U.S.S. Enterprise NX-01

from "Star Trek: Enterprise" (2001-2005)

Scale: 1/850
Initial Release: 2003
Medium: Polystyrene
Kit Rarity: 3

About the Design

When UPN decided to produce a Star Trek "prequel," the designers at Paramount faced a difficult challenge: to design a first-generation starship that reflected the ethos of the original 1960's "U.S.S. Enterprise" yet still met 21st century television's significantly higher standards for realism and surface detailing.

Although purportedly based on the WWII-era twin-boom P-38 Lightning fighter, what chief designer Herman Zimmerman and his staff came up with reminded most fans of a variation on the TNG-era "Akira" -- so much so that the craft was often called (derisively) the "Akira-prise."  To the designers' credit, they retained the circular warp-engine design of the original Matt Jefferies craft and the "bare metal" exterior did suggest a unfinished prototype.

About the Kit

The NX-01 was the third Star Trek kit released by Japan's Bandai company in 2003.  Like its other Star Trek kits, this one was a "snap" kit that was pre-painted and came with an internal lighting kit.  (Personal note: This was the first lighted kit I actually got to work - See the last photo in the series.)

Requiring little creativity on the part of the builder, the NX-01 kit nonetheless made a great display piece.

This model was built from an original issue.