruin it! You folks at Round 2 are doing a wonderful job, and we trust you with the reissues of our beloved kits. Please don’t let us down by ruining this model!
Thanks for all your hard work, and listening to what we modelers want. It’s very much appreciated!
I checked my build from several years ago and I absolutely stand corrected, there is a hole in the hull.
Jamie, there has been no mention of the decal sheet. Will there be the additional decals included? Below is a reference picture. JTGraphics has supplied replacement decals for years.
http://www.twinlitworlds.com/modelwerx/graphics/kits/k053_rombop/images/rombop.026.jpg
PS. Thank you yet again for another long, lost model release! I look forward to getting the original stand, as well as the new parts.
Quick question, will the results from the Round 2 questionnaire be posted anywhere?
I have to agree. Would look better with the bird intact.
I think two of the small high power magnets,
one in the belly one in a flat topped stand would be good.
From the good news/ bad news department-
bad news- the change to make a hole in the bottom has already been done. We would have to pay to put it back. Sorry, I’ll never do something like that again. I honestly didn’t think it would be a huge deal for a good modeler to close it back up if he wanted to. The kit originally had a recessed hole in the back side of the part for a modeler to open it up to allow the modeler a clumsy way to hang it. I shoulda just left it like that.
good news- looks like we’ll keep the old base in the kit.
We are looking into adding JT’s additonal decals. We are limited by the existing sheet size but if we can squeeze them in, we will.
Of the subject. What’s the word on the Munster Koach and Drag-U-La Set?
train- I heard they arrived in our warehouse earlier today at long last. I think you’ll find them worth the wait. I had nothing to do with the project but I’m amazed at how great the whole package came together.
Thanks for the info. Please keep us informed of any updates on the other Star Trek kits in the works.
Ah well, Jamie. No, it’s definitely not a huge deal for any decent modeler. It’s just time and effort. I’m sure JTG’s decals will require an extra sheet you may not have planned for as well. Still, looking forward to adding another of these to my ceiling.
Hi guys. For those who want the hole plugged on the belly, it’s a ten minute job. Just mix up some “Bondo” (auto-body filler) swab a knifeload into it, let it harden and sand it down. Problem solved. Done in just minutes in two easy steps. 🙂
Due to the amount of heat generated during the cure phase, I would recommend staying away from bondo. The curing causes high levels of heat in a concentrated area and can warp styrene in a big big hurry. Cut yourself a plug from some sheet plastic, superglue it in place and fill the seams with gap filling super glue or some 3m body filler that comes premixed in the tube. A bit more tedious than bondo but it won’t warp.
Jamie- anything new about the Batmobile kit? Or are you planning to continue torturing us?
Bats- The snap car and the glue car are both done for all intents and purposes. We are waiting for photos to submit to the licensor. Once it is approved by the licensor, we’ll be showing them off. I want to wait for the licensor approval just so we can say what we are showing will be IT. We need to decide how we’ll release the mockup pics. It may be a website front page story rather than a blog post but I’ll be sure to point it out here when it is up there. We’ve still got some parts to complete for the deluxe version we’ll do later on but we want to complete them and tool them up now along with all of the other parts. We’ve had to take some pretty drastic steps with the figures that will accompany the snap kit to finally get them looking right. Most pics of the car I currently have have the figures in the car and I don’t want to show them any more than I have.
That’s good news Jamie thanks. If I may throw my two cents in here about the current poll…I would like to see a nice figure kit of Tom Baker as Doctor Who. Maybe with a nice real knit scarf! After that I would have to vote for a David Tennant Who. I think either of those (not to slight the other doctors) would sell very well thanks to the fanbase, but only if the likeness is truly there in the face. I would also throw in the Tardis and K9 as either one would take a minimum of plastic to produce compared to the doctor himself. By the way, I hope I am not violating any rules by placing this suggestion here.
“To the Batmobile!”
I agree that new upgade parts would be in order but the
old parts should be in there as well. Pretty safe to say
we are all a little sentimental at heart even if we all
have iphones.
fortress
Bats: The amount of Bondo used in this case would not generate anywhere near enough heat to be a problem. Works just fine. Been using it for decades and never had a problem.