Romulan Bird of Prey from

"Star Trek"  (NBC-TV 1966-69)

SCALE: 1/650

INITIAL RELEASE: 1975

MEDIUM: Polystyrene

RARITY: (3)

ABOUT THE DESIGN

ABOUT THE KIT

Because of severe budget limitations, very few alien spacecraft actually appeared over the three seasons of the original "Star Trek."  One of the first exceptions to this rule was the Romulan Bird-of-Prey, the centerpiece of the Season One episode "Balance of Terror."  Shaped like a boot heel equipped with Federation-style warp nacelles, the Bird-of-Prey -- so named because of the hawk-like design painted on the craft's underbelly -- boasted a cloaking device and a powerful plasma weapon.  The ship would appear in several subsequent episodes as well -- thanks to the magic of "stock shots."

Despite "Star Trek" having been off network television for years, AMT continued to pump out ST-related model kits throughout the 1970s -- and found a steady market for all of them.  Unfortunately, their pattern work wasn't quite up to their marketing acumen.  This kit, for example, became infamous for its inaccuracies, including the ball-shaped nacelle caps (The original caps were actually hemispherical), an oversized dorsal "tail,"  and the conspicuous absence of the all-important plasma weapon.

Unlike many other ST-TOS model kits, the Romulan Bird-of-Prey was not re-released after its original 1970s run.  It thus became a coveted collector's item, despite its poor design. 

This model -- built from an original issue -- was refurbished in July 2003.  Improvements included reworking of the nacelle end-caps to make them closer to the original, inclusion of the nose-mounted plasma weapon, and numerous custom decals.  The Bird-of-Prey and upper BOP decals are by JT Graphics.

Original Box Art