Star Trek Die-Cast Starships

by: Lufguy 2 years, 2 days, 6 hours, 50 minutes ago 6

Sean Huxter at Sci-Fi.com provides the facts and his thoughts.

Solid starships made out of solid metal seem so real that they won’t bring down the wrath of Khan

The starship Enterprise’s five-year mission—to explore strange new worlds and to seek out new life and new civilizations—was cut short in the third year of the late 1960s TV series Star Trek. Yet the canceled show has grown into the most successful TV science-fiction franchise ever—with an animated series, several live-action spinoffs that lasted far longer than the original, 10 films and countless books and other written fiction, the Star Trek franchise, revived by fan appreciation, is a powerhouse.

Its signature vehicles, ships that carry hundreds of people to the stars, have been produced for fans as models and toys for almost as long as the show has been on air. And while some have been less than stellar, some have been quite spectacular. Corgi, for 50 years a leading die-cast toy and model producer, has now released die-cast ships from the various Star Trek shows.

Its first two entries into the field of Trek fan merchandise are the ship that started it all, the Constitution Class U.S.S. Enterprise from the original series, and the Klingon Bird of Prey from the third motion picture, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

The ships are heavy for their size. They are made from a mix of die-cast metal and plastic, but the amount of metal is substantial. They come packaged in unique-looking clear plastic tubular packages with cardboard sections on either end. This allows for a full 3-D view of the ships in their packaging and really catches the eye on shelves.

Each ship comes with a display stand consisting of a black round base with the symbol of the Federation or the symbol of the Klingon Empire. These act as pedestals that plug into holes on the bottom of each ship for handsome display. Each pedestal is capped with a rubber cover that fits into the metal body of its ship.

Well detailed and well priced

Corgi’s U.S.S. Enterprise measures about 8 inches from nacelles to the forward saucer and about 3.5 inches across. Modeled mostly from die-cast metal, it is painted in a matte off-white with gray and flourescent orange highlights. The use of plastic is limited to the smaller pieces.

The body is decorated with all of the standard markings and titling as well as the indications of windows along the primary hull and along the neck connecting the saucer section, and around the bridge promontory. The bridge dome is painted in gloss white, as are the engine nacelle ends. The forward nacelle caps are painted in flourescent orange. The plastic copper-painted sensor dish sticks out but not in a way that appears delicate or is easily broken. The engine cowls are gray, and the famous number NCC-1701 and the name U.S.S. Enterprise appear in sharp black letters.

The Klingon Bird of Prey has a wingspan of about 5 inches and a length of more than 4 inches. It comes painted in two-tone dark ruddy green and brighter green with gray shoulder detailing and two-tone deep red detailing underneath the wings and around the bridge. The engine is painted in florescent orange. Klingon text and symbols are applied to the wing sections.

The Bird of Prey’s use of plastic parts is more extensive, including the highly detailed engines at the wingtips, much of the detailed engine section and the top section.

The upshot here is that the plastic holds more detail than the metal. The detailing along the neck and the bridge head is not as sharply defined as that on the upper engine section. The plastic also seems to hold the paint better, and this combination of plastic and metal combines heft with very nice detailing. The detailing on this ship is superior to that of the Enterprise, but that’s partly due to the fact that the Enterprise is a far simpler design, with almost no deck “aztecing"—the simulation of various different metal plates on the ship’s surface.

Both ships are quite nice and well worth the money. I’ve seen many models of each ship in various sizes and with varying amounts of detail, and dollar for dollar, these are certainly well priced for most collectors.

For their size and weight these ships are quite nice, and only the first wave in Corgi’s Star Trek franchise. Coming soon (if not already available) are Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Enterprise, the U.S.S. Voyager, the U.S.S. Defiant and the gorgeously designed Romulan Warbird. Some of these ships are also available unpainted with more elaborate light-up stands. —Sean