DY-100 "Botany Bay" Sleeper Ship from "Star Trek" (1966-1969)

Scale: N/A
Initial Release: 1990s
Medium: Vacuform
Kit Rarity: 3

About the Design

The DY-100 sleeper ship "Botany Bay" appeared on "Star Trek's" classic first season episode "Space Seed," the episode that was the basis for the 1982 motion picture "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."  The ship was ostensibly a late 20th Century deep space vessel, one used by the eugenically enhanced dictator Khan Noonian Singh and his followers to flee earth at the end of WWIII for parts unknown.  Since the craft was powered by sub-light ion engines, crewmembers were required to spend their multi-year journeys in suspended animation.

The craft, designed by Star Trek's art director Matt Jefferies, was one of the few custom miniatures created for the budget-strapped Original Series.  The same model was subsequently used as the ill-fated "automated ore carrier" in the second season episode, "The Ultimate Computer."

About the Kit

This vacuform model of the DY-100 was produced by Sci-Fi Spaceship Miniatures in the early 1990s. (The company abruptly went out of business in 2002 when Paramount's lawyers slapped it with a Cease & Desist order.)

The model bears numerous inaccuracies compared to the original studio miniature. The most questionable "addition" is three exhaust nozzles at the rear, accoutrements that, while not on the original model, do manage to give the vehicle a visible means of propulsion.

This model was built from an original issue.