# Won't Someone Release a 1:350th TOS Enterprise?



## marc111 (Nov 10, 2005)

I and quite a few others would really like to see a 1:350th TOS Enterprise model.

Valderman had one in the works as a set of Kitbash parts. Then there was a rumor of the people that picked up the rights to the PL kits making one, but that turned out to be wishful thinking/missinfirmation.

Could someone please follow through and actually offer one. Please! Please!

Mark


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## John Duncan (Jan 27, 2001)

I don't remember hearing that they were NOT going to release one, just that might be 2010 before they do. I mean the guys who bought the rights.

There's plenty of cash orbiting around waiting for that kit.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I heard they were not.
At least it's not in PL's plans as of now.
Apparently the guy at Wonderfest was making stuff up just to get attention.


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## Edge (Sep 5, 2003)

If so, it seems their decision making process is no better than it was when the chose to do the Scorpion. 

Although a nice size Akira(-prise) will be an OK seller, a 1/350 classic kit is a no-brainer.

Edge


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## idman (Apr 11, 2004)

Vaderman made his decision to stop his project because of the mention of this possible kit coming out.. If anyone knows if this kit is coming for real or in the works it would of course Round 2 we'll just have to wait and see I guess


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## mikephys (Mar 16, 2005)

John P said:


> I heard they were not.
> At least it's not in PL's plans as of now.
> Apparently the guy at Wonderfest was making stuff up just to get attention.


That's sad to hear. A 1/350 TOS Enterprise is the dream kit of many on this board and elsewhere. If the 1/350 Refit did well, I suspect the TOS E would do just as well or better. Maybe Vaderman can be convinced to restart the process of putting his kit to market.


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## idman (Apr 11, 2004)

mikephys said:


> Maybe Vaderman can be convinced to restart the process of putting his kit to market.



If we all PM him enough to let him know that we are still interested.. He might


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

By the same token, if we email PL/R2 enough, we'll get one we can afford.


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## marc111 (Nov 10, 2005)

I would be happy to try either or both. I have long wanted this scale in a kit I could finish to my own preferences. (The primary reason I did not get an MR version together with price).

So whats the email for PL/R2?


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## idman (Apr 11, 2004)

Here is their web site http://www.round2corp.com/ their contact link is there


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## Capt. Krik (May 26, 2001)

idman said:


> Vaderman made his decision to stop his project because of the mention of this possible kit coming out.. If anyone knows if this kit is coming for real or in the works it would of course Round 2 we'll just have to wait and see I guess


I believe he also mentioned that he was told he would be slapped with a cease & desist order if he released his kit. I don't know who supplied him with that information.

I guess we'll have to wait and see what Round 2 has planned for the future. I think a lot will depend on how well the Akira sells.


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## Vaderman (Nov 2, 2002)

I think the truth lies somewhere in between. I am sure PL anticipates wanting to release a 1/350 TOS E in 2010, but that will depend on how well their sales are for the repops and the 1/1000 Akira.

My TOS E project is on hiatus...for now. I have the parts. They still need to be detailed and negative molds made. So it is not dead...just sleeping until it is clearer whether or not Round 2/PL will be releasing one.

For now, I have moved onto other projects that I hopefully will be releasing very soon such as the 1/350 Romulan BOP (Vacuform version of REL's), 1/350 Refit Dreadnought conversion, and 1/350 Constellation Class (Stargazer). And I hope to have a few more surprises.....we will see. 

Scott


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## Model Man (Oct 1, 2007)

Vader, 
I'm looking forward to that BoP! (Not to hijack the thread, but) Any hints on prelim delivery dates for any of the three kits mentioned? I gotta start saving up and need to have an idea how much and how soon I will need.


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## Vaderman (Nov 2, 2002)

Model Man said:


> Vader,
> I'm looking forward to that BoP! (Not to hijack the thread, but) Any hints on prelim delivery dates for any of the three kits mentioned? I gotta start saving up and need to have an idea how much and how soon I will need.


We are ready to pour the negative vacuform mold for the BOP. Once we get that done, we will be able to do a pull and then a build-up will be done. I am hoping within the next 1-2 months.

