So while I wait to obtain some important information to continue my work day, I thought I'd share my experiences with assembling the Federation Fleet box.
First of all, every one of the models is metal. Even the dreadnought. I was a bit surprised by this, but after a customer came by to pick up his Klingon fleet, we compared notes. The Fed DN is a runt compared to the Klingon dreadnought! So I can deal with it being metal.
The thing to remember, when assembling these things, is that the tolerances are very exact. Very slight mold errors where the pieces join will require some trimming/shaping. But when they fit... they fit with very little wiggle in my experience. Parts are fairly easy to line up as a consequence. Where the secondary hull meets saucer section is usually has two or three nubs for alignment along with ridges to fit into the saucer panel lines. The nacelle struts fit extremely well and do not leave much room to break/move. Basically, putting these things together has been a lot easier than I expected.
The primary sticking point has been the base mount/adapter, as the holes on the model generally do not fit the mount peg. Do not assemble the model before fitting the adapter to it, as you will end up breaking off nacelles and saucers. Check the peg fit /before/ assembling. I learned this the hard way...
I only really have two gripes. The first is that with so many nacelles to file flash off of, my hand has cramped something awful because of the small size. The second is that that dish thing in the front is a real pain to clean up due to it's small size. My advice is to get some pliers.
First of all, every one of the models is metal. Even the dreadnought. I was a bit surprised by this, but after a customer came by to pick up his Klingon fleet, we compared notes. The Fed DN is a runt compared to the Klingon dreadnought! So I can deal with it being metal.
The thing to remember, when assembling these things, is that the tolerances are very exact. Very slight mold errors where the pieces join will require some trimming/shaping. But when they fit... they fit with very little wiggle in my experience. Parts are fairly easy to line up as a consequence. Where the secondary hull meets saucer section is usually has two or three nubs for alignment along with ridges to fit into the saucer panel lines. The nacelle struts fit extremely well and do not leave much room to break/move. Basically, putting these things together has been a lot easier than I expected.
The primary sticking point has been the base mount/adapter, as the holes on the model generally do not fit the mount peg. Do not assemble the model before fitting the adapter to it, as you will end up breaking off nacelles and saucers. Check the peg fit /before/ assembling. I learned this the hard way...
I only really have two gripes. The first is that with so many nacelles to file flash off of, my hand has cramped something awful because of the small size. The second is that that dish thing in the front is a real pain to clean up due to it's small size. My advice is to get some pliers.
