Not a modeller? Pay a pro. You’ll love the result

I recently commissioned a build of the AMT Enterprise kit from an experienced modeler — and I am thrilled with my new acquisition. It’s vintage and cool and executed with a lot of skill. It’s exactly what I wanted.

And it’s been a long time coming. Like most fans of around my age, I tried to build an AMT kit back in the day, but in addition to the poorly joined pieces and the glue everywhere, I had no idea how to paint the thing. I gave up.

Decades later, I found James Small at Small Art Works in Nova Scotia. He is an experienced professional who has also worked on movie models (for Battlefield Earth) and has been the go-to builder for Round 2, the company that manufactures models under the AMT and Polar Lights brands, among others. He’s constructed more than 100 kits for the company, including all the Star Trek, Star Wars, and Space: 1999 models since about 2009. His builds are used for the vendor’s product shots and his name is on the boxes. So, you know he’s good.

The age of assessment

This commission came about now because I am in what I call the assessment phase of my hobby. Collectors spend years acquiring, because there’s a lot of cool stuff we don’t yet own. Eventually, though, we step back, appreciate what we already possess, and begin to contemplate the gaps, the rare or expensive items that are not yet on our shelves.

An AMT Enterprise was one such gap, although the kit itself is neither rare nor expensive; the recent reissue of it can be yours for about C$60. What is rare, for me, is the skill required to create a really nice build.

If you don’t know the difference between Revell Contacta Clear and Tamiya Liquid Cement — and I do not — hire a pro like Jim. The results are great.

Which kit, and how accurate?

I had to decide which AMT Enterprise to build, and to understand that question we need a little history.

AMT made 10 different versions of the Enterprise over the decades since 1966, and that does not include special editions like the cutaway ship. Memory Alpha has a good summary chart of these products.

My goal was to finally own the model I couldn’t have as a kid, so I wanted a really old kit, right? No. They’re quite expensive but the real problem is that the nacelles eventually droop, as the point where the pylons connect to the secondary hull was too weak in the original kits.

The other issue is that older kits are less accurate, but that didn’t bother me. I own the Polar Lights 32-inch model so I have a ship that’s true to the TV show. My goal here was nostalgia.

That goal also ruled out the newest reissue from Round 2. The newer versions are closer to the real model, but that means they are less old-timey.

The option I chose was already on my shelf: an AMT kit dated 1983 on the box, although I think it was originally released in 1975. It wouldn’t suffer nacelle droop and was from around the time I tried to build one myself.

I mailed my kit off to Jim, and then the questions started, because there are a lot of ways to build these kits. For example, AMT added raised grid lines to the saucer on many of its versions, including mine. Some modellers painstakingly sanded these down. What did I want Jim to do? I opted to keep the lines, as teenage me would have done.

Did I want it painted white or light grey? Light grey. Did I want the front of the nacelles painted red, dark red, copper, or gold? Red with gold highlights. What about the flimsy stand that came with the model? Give me the flimsy stand for when I am feeling authentic but also make me a new one so my ship won’t fall over. (You see both in the photos below.)

And then there were the windows, a significant decision:

Do you prefer the window arrangement/decoration as shown on this model done “old school” (and as etched into the plastic) as the kit was originally?

Or a more “authentic” look, like this?

I agonized over this call, but I went with the old-school look, again to honour the idea that this was a model I might have built as a teen.

I love my AMT Enterprise, and I very much appreciate that Jim asked me all those questions and that there are still people out there with the knowledge and skill to build these things well. Pay a pro to build a model, if you can. The result will be gorgeous and you’ll be supporting a hobby and skillset that are, sadly, disappearing.

Here are photos of the model Jim built for me.