Ben Robinson and his team used original CGI studio models for reference when available. As a veteran of Star Trek Fact Files, reference book author, and owner of a Star Trek production art archive, Robinson managed the magazines’ preparation and the selection, commissioning, and decoration of the starship miniatures. John Ainsworth, Hero Collector’s Development Manager, took over many of Robinson’s roles for the production of miniatures after the first 120 issues. The XL Enterprise-C is a significant improvement upon the smaller version from the regular Official Starships Collection, which was met by significant criticisms from fans for both its shape and detailing. Many of the XL-sized models are just sized-up versions of the original release (the most recent release in the line, the XL Runabout, suffers from being such), but it is clear with the Enterprise-C that many of the criticisms of the standard release were heard, and a number of corrections were made. UPDATE July 20, 2022: I have confirmed that Eaglemoss is definitely in administration and most of the staff have been laid off. The US Customer Service phone number is now disconnected. While the ship itself was never seen from the exterior view in “Azati Prime”— planned visual effects work for such a shot had to be scrapped for budgetary reasons — the ship has made its way into digital gaming in Star Trek Online and has been part of various Ships of the Line publications over the last fifteen years since the episode first aired. Painted, scaled, metallic polyresin starship dedication plaques are made available through company webshops and retail outlets, and were designed by Michael Okuda. In late 2018, the company indicated that a "few more" dedication plaques were being planned.

The seventh, eighth, and ninth volumes would have covered major races and ships from the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Quadrants. The August 2022 bankruptcy of Eaglemoss meant that only the seventh title saw an actual release. In addition to using archival material, new interviews with Star Trek cast members and production staff were conducted for the publication. Reference photos of studio models, production stills, and concept art reproductions were also extensively used.Eaglemoss management lost any and all control of the company the moment receivership was declared. The court-appointed Receiver is running what’s left of the company as it is liquidated. Regardless to what happens, my heart goes out to the entire partwork community, from my fellow customers to any affected Eaglemoss staff and the various partwork modding companies. Similar to the displayed models seen in the observation lounge of the USS Enterprise-E and commonly debuting as "Exclusives" for conventions, Limited Edition versions of a number of XL USS Enterprise models are also manufactured with 18-carat gold-plated exteriors and are available in limited quantities. The light aztecing across the length of the ship — more extensive than on the smaller release, extending all the way down the ship’s dorsal side — provides a sense of scale, and with many of Eaglemoss’ late 23rd century starships the combinations of light greys, blues, and reds combine together to really make the model come alive.

We can thank our friend Todd McWilliams from the My Partworks blog for his thorough work in uncovering this developing story here. PCT further confirmed the transaction does include the UK. When I asked which Eaglemoss partworks they acquired, Bernard said “All of them!”. I followed up asking if this also included the Eleanor and James Bond DB5 as they are manufactured by other factories, to which PCT replied “There will be soon official information and there are a few aspects that we cannot disclose at this moment. “ Again, the current PCT transaction covers Europe, but work is underway to serve the US customers as well. Eaglemoss owed Eligor a significant amount of money so it will take time to recover, but this is very good sign for Eleanor builders! TIP: Since the survey is presented via Google Forms, you will need a valid Google account to complete it. One survey submission per account.Ben Robinson had previously used live-action production CGI studio models to create illustrations for other licensed Star Trek print publications, in the process becoming, at least where the Star Trek franchise was concerned, a pioneer by doing so. He commissioned Rob Bonchune (and others) to render these models for use in the Star Trek Fact Files and its US magazine derivative. Robinson served as project manager, editor and writer of many issues of those publications (incidentally published by one of Eaglemoss Collections' two original constituent parts, GE Fabbri), foreshadowing his similar role at the Official Starships Collection. Based on public filings with the UK Companies House, Eaglemoss Limited and its parent company Eaglemoss Capital both appeared to be struggling financially and were saddled with millions in debt. They appear to have received a loan from Santander in April 2022, but now it seems they might have simply run out of money and needed creditor protection. And, if they owed money to the manufacturing companies in China, that may explain why it has been so hard for them (and us) to receive any parts lately. The above painting, by Probert, featured an Ambassador-class ship with an elliptical secondary hull and saucer, later streamlined into circular hull elements by Sternbach to facilitate the manufacturing process needed to build the final Enterprise-C model in the time allotted for the episode’s production. As is detailed above, XL Edition models of the USS Enterprise (as it appeared in Discovery), the USS Shenzhou, and the USS Discovery were also released in this collection, following their release as smaller models in the DIS partwork. A USS Discovery-A refit model is also planned for this line.

Meant to evolve the look of the NX-01 towards the two-section configuration of the classic Enterprise NCC-1701 seen in the Original Series, Drexler began to tease his work on this design to fans in early 2010, and finally debuted the finished redesign in the 2011 Ships of the Line annual Star Trek calendar. 2014’s revised Star Trek: Ships of the Line hardcover also features graphics depicting the NX-01’s extensive refit. The Collection was briefly seen in the 2018 " Star Trek" episode of the Netflix documentary series The Toys That Made Us, where it was characterized as an accurately reproduced product line from a latter-day company that is specifically aimed at adult collectors. It also opined that the line is not a toy line nor typical mass-market merchandise, as it caters to a very specific and relatively small niche in the collector market. The next big manufacturer is ELIGOR. Eligor is based in France, but their Chinese factory EHK is responsible for these kits:

The Enterprise NCC-1701: No Bloody A, B, C, or D

Overall, this is a really nice model, and while it may not add much to the original smaller version of the ship, the XL Enterprise-B it is a well constructed model that nicely contributes to rounding out the line of Enterprises on your display shelf. A number of "significant" starships from the Star Trek universe have also been produced in a larger size than the Standard, Bonus, and most Special Editions. Released as XL Editions, these models generally measure between eight-and-a-half and twelve inches long, and are available from company webshops and a variety of other retailers. If a starship model can be both skinny and fat at the same time, this is the one to do it: the Enterprise-J ship is barely an inch tall from base to the top of its spindly warp nacelles, but the heavy, all-metal saucer section measures seven inches in diameter, giving the ship an oddly wide appearance despite its thinness. Eaglemoss received licensing to release starships from Star Trek's alternate reality (officially known as the Kelvin Timeline since 2016) as Special Editions, alongside unique starships and space stations from Star Trek's prime reality.