This wonderful conversion kit for the Polar Lights 1/1000 scale NX-01 kit allows you to bridge the gap between the Enterprise era and the original series. It was rumored that if Enterprise had been renewed, the NX-01 would have undergone an extensive refit, and that is what this kit brings to life.

The kit consists of a secondary hull, neck, two pylons, nacelle inserts, deflector dish and three spikes (one for the deflector and one for each nacelle cap) as well as a number of decals for the new hull. The large deflector dish and the spikes for the nacelle caps bring the design in line with what was seen in the first pilot version of the Enterprise.

Each piece is beautifully molded with almost no flash at all. Clean-up was incredibly easy and the parts fit together extremely well. Some modification to the original kit is required for the new conversion, but nothing too daunting. The rear section that connects the two nacelles needs to be removed and filed smooth, along with a few bits on the outer nacelle pieces so the inserts will fit right and on the bottom on the ship where the new pylons will connect.

There are a number of Aztec decal sets available for this ship, including a wonderful one from JDecaLs that is specifically made for the refit conversion. This was the set I used and it turned out great over top of a base coat of steel paint, but I would recommend putting the decals on in sub-assemblies before final construction as it will make things a lot easier. I did not put any decals on until after the entire kit was together and it took some creative work to get a few of them to get on properly.

Overall, this is an excellent first conversion kit for anyone wanting to give that sort of thing a try. Everything fits as it should and the kit modifications are minimal enough that no one should have much trouble.

Review by: Chad Fopma

Entry created: January 18, 2012








Completed model by Chad Fopma