A History of the AMT Enterprise Model by Jay Chladek part 3

Start with page 1
back to page 2

Long Box version 5, Kit #S951

This version of the long box kit has a slightly revised artwork, featuring the “Star Trek” logo moving from space background picture to the blue band on the left side of the box. The box art and instructions also featured an order form for a “Star Trek” jacket offer.

Some more changes were in store for the Enterprise kit, starting with this issue. The plastic for the ship remained essentially the same, complete with bulb mounts in the saucer for non-existent lights. But the stand design was changed to a three piece cradle stand, similar to what was eventually issued in the small box kit. Stability of the kit was probably a factor in the redesign, as a completed Enterprise model is very stable on the cradle stand without gluing, while the previous unlit model would be prone to falling off unless glued to the stand permanently. The secondary hull had its original stand hole deleted and a new hole added for the cradle stand, although there is still a hint of the original stand hole in the bottom of the secondary hull plastic.

The most significant change was in this model was to the decal sheet, as it marked the first appearance of the decal sheet which contained markings to do the entire fleet of Constitution class starships. This “fleet” sheet featured an inaccurate looking font and the artwork would remain in use with no major changes until the final small box kits were issued almost two decades later. One reason for this change was probably the publication of Franz Joseph’s Starfleet Technical Manual, which occurred at about the same time and included the names and NCC numbers for other Constitution class vessels, providing inspiration for modelers wanting to do more then just a model of the Enterprise.

This may be the final long box kit issue, but my example of this kit came with no box so this is just an assumption on my part. It could perhaps be a small box kit, but the parts in the kit support the evidence that this was probably a long box kit and will be noted as such until evidence proves otherwise. The final issue of this “long box” kit featured a couple more minor changes. The tab lock system for the warp pylons was finally deleted and replaced with stronger solid glue tabs on the warp engine pylons. A separate bulkhead piece was provided for the secondary hull and when positioned, would help align the warp pylon tabs and a stronger, straighter alignment for the warp nacelles. Pretty much everything else remained unchanged and the model still contained single piece bussard collectors, no balls on the rear endcaps and a shuttlecraft bay observation dome. This version of the kit also featured the special mail in “Star Trek” Jacket offer on the instructions and (presumably) on the box. Although this appears to be the final long box kit issued, some long box kits may have been issued in small boxes, although that is unclear. Since the small box kit parts trees were retooled so extensively in the small box model, John Green speculates that maybe it was done to help the parts fit into the small box better and probably no long box tooling made it in to the small boxes, but it would be interesting to see if that was indeed the case or not.

Small Box Version One, Kit # S951

In 1975 the kit was retooled into the small box version that most of us who got started building models after 1975 are familiar with. But, why change the kit at all? Car model designer Art Anderson provided some clues as to why this was done in a post on the rec.models.scale newsgroup. According to Art, who conversed with employees while he was doing some work at AMT in the mid 70s, the Enterprise kit was AMTs best selling model (non car subject anyway).

When AMT first tooled up the long box kit, they didn’t expect the show to last very long or to the kit to be as popular as it was, so they apparently machined most of the kit tooling in aluminum. Aluminum is lighter weight and a less expensive material to cast parts in, but it also has a shorter service life. When the syndication of Star Trek resulted in the skyrocketing popularity of the show, the older tooling couldn’t handle the increased demand for the kit, so AMT retooled the kit molds in steel. Another factor may have been fit problems, as the fit of the later long box kits were pretty bad, even by 1960s standards.

So why are there so many differences between the long and small box kits? I speculate that with Paramount not really caring much about the fate of the show at the time, the large studio model sitting in storage, then later sent to the Smithsonian Institution and the three foot model in personal possession of Gene Roddenberry, AMT probably didn’t have access to the resources and personnel for the retooling that they had during the first model’s design. Development time was probably also in short supply, as the demand for the kit remained high. Although the small box kit may not be as accurate in some areas as the long box kits, I personally consider the small box kit to be easier to build then the earlier models, even if it isn’t as accurate.

The first small box kits were molded in white plastic and still had the same bridge and sensor domes, molded in clear green plastic like the previous kit issues. Listed below are the small box kit changes. The easiest way to identify an early small box kit is that it has a small Paramount Pictures copyright located outside of the black stripe on the bottom of the box on the white border and AMTs original Troy, Michigan mailing address. Several minor changes have also been seen on the side panels of the box art, depending on what year they were issued and possible special offers (including another jacket offer), but these are too numerous to worth mentioning here.

Warp Engines

Detail wise, the warp engines didn’t change much, but they are clearly a different mold from the long box ones. The bussard collectors were retooled as two piece units with slightly incorrect features and balls were added to the rear endcaps, those found on the series version of the Enterprise. A slight taper was added to the warp engine cross section making the engines slightly more accurate then the long box ones in general shape.

Secondary Hull

The secondary hull was completely retooled to its current configuration. The warp engine attachment holes were completely changed and feature a stronger assembly overall, making it easier to deal with crooked pylon problems. But, the shuttle bay observation dome disappeared with the redesign.

The sensor dish and dish mount only just resemble the ones found on the studio model and are pretty inaccurate otherwise. The center pylon mounting to the saucer changed slightly and was designed to attach to a raised piece on the primary hull, while all previous kits had a flush saucer to pylon mounting.

Primary Hull

Except for some subtle changes, indicating that this is probably a newer tooling rather then a retool, the small box saucer is very similar to the long box version, grid and all. The B-C deck teardrop shape changed slightly and its cross section looks a little more boxy. The lower saucer featured a raised attachment point for the center pylon and the three dimples were now perfectly centered on the saucer. No mounting points for bulbs used in a lighting system are present at all on the small box saucer.

Decals and Stand

Decals to do the Constitution class fleet were provided in all small box issues. The stand provided is the now familiar three piece cradle stand, which has its advantages allowing the model be removed from the stand easily, yet remain on it without being glued and without risking tip over.

then comes page 4