Moebius Models 1/350 USS Franklin NX-326 - Star Trek Beyond Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

The USS Franklin NX-326 was portrayed in the film 'Star Trek Beyond' as the first Earth ship capable of Warp 4. For hard-core Star Trek fans, this conflicts with the original Star Trek timeline as the USS Enterprise NX-01 was equipped with a Warp 5 engine that was initially speed-limited to Warp 4.5. The series 'Enterprise' featuring NX-01 covered the years 2151 through 2155. Since the timeline between the 'original Star Trek' series and movies split in 2255 with the encounter of the Romulan mining vessel with USS Kelvin, the disconnect between the NX-01 versus NX-326 will be a continuity glitch of the otherwise excellent reboot of the Star Trek movie franchise.

Moebius Models had announced that they were producing kits from the reboot Star Trek movie series. This is the first of that effort, the USS Franklin from the third movie in the new series, Star Trek Beyond. They have also announced the USS Kelvin in 1/1000 scale and Spock's timeship, both from the original Star Trek reboot film.

This kit is molded in light gray styrene and presented on eight parts trees plus the upper hull and display stand, plus a tree of clear parts. The detailing in the parts reveal a great deal of research into the original designs that were not readily seen in the film. Among the features and options:

• Easy assembly
• Designed for interior hull lighting (lighting not included)
• Designed for lighting engine domes (lighting not included)
• Nice display stand included

ParaGrafix has released a photo-etched detail set which provides alternative name plates/registry numbers for the model if you don't want to do the Franklin as well as an interesting insert for the bridge which mounts behind the forward bridge viewscreen and easily visible after assembly.

This kit also comes with two sets of decals, one with fresh markings of the Franklin in service, the other are faded markings depicting the Franklin's time atop that mountain.

At 1/350 scale, the USS Franklin is at the same scale as the Polar Lights' 1/350 USS Enterprise kits (NX-01, NCC-1701, and NCC-1701 refit).

Moebius Models continues to produce an outstanding array of science fiction subjects from Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Lost in Space (TV), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Batman, and much more. In fact, they've announced a kit of the EVA pod from 2001 in 1/8 scale due out later this year. Open the pod bay doors, HAL...

You can find this kit and the ParaGrafix set over at CultTVman's Hobby Shop (I picked up mine from them at Wonderfest 2018).