Polar Lights 1/1000 USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Special Edition Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Some of us are old enough to have been captivated by the exploits of the crew of the starship Enterprise when they first aired Star Trek in the 1960s. The rest of you will have seen the any number of the syndicated re-runs that still air today. Those of us who are Star Trek fans will know that the original starship, NCC-1701, was subject to several engineering changes during its short television life. For the pilot episode, “The Cage”, the warp nacelles featured probes that extended from the front domes and the exhaust ports in the back were different as well.

In the second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, the front of the nacelles retained the probes, but more conventional exhausts were installed on the rear. During its run on the air, the probes were deleted from the front domes, and the rear of the nacelles acquired domes of their own. While there were other minor detail and marking differences, the starship Enterprise would become an unmistakable silhouette for all sci fi fans.

About nine years ago, Polar Lights began a new series of easy-to-build 1/1000 scale starships from the Star Trek universe starting with this original TV classic configuration. The kit was a quick-build and offered all three nacelle options so that you could replicate any or all of the original Enterprise configurations.

The kit is molded in white styrene and presented on six parts trees plus the upper and lower saucer halves, eight nacelle halves, and one tree of clear parts. For a look at this kit built-up, check out our build review from 2003 here.

In addition to the excellent parts options in this box, the kit also retains the outstanding decal sheet that provided a nice array of markings options as well:

• USS Enterprise – NCC-1701 – Pilot Episode 1
• USS Enterprise – NCC-1701 – Pilot Episode 2
• USS Enterprise – NCC-1701 – TV Series
• ISS Enterprise – ISS-1701 – Mirror Universe
• USS Constellation – NCC1017
• USS Exeter – NCC-1672
• USS Defiant – NCC-1764

The decal sheet includes the stenciling unique to each version as well.

By now you might have noticed the unique kit packaging - this is a special edition release from Polar Lights that comes in a lunch box metal container. For those of you who remember when Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings, you'll also remember the original lunch boxes from the 1960s and early 1970s that carried this artwork on its sides. The kit can be found without the collector's lunchbox container at a lower price, but this release brings back a lot of nostalgia for Trekkies all around the world.

My sincere thanks to Round 2 Models for this review sample!