The dreadnought will follow up shortly after that. The Stargazer will take longer because we need to build a bigger table due to the size of the negative mold.

Scott


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## charonjr (Mar 27, 2000)

Vaderman:

You have always had my vote on this one. You still do. I'd rather not wait another 2 years, if I had my druthers.


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

idman said:


> Here is their web site http://www.round2corp.com/ their contact link is there


Well, I just sent mine.

*NEXT!*


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## charonjr (Mar 27, 2000)

Sent mine too.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

An I got a reply from them!
I take back what I said earlier! PL says they will definitely be doing a 1/350 TOS E in the 2010 time frame.


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

This should put folks' minds at ease...



> Hi Bob,
> 
> Thanks for your interest in our Star trek kits. The 1:350 Original Series Enterprise is planned for release sometime in 2010. It was one of the first possibilities for new Trek kits we discussed when we obtained the license and is the obvious follow-up to the 1:350 Enterprise refit. When we have a better sense of exactly when the kit will be released (and have features and details pinned down), we will have a more formal announcement in regards to the 1:350 TOS Enterprise, but understand that we need time to get this one right. We are currently in preliminary stages of planning and have a noted film industry professional (who is closely acquainted with the Star Trek franchise) assisting us. I hope we can make an official announcement next spring; please be patient with us as I prefer we get a few more details nailed down before we start talking about this in depth.
> 
> ...


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## OneAM (Jul 9, 2008)

Yahoo!


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## idman (Apr 11, 2004)

So let be written, So let it be done.. :woohoo:


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## spacecraft guy (Aug 16, 2003)

I'm thinking that 2010 is when the exclusivity clause in MR's licensing contract with Paramount regarding larger scale models of the TOS Enterprise expires.


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## Mr. Canoehead (Jun 12, 2006)

1/350 K'tinga?! Mabey they should just by REL's Masters


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

Consternation turns to lucidation... Oy, I'm ferklempt...


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Heh. Same email I got. 
I guess a lot of us are asking.


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## Opus Penguin (Apr 19, 2004)

Well, there is two on my list. The 1/350 E and the 1/350 K'Tinga.


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## mikephys (Mar 16, 2005)

Yippeeeeeeeeee!


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

This is very cool news for those of you that wanted this kit! I can't wait to see of the incredible build-ups you all will do. I doubt I'll ever get one, just because of storage space, but this is great news, nonetheless!


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## BlackbirdCD (Oct 31, 2003)

Mr. Canoehead said:


> 1/350 K'tinga?! Mabey they should just by REL's Masters


NO! Not unless the bridge section is corrected, please no!


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## marc111 (Nov 10, 2005)

The message from Round 2 is certainly good to hear. I hope they really follow through. I wish it could be sooner. I'll just have to try to be patient.

It is nice to see a company respond to email interest from its customers. Captain April got his email off faster than I could.

I suspect its is also threads like these that help convice the business types that the kit is viable. So thanks to all those who showed continued interest.

Mark


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

spacecraft guy said:


> I'm thinking that 2010 is when the exclusivity clause in MR's licensing contract with Paramount regarding larger scale models of the TOS Enterprise expires.


prefinished vs. kit and the vast difference in price point means the exclusivity issue doent apply here. they are 2 very different products with no conflict between them.


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## Edge (Sep 5, 2003)

Great news! I hope they re-release the Enterprise C kit, I have 2 E-E's on pre-order from CTVman.

Does anybody have any salt? I hate to eat crow, without salt!

Edge


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## flyingfrets (Oct 19, 2001)

I kinda figured that if R2 went to the trouble and expense of securing the Trek license, deciding whether to do a large scale TOS Enterprise or not was a no-brainer.

I mean c'mon, even hermits who've never seen Trek know what it is and what show it's from.

I consider myself a casual fan and I know for sure *I'll* buy at least 2. This kit will definitely sell...*BIG*.


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## spacecraft guy (Aug 16, 2003)

razorwyre1 said:


> prefinished vs. kit and the vast difference in price point means the exclusivity issue doent apply here. they are 2 very different products with no conflict between them.


