Star Trek: The Next Generation: USS Starship Enterprise NCC 1701-D

After what seems like the entire series of Deep Space 9's wait, Diamond Select have finally released their mighty 1701-D model. My first impression of the model was "holy poop, it's out?" but my second was "my, this is big..." to the degree that I don't think I have anywhere to put it at the moment. It's currently sat next to a very big P51-D model, perhaps to show the past and future of aviation, but mostly because it would take up my whole computer desk if I put it on there.

The model is more of a blue colour than they beigeish/ grey pictured on the website and the finish and detail looks to be better than any of the other models I've had from Diamond Select/ Art Asylum. After the compulsary 20 minute struggle with the battery compartment to turn the switch from "test" to "play", you can hear a series of Jean Luc Picard quotes with a couple of Enterprise noises thrown in for good measure. This seems a shame, as you'd expect it to mostly make ship noises and less time talking like a Shakespearean actor, although it is entirely possible they got the sound boards mixed up and they will soon release a talking Captain Picard model that makes a series of 'wooooooosh' and firing noises.

For me the real treat is the removable saucer sectionwhich is done with a strong magnet to attatch the two parts together. It actually works really well, although in reality I think the crew would be shaken to death if that's how they did it on the show. All in all I give it 5 stars since for £30 it's a bargain, as are all of the Diamond Select/ Art Asylum ships, but considering the extra size and detail on this one, you'd be a fool to pass it up.

i found this great value for money any star trek fan would not be dissapointed, good looking size and the lights do look the part.
the sounds are not too bad but the rest of the ship makes up for it.
it comes with stand for both the hull and saucer section.
one word of caution no blame on play.com the condition of the box at times have arrived damaged.

Wow! Need I say more? Well yes I do need to, the words "WOW", "Incredible", "Amazing" simply do not justify how Jaw Droppingly Good this ship truly is.

Before this my pride and joy on the shelf by my TV was the Enterprise E, after purchising this and the "All Good Things" varient, I may now have to hide E, it is unbelievably dwarfed this ship.

I found myself trying to look through one of the many hundreds of windows on the ship, thats how detailed this is, everything on the D screams perfection, the Borg would be proud to own something like this.

The nacelles light up beautifully along side the deflector dish, the bridge and few other area's on the ship, there are 8 different sounds and sayings, all from "The Next Generation" Series and voiced by Patrick Stewart.

There are numerous great features and qualities about this ship, my top 2 have to be the removable saucer, Which is held onto the ships body by highly powerful magnets, and connects electrically to the ship so it all lights up which is a fantastic feature, also when you remove the saucer the detachment noises are incredible.

My second favourite feature is a little concealed button on the back of the neck which, when pressed, lights up the whole ship and looks astounding in the dark, and can be turned off by pressing the switch again.

The ships comes with 2 stands, a big one and a little one, all with the TNG emblam, there are 3 holes to select from. You can use the biggest stand to keep the ship up displayed as a whole, or use the little one for the body and the biggest for the detached saucer. The ship also has little plugs to hide wholes not being used for the stands.

This really is magnificent, my Girlfriend who cannot bare star trek thinks they were well worth the money, easily a 10/10 rating, you would be a fool not to buy this, if you do purchase it, make sure you have plenty of space, this is massive!

All in all, it is Jaw Droppingly incredible!

It is a good model simply because i love tng however the paint work was not of great quality and on some tiny detailed bits i noticed the paint had come away. Also there are bit of the model which are not replicas of the model in the series such as on the drive section there is a huge section on this part that should have many windows but on the model they have all been missed out, i contacted diamond about this who have said it was an oversight on the shop floor and is being dealt with, However its not that comforting to people who have already brought the model and things like this should have been dealt with before leaving the company.

Although putting that aside once you turn the demo button to full and check out all the sounds taken from the tv show none of that matters anymore. This model is still a must have for any trek fan. Would have paid a bit extra if the quality was better and not so rushed.

i have bought all the art asylum enterprise models and I can say that this one is the most beautiful one yet, the best of the fleet. The modeling is fantastic, and the use of magnets to hold the saucer section was insperational. a must buy for any STAR TREK fan