The Stargazer was Captain Picard’s first command. A 4-engined Constellation-class star cruiser, she was designed to go deep into unexplored territory, isolated from contact with the Federation for long periods of time.

The details of this ship’s history are not as interesting to me as the construction of this hideous resin kit. I found this kit about 13-14 years ago at a Star Trek convention. As a kid, I had no real idea about the differences between “good” and “bad” casting and that there could be a definitive difference in the construction of a kit if its parts were cast well. But that didn’t stop me when I was 9! For $20, I thought it was a steal—and the only way I’d ever get my hands on a Stargazer model kit. I slapped it together, painted it a bit and it hung for a long time gathering dust on my ceiling.

When it got knocked down about a decade later, I figured that A) it’s time to take my kits off the ceiling and B) maybe I could salvage this kit? THAT became a pretty embarrassing idea. The warp engines, upon inspection (hell, look at the pictures) were horribly cast and the saucer is pockmarked with resin drips, air holes, etc. Who knows who made this kit? (That’s rhetorical.) I didn’t either but I did later find out that it bore an uncanny size resemblance to the Franklin Mint’s pewter version of the Stargazer. Hmmmm…

Anyway, I started to clean off as much flash and bumps and fill as many air holes as I could. The warp struts were so unusable that I actually had to custom-build my own by sanding down and puttying up some lego pieces (which, by the way, are GREAT as a place to start for basic shapes when you're kitbashing) and adding some detail to them.

The rear, dual-impulse-engine deck was fixed up by smoothing all of the horrible resin detail off and adding some of my own from the spare parts bin. Painting the ship did a lot towards making the thing look better. Decals? Hah. I didn’t even bother. I don’t consider this a shining example of excellent work on a model kit; rather, I consider it a pretty good-looking weekend repair of an absolutely atrocious rip-off mold of Franklin Mints’ Stargazer. I mean, look at the thing! By the way, if anyone has any ideas on how to better it, shoot me an e-mail.

Image: Forward starboard quarter

Image: Portside

Image: Dorsal aft