I have to respectfully disagree here. I understand about product categories and price points, I'm sure that when a product category is licensed the size of the finished product in that category is specified, not having a similarly sized product in another product line competing with yours and exclusivity of these terms for a particular market is written into the contract. 

If I were producing a prefinished model, I would want the market to myself and do my best to make sure that the contract with Paramount had those terms in it. There are a lot of people who really wanted a large model of the TOS E who could build their own and given the prospect of waiting years (if ever) for a kit or having one on the shelf now, went with MR. 

There isn't a prefinished version of the Refit Enterprise - and with the amount of lighting that it takes to make it look realistic compared with the original, would be a natural choice to be offered as a prefinished model. With a Voodoo FX lighting kit and sound board the PL 1/350th kit produces a result that is the equivalent of prefinished model, and there were (and soon, are) plenty of them available. It's a lot easier to justify spending the $1200+ on a large scale prefinshed model when no other version of it in a similar scale is available. 

There are large scale prefinshed versions of the Millennium Falcon and Y-Wing and soon the X-Wing, there aren't large scale styrene kit counterparts -MR was the domestic licensor for larger scale models, EFX has it now. Lucasfilm didn't then and doesn't now have a domestic licensor for model kits. The market for high end model kits was and is there - a whole lot of people paid a premium price for the FM Falcon, which when built was smaller than the MPC/AMT/Ertl model. 

As I understand it, when a company wants to license a Star Wars product, they have to pay the per unit royalties for the entire production run in advance, I wouldn't produce a prefinished model if a lower cost alternative is available to the customers in your market. Kenner/Hasbro has been using the molds for their Millennium Falcon toy for the past 29 years - they altered the deco on each release and modified the tooling slightly in the last version and was released fairly recently, but the _size_ never changed. Now there is a new Hasbro _larger scaled _Millennium Falcon that is about $100 more expensive than its predecessor and didn't come out until after MR decided not to continue with the Star Wars license. I think that MR had an exclusivity clause that prevented it.


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

Legally, there is a big difference between a prebuilt model and an unassembled model kit.

It's these sort of legal niceties that forced Quantum Mechanix, in producing their more recent Serenity deck plans, to send them out unbound, with the plastic spiral spine included, so that customers can put it together themselves. Y'see, another company holds the license on all Firefly/Serenity related publishing, and sending those plans out fully bound would have violated that license, whereas sending it out in "kit" form was perfectly kosher.


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## spacecraft guy (Aug 16, 2003)

Captain April said:


> Legally, there is a big difference between a prebuilt model and an unassembled model kit.
> 
> It's these sort of legal niceties that forced Quantum Mechanix, in producing their more recent Serenity deck plans, to send them out unbound, with the plastic spiral spine included, so that customers can put it together themselves. Y'see, another company holds the license on all Firefly/Serenity related publishing, and sending those plans out fully bound would have violated that license, whereas sending it out in "kit" form was perfectly kosher.


That's interesting - I would have thought that the publisher who had the license would have grounds to have a C & D order issued just on the act of printing the plans alone. Guess having the plans bound or in a labeled box would demonstrate premeditated intent to defraud.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

I know it'll be a big-un But I will definatly make room for a 1/350 TOS Enterprise. :thumbsup:


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## Bay7 (Nov 8, 1999)

I was thinking. 

Making the saucer in one part would be cool but its a large mould.

Would it be a good idea to make the saucer in segments that assemble into a full saucer?

I was thinking that it would be easier to maintain the contours if they were perfected on a smaller segment and then duplicated?

I know it would create a mass of filling and sanding but "no pain, no gain", as they say!

It appeals to me as the cost of shipping a large model safely would drop down a bit too.

Mike


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

Um......no.

I don't mind puttying seams where there are supposed to be seams, but the royal pain the ass that is the 22" cutaway saucer is enough to tell me that duplicating that crime against model making on an even larger scale is a disaster just waiting to happen.


