This kit was offered by PNT Models as part of the Mini Mechas product line that also included the Avenger Class kit. The Indomitable Class kit was based on an old FASA design that appeared in the Ship Recognition Manuals, but a lot of additional details were added by Thomas Sasser and Kenneth “Cydonia” Darden (a member of the Starship Modeler community). The original design featured an Excelsior class primary hull, but the redesign utilized a Constitution class primary hull, which is more in-scale with the rest of the ship.

My copy of the kit was obtained from Eric “Lakespeed” Lakie at WonderFest 2008, when I was starting to build up my stockpile of 1:2500 scale kits. I have seen other examples of this kit from time to time, but they are rare. The kit was cast in two different resin colors that required a bit of cleanup due to flash. The parts didn’t have any bubbles or voids.

The only extra work needed was to straighten out the warp nacelles using some hot water, and a hot water to fix the nacelle pylons in place. The pylons are extremely thin, and even the minor weight of the nacelles causes them to flex downward a little bit. By tipping the edges upward to start, the weight of the nacelles makes them sag into almost the perfect position.

The only disappointment about the kit was the decals – they shattered when I tried to move them off the paper. I talked to Mr. Sasser about this issue at WonderFest 2009, and he indicated that he had been having the decals printed by a third party at that time. I did notice that the decals supplied with the kit seemed to be raised above the paper level, almost as if they were Braille dots. Either too much ink was sprayed by the printer, or they didn’t cure properly when they were printed. Another possibility was due to the age of the decals (10+ years old). I have used other PNT Models decal sets, and have never had this happen with any other set.

In any case, the decals became one with the trash bin in short order, and I completed the kit using spares from other 1:2500 scale kits. The decals came from a variety of other kits, including the Gizmotron Excelsior Class, and the generic Constitution Class detailing set.

The ship is marked as the USS Superior, which was the ship for Mr. Darden’s Star Trek Fan Club when he was in college. The Superior model was built as a commissioned piece by Mr. Sasser in 1:537 scale, the same scale as the AMT Refit Enterprise kit. As of the date of this review, the original Superior model is undergoing restoration work by Mr. Sasser, and will have revised details to make it look even better than it once did. A new navigational deflector is being fashioned, and new detailed markings are being printed and applied to the hull.

I airbrushed my Superior using my standard Tamiya White/Sky Grey mixture, detail painted with flat black and Model Master Intermediate Blue, and applied the decals over a coat of Future. A second coat of Future sealed the decals, and the final top coat was applied using Testor’s DullCote.

I’ve spoken to Mr. Sasser about a possible reissuing of the Indomitable Class model, but he didn’t know if that would happen or not. The other Mini Mechas kit, the PNT Models Avenger Class, is currently available through Federation Models, retailing for $20.00.

Port side - high
Stern view - high
Underside
Stern view - lower angle
Flyby - port side

The completed kit is about 5.5 inches long, 2.25 inches wide, and 1 inch high.

Review by: Rich "Lonewolf" Dula

Entry created: 05/31/09