Space, the final frontier…..these are the voyages… Whoops, digressing already. To most people, these words are very familiar as they are the opening of the original Star Trek TV show. Polar Lights has come out with a nice snap together kit of the original USS Enterprise. The kit is loaded with options and is targeted for both kids and the causal builder. There are over 50 pieces made from clear and white styrene along with a very comprehensive decals sheet and stickers. You can make four versions of the Enterprise from the kit. First, the ship as was seen in most 78 episodes of the series. Second, the first pilot version, third, the second pilot version and lastly Mirror Universe show. The main differences are the nacelles and the decals. There are three separate sets of warp nacelles to get this done and the instructions are very clear on what goes where for each version. The difference between the second pilot version and the Mirror Universe is decals.

All right, a new Star Wars kit. AMT has finally released the Corporate Alliance Droid from the Revenge of the Sith©. This kit features 37 parts molded in light gray plastic and instructions. There are no decals or painting instructions provided with this kit, even though the instructions call out 11 different colors of paint.

The molding is fairly sharp with some ejector pin marks and mold separation lines. One part has the Lucasfilm copyright marking right were it will be seen, rather than on the inside of a part. The tracks are molded in one piece with separation lines down the middle and mold stubs all over the inside that will require some careful cutting to remove.

Overall this is a welcome kit from the Star Wars universe and with a little research on painting should make up into a very nice model.

© 2005 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved.

The IPMS Reviewer Corps was recently contacted by the folks from TSDS Incorporated, asking if we would be interested in reviewing some of their products. The company is producing interiors, decals, and lighting sets for the Jupiter 2, Space Pod, and Chariot from "Lost in Space" that are produced by Moebius, as well as decals for the "Land of the Giants" Spindrift kit. Decal/detail sheets are available for the Aurora/Monogram "Invaders UFO" kit and the Moebius "Invisible Man" and "Seaview" kits, and four different Flying Sub interior items are made for the Moebius 1/128 and 1/32 scale kits. If you are a fan of this particular genre, I would recommend checking out their web site to see what all is available, as well as their pricing.

Is there anybody on earth that hasn't heard of Star Wars? Released in 1977, the George Lucas film changed the genre of Sci-Fi forever. One of the biggest stars of the show was the Incom Corporation T-65 X-Wing Space Superiority Fighter, or just X-Wing for short. When flown by the infamous Red Squadron, the X-Wing was able to fight its way to the Death Star and "then maneuver straight down this trench" and launch a proton torpedo and destroy the Death Star. This specific movie event solidified the X-Wing's place in history, or at least in the mind of this young 15 year old boy.

Well now, AMT finally gets the 'Star Wars Revenge of the Sith©' models to the store shelves just in time for Christmas and after the movie is on DVD for your reference. So what go you get with this new release? You get 56 parts nicely molded in light gray plastic, 2 clear parts, 2 metal bars, decals and instructions. The parts are bagged and the clear parts are double bagged in bubble wrap.

What you don't get is any painting or decal placement information in the instructions, even though the instructions do list 11 different paint color call outs. The other thing that you don't get is any information on this kit, for example, in two different places (one for the cockpit and the other for the moveable wing panels) you are given optional part selection without any information about which Eta-2 Jedi Starfighter had which options, so you had better take good notes when you are watching the movie.