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## spacecraft guy (Aug 16, 2003)

Captain April said:


> Um......no.
> 
> I don't mind puttying seams where there are supposed to be seams, but the royal pain the ass that is the 22" cutaway saucer is enough to tell me that duplicating that crime against model making on an even larger scale is a disaster just waiting to happen.


Plus to stop the puttied seams from cracking due to any type of flexing when the saucer was handled during the building/finishing process, you would have to provide some sort of support structure inside the saucer. That would add weight to the saucer, which you want to avoid if you can.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Plus the 1/350 refit saucer is just fine, and it's a bit _bigger _then the TOS saucer would be. So what would be the point?


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## Modeler1964 (Aug 13, 2006)

John P said:


> Plus the 1/350 refit saucer is just fine, and it's a bit _bigger _then the TOS saucer would be. So what would be the point?


I agree with that John. There are plenty of folks here who have built the refit as is from the box with no support problems. I plan on doing mine the same way. I hope that a 1/350th TOS E will be as well engineered as their refit kit and offer the parts to build any of the 3 versions of the ship much like their 1/1000 kit.


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

John P said:


> Plus the 1/350 refit saucer is just fine, and it's a bit _bigger _then the TOS saucer would be. So what would be the point?


Maybe he's a Squadron or Testors shareholder?


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## Modeler1964 (Aug 13, 2006)

Captain April said:


> Maybe he's a Squadron or Testors shareholder?


:lol:

I use tenax on all of my builds. Its pretty hot and will "weld" parts together. If you can get it right, the styrene will roll up out of the seam and makes things easy to deal with.


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## Nova Designs (Oct 10, 2000)

Now if we can just get them to stop segmenting the saucer RIM! 


In any case I'm VERY excited to hear that they are planning to do this. 2010 is still a long way off, and anything can happen, especially in this horrid economy. But I'm going to try and remain positive until otherwise motivated. 

In that light... YEA!!!!


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## KUROK (Feb 2, 2004)

Great news about the PL TOS E kit!

In fact, I'll break into song (...to Rocky Top beat)

"Hobbytalk, you'll always be home sweet home to me!
Good ol', Hobbytalk. Hobbytalk, Tennessee!!!"


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## Bay7 (Nov 8, 1999)

sorry, I should have made my post clearer.

What i mean is, would it be better to make the saucer in segments for a RESIN G/K version - rather than have the high cost of making giant moulds and high shipping rates for a complete saucer?

Would it be easier to maintain the contours of the saucer on a small section of model and then duplicate it 4 - 6? times rather than have to work on perfecting and entire giant master? 

Thats wot I mean - not cut up a legit kits saucer into parts! (although, PL DID do that with that Forbbiden planet saucer - which was fairly large).

Mike


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## Vaderman (Nov 2, 2002)

Speaking from experience, it is best to do the top of the saucer and bottom saucer as two separate components. I still would not recommend it being a completely resin model. Large pieces like the saucer, engineering and nacelles would be vacuform styrene. 

When I was working on this as a GK project, you had two ways of doing it. You could make male bucks to vacuform over. While this worked, there is a lot of work to get the edges sharper, and if the part has details, you would not get it. The best way to vacuform is to use negative molds. This way the plastic is sucked into the mold and the surface detail would be on the outer part of the plastic and you get sharper edges. 

Like I said before, my 1/350 TOS E project is on hold indefinitely until we are positive what R2's accomplishes. I hope they do bring it out, but with the economy the way it is, who knows what that will mean for the modeling community.

Scott


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## Model Man (Oct 1, 2007)

Scott, 
Could you not release your work in parts as accuratizing kits? Certainly spare nacelles should be legit? I hope you have a TOS Dreadnought conversion in mind! I am in for one of those, that is certain!


