Moebius Models 1/1000 USS Kelvin NCC-0514 - Star Trek Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

The USS Kelvin was an early Federation starship that encountered a huge Romulan vessel from the future. This event was the basis of the divergent timelines between the original group of Star Trek series (TOS, Next Generation, DS9, Voyager) and the 'reboot' movies that featured Chris Pine as Captain Kirk. The events of the TV series Enterprise preceded the destruction of the Kelvin. As the movie 'Star Trek' opens with the USS Kelvin's encounter with the Romulans, there is a flurry of action that leads to the destruction of the Kelvin, all before the opening credits of the movie.

Here is the latest Star Trek kit from Moebius Models, this time rendering the USS Kelvin in 1/1000 scale. You'll recall their first kit was the USS Franklin that appeared in Star Trek Beyond, the third (and final) movie in the rebooted Star Trek timeline. Like the Franklin, the Kelvin is molded in light gray styrene and presented on four parts trees, plus upper and lower saucer sections and display stand, and one tree of clear parts. If you look closely at the clear tree, you'll note that my example has a broken part in the upper left portion of the tree image which is an insert to the warp nacelle. Customer service at Moebius Models (Pegasus Hobbies) had a replacement part out to me within a few days. Thanks guys!.

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 the engine nacelle (lighting not included)
• Designed for lighting the engine nacelle (lighting not included)
• Designed for lighting the navigation deflector (lighting not included)
• Nice display stand included

The instructions are the usual full-color and high quality you expect from Moebius, and much to my surprise, there are instructions for rendering the Aztec patterns on the ship. There are some aftermarket masks to help with that process, or you can paint the Kelvin like the TOS Enterprise (no Aztec).

This kit also comes with two sets of decals, one with fresh markings of the Kelvin in service, the other set don't look different to my eye, but will provide a nice set of spares in case something happens to a decal from the first set..

At 1/1000 scale, the USS Kelvin is at the same scale as the Polar Lights' 1/1000 Star Trek kits.

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.

You can find this kit over at CultTVman's Hobby Shop (where I picked up my kit. Speaking of CultTVman, if you are thinking about attending Wonderfest this year, CultTVman is sponsoring Marta Kristen (Judy Robinson from the original Lost in Space) for this year's special guest).