Bandai 1/850
USS Voyager NCC-74656

Background

In the same timeframe of Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek The Next Generation, an Intrepid-class starship was launched and lost on its maiden voyage. Tasked to investigate a group of rebels attempting to destabilize the treaty with the Cardasians, the USS Voyager entered a spatial anomaly that trapped its crew clear across our galaxy in what is referred to as the Delta quadrant.

In this unexplored region of space, the writers and cast of the series took us on new adventures facing new and unusual situations each week. Thanks to some Hollywood magic, it didn't take Voyager the 75 years at maximum warp to get home. While Paramount has so far done nothing further with Voyager since its return (and series end) other than a cameo appearance in the latest Star Trek Borg Experience in Las Vegas, the show provided an outlet for the creative geniuses that wrote the episodes and for our continued appetite for life in the Star Trek universe.

The Kit

Bandai has just released the latest starship in its Star Trek line-up, the Intrepid-class USS Voyager NCC-74656. Just as with the various USS Enterprise kits that preceded this kit, the Bandai Voyager comes pre-painted and with internal lighting. While this series remains one of the most expensive snap-tite kits you can buy, assembly is just that easy and the results are absolutely beautiful. No paint, no glue, no fuss!

Assembly of this kit begins with the assembly of the warp engine nacelles. These units will pivot up and down just as depicted on the TV starship. The completed nacelles are fitted into the engineering hull, where the wiring for the engine lighting gets routed to the main junction.

The completed model sits atop the same stand as the other releases, which houses the batteries and power switch.

The primary hull gets an interesting array of light pipes and a new set of lights which employ and even more interesting array of lenses/facets. The wiring for these lights are also routed out of the saucer and into the engineering hull for connection to the main junction.

The engineering hull is the final stop where all of the wiring from the primary hull and engines get connected up with the main junction that also doubles as the mounting point for the kit to rest on the display stand.

In the final steps, you are given the option of displaying the starship with its landing gear up or down (as those of you who've watched the series have seen the Voyager occasionally land on the surface). As with the other starships in this series, you have the choice of displaying this model on a stand or not. If you opt to hang the kit up or display it on its landing gear, you'll do so without power to the internal lighting, but as with the other starships in this series, the bottom plate is removable to reveal the stand mount and power connections.

Conclusions

I've built the original Enterprise, the Enterprise E and the Enterprise NX-01. With each new release, Bandai improves the product with better light distribution and ease of assembly. I don't anticipate any problems with this release either and I'll be verifying that for you shortly! This kit is recommended!

I purchased this kit from HobbyLink Japan.