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

spacecraft guy said:


> I have to respectfully disagree here. I understand about product categories and price points, I'm sure that when a product category is licensed the size of the finished product in that category is specified, not having a similarly sized product in another product line competing with yours and exclusivity of these terms for a particular market is written into the contract.


to quote mr spock "you proceed from a false assumption.."
case in point: MR makes a darth vader helmet from the original film molds, aimed at the collectors market, with a price of $900.00. rubies costume company makes a darth vader helmet from the original film molds, aimed at the halloween costume market, with a price of $125.00. looking at the 2 products from the outside, they are identical (except for the stand included with the MR version). both were available for sale at the same time. there may be a difference in the type of plastic used, i dont know because i have never examined a MR version closely, but thats really irrelevant to our issue. I have also seen competeing licensed products produced by 2 different companies aimed at the same market where the only difference was price point (but that difference was huge.. like 500% or more).
so im sorry but youre dead wrong about this one.


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## Vaderman (Nov 2, 2002)

Model Man said:


> Scott,
> Could you not release your work in parts as accuratizing kits? Certainly spare nacelles should be legit? I hope you have a TOS Dreadnought conversion in mind! I am in for one of those, that is certain!


We will see. The Dreagnought really is an entirely different ship. Except for the nacelles, the parts a really different. Mayber a Surya conversion is a better bet.

Scott


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## Vaderman (Nov 2, 2002)

razorwyre1 said:


> to quote mr spock "you proceed from a false assumption.."
> case in point: MR makes a darth vader helmet from the original film molds, aimed at the collectors market, with a price of $900.00. rubies costume company makes a darth vader helmet from the original film molds, aimed at the halloween costume market, with a price of $125.00. looking at the 2 products from the outside, they are identical (except for the stand included with the MR version). both were available for sale at the same time. there may be a difference in the type of plastic used, i dont know because i have never examined a MR version closely, but thats really irrelevant to our issue. I have also seen competeing licensed products produced by 2 different companies aimed at the same market where the only difference was price point (but that difference was huge.. like 500% or more).
> so im sorry but youre dead wrong about this one.


I agree that typically the cheaper product could be the same sizes and aimed at a different market, but those products typically are of a vast differece in details. The Rubies Darth Vader which is essenially a modified version of the Don Post Classic Action helmet released several years earlier has a lot of detail issues. the eye sockets and mouth grill are incorrect as compared to the MR helmet. The markets targeted are typically prop collectors and model kit builders. Many model kit builders will buy a kit and do the detailing themselves while those who can not model =, elect to buy the more expensive finished prop.

Scott


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## WarpCore Breach (Apr 27, 2005)

Vaderman said:


> We will see. The Dreagnought really is an entirely different ship. Except for the nacelles, the parts a really different. Mayber a Surya conversion is a better bet.
> 
> Scott



Scott, you're right that only the nacelles are the same, but no love at all for the Dreadnought???  I'd go for one of those... more so than a _Surya_... but the DN would be another liscence issue - the FJ estate still retains copyright over their Tech Manual ship designs.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I like the Coventry better than the Surya.


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## Captain April (May 1, 2004)

Maybe the GK version could be useful as a starting point for a Phase II kit, or conversion parts for mixing and matching the TOS and Refit into a Phase II. 

Along those lines, if the money is there, I plan on getting a few of the PL/R2/whatever the hell they're calling themselves kits. One to build as a straight production version, one to convert into a Phase II (with another PL Refit), and one to build a larger, uglier version of my venerable USS Eldridge.


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## Captain America (Sep 9, 2002)

Guys,

Will the Gray Lady's super clean design hold up well to the 350th scale size? I mean, the Refit had PLENTY surface detail to begin with, so it works WELL in 1/350th, but the Connie is, I don't know...just TOO clean...TOO smooth... 

Are they going to scribe deflector grids into the parts to liven it up or what?

Be well.

Greg


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## Steve Mavronis (Oct 14, 2001)

The real 11 footer is pretty impressive up close. I guess they could finely ingrave (better than raised lines) the panels and maybe window openings as long as they aren't distorted. I think on the real TV model the panel lines were drawn on with pencil. Don't forget there are tiny decal markings too along the hull.


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## genty (Mar 25, 2005)

Personally I think it holds up to 1/350 scale. I have the MR Enterprise and it is easily the highlight of my collection.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Captain April said:


> This should put folks' minds at ease...



Great to see they're aware of the interest in the 1/350 K'Tinga. That's the Trek kit I'd like to see most!


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