A History of the AMT Enteprise Model by Jay Chladek part 2

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Long Box version 2, Kit # S951-250

For the most part, this kit is the same as the first, except for the addition of warp engine lights and new box art. The box art was changed from the artwork of the Enterprise against a space backdrop to a picture of the built-up Enterprise kit orbiting the Earth with the moon in the background. This basic artwork would remain in use with very few changes on subsequent long and small box issues until the last version of the kit was issued.

Those who have small box kits may wonder why some of the details pictured didn’t match what was in the kit and this is due to the artwork’s long box origins. If you look close at the box art, long box features, such as the split in the secondary hull for the batteries (and split in the starfleet logo decal as well), shuttle bay observation dome, more accurate decals and the more accurate looking sensor dish and mount are visible.

Plastic-wise, the kit itself was essentially identical to the S921 issue, but now it included lights for the warp engine bussard collectors and clear orange casted engine domes for the warp lights. Two plastic discs were also provided to mount the light bulbs behind the orange domes. Otherwise the kits are essentially the same.

The example of the long box kit that I have features a white and pink stand, while the instructions state that the stand in this kit should be clear. Apparently AMT used up their clear stands early on and then started issuing their stands in white plastic, but not all of them were white and some of them did get issued in strange colors, like the pink stand in my kit. According to some modelers, there was a period when some AMT Star Trek kits, such as the Klingon cruiser, were molded in whatever plastic color was available, so it wasn’t uncommon to see pink, green, blue and white molded versions of the same subject. As far as is known except for kit issues from Aurora and a silver casted unlit long box Enterprise kit that John Green encountered recently, the Enterprise was molded in either creamy white or solid white until about 1979 when AMT became Lesney AMT.

Long Box version 3, Kit # S951

The last three digits on the kit number were the price code for the kit. Starting with this issue, the price code was no longer used, leaving just the S951 number. This kit is almost identical to the previous one, except the lights for the nacelles were deleted. The primary hull lights remained though, making it essentially like the first long box model, but with the newer box art. There are apparently two versions of this kit since AMT supposedly wanted to run through their remaining supply of clear orange bussard collector pieces before going back to the white ones, similar to what the first long box kit had, even though there were no lights in the warp engines. Why this change was made is unclear, but it may have had something to do with the flimsy nature of the warp pylons on the early long box kits and the further complication of threading wiring through the tabs. What is not for certain is whether the white bussard collectors offered in this issue were the same mold as the ones for the first S921 issue or a different mold again, as the white bussard collectors in my possession are a different mold from the orange bussard collectors.

Long Box version 4, Kit # S951

Again the art remained pretty much the same as in previous issues with some minor changes to the side panels.

Changes began appearing in the Enterprise tooling when this particular version of the kit was issued as there were some significant changes in the plastic. The kit was still molded in white plastic, with clear green parts for the bridge and sensor domes. But, the lighting system was deleted completely, except for some remaining bulb mounts in the saucer. The warp engines remained the same as the previous issues and still used the tab lock system for attaching the warp pylons.

The deletion of the lighting system meant that a redesign was in store for the secondary hull assembly, but it still generally used the same tooling as the lighted kit, although tabs which held the batteries were completely deleted. The assembly was now designed to be completely glued together and lacked the snap apart feature of the previous kits. The main sensor dish and mount were a completely different tooling and didn’t rotate like a flashlight switch, as there were no longer any lights in the kit. The new dish and mount were not as well casted, but they were still more accurate then those found in the small box models. The shuttle observation dome was still present in this kit issue. There may be examples of the first unlighted kits still containing all the plastic parts from the previous issues for a lighted kit, but no bulbs or metal battery tabs as AMT has shown evidence of wanting to use up their stock of older parts before phasing in newer ones.

The stand is one feature that makes this model unique as it apparently uses the stand that was designed for AMT’s Lief Ericson Galactic Cruiser kit. The Lief Ericson was AMTs attempt to cash in on the space modeling craze by offering an original design spaceship model which would eventually (hopefully) become part of a series of original spacecraft models. Unfortunately, sales were not what AMT had hoped for and the Lief Ericson itself was discontinued, yet the kit would reappear as a “Mystery UFO” kit molded in glow in the dark plastic. The Lief Ericson included a lighting system similar to the Enterprise model, yet the batteries and switch were contained in the stand base with the wires for the lights being threaded up through the bottom of the model. The stand was similar to the design used by the Enterprise model, so AMT apparently decided to use up the stands in the Enterprise kits. It is also possible that AMT may have considered offering this version of the Enterprise with lights, as batteries and a switch could be contained in this stand and the wires for the bulbs could have been threaded up through a hole in the secondary hull without much trouble. It is not entirely clear as to if any long box version 4 kits were offered with lights, but this is doubtful.

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