History of the AMT Refit Enterprise

 Been awhile, I haven't been doing much in the way of finishing kits, so instead I'll talk at some length about one of my favorite kits of all time, the 1/537th Refit Enterprise from AMT!

First off, I just want to say, this was actually my first Star Trek kit I ever attempted to put together (I got the Motion Picture version of it as a gift, yes, the original release!). Which was a big mistake because at the age I attempted this, I was in WAY over my head! 😅 The fit wasn't particularly great, the pylons required the patience of a saint to get them glued on straight, and I had neither the knowledge or the patience to get this thing together correctly! 😅😓💩 It wasn't until years later I would get some help in getting the pylons on, and ended up with a gruesome-looking model that just made me go "blech" whenever I looked at it. It went into storage and didn't come out for several years. 😩

The first kit may not have been the best, but it's highly sought after due to it's "smoothness". Known as the "smoothie" version of the 1/537 Refit Enterprise!

The saucer was missing the running light details as well as the phaser banks (represented on the primary hull only by rectangles). The dry-transfer label sheet had rectangular-looking labels for these as well, but the cannons weren't even represented on those.

The original box and kit layout of the AMT Refit Enterprise. Look at those smooth parts!

The main gripe I had with the TMP release was the lack of phaser details on the saucer, and the fact the kit included some horrid dry-transfer labels. These things were horrible to get onto the surface, and still tended to flake off. It wasn't until the STII release that AMT would include decals instead of the dry-transfer labels. Decals, while not perfect, have a way lower failure rate than rub-on labels. and if you misplace a decal on a model, way better chance of getting them moved to the correct location by simply re-wetting (usually you have to do this soon after initial placement... I have never gotten decals to work again after they dried in place...).

The saucer (in all subsequent releases) not only sees the panel line details for the first time, but the inclusion of the phaser detail as well as the running light details on both the saucer and nacelles was nice to see! Other changes included the light panels on the lower sensor dome (these were left out on  the TMP release due to the holes needed to be there for lighting) and thruster ports on the triangle shapes on the primary hull and on the outer edges of the rear of the nacelles.

Decals for the STII release. These would be used again for the STIII release.

Box art for the II and III releases of the kit. Note the lack of a subtitle on the release for III.

The sides of the boxes from the TMP, TWOK, TSFS, and TVH (1-4) releases. It uses the retouched photos of the studio model for painting guides.

I started putting together tons of these kits around the time the re-release of the kit for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home came out! What drew me back to the kit was the brighter box art (I had seen the box art for the previous two re-releases from TWOK and TSFS, they both looked bland as heck), so it was sort of a surprise when I opened the box and discovered a shload of panel lines all over the surface! Quite a difference from the "smoothness" of the original release! It also wasn't until many, many years later, I would learn that they did these panel lines for the re-release for the second movie! However, the version released for ST:IV came with not only the updated decals for the "A", but also a brand new display stand (the original was terrible, wobbly as heck and and I never got the original model to stay on it). Finally, a display stand that was not only sturdy, but held the model firmly! 👌

The box and layout of the Refit from AMT's Star Trek IV release. This wasn't the first release that had the panel lines, but was the first time I noticed them as I had never gotten the re-releases from II or III. The best part of this release was the new display stand, which replaced the wobbly one from the previous releases.

 While I enjoyed putting a bunch of these together, I also grew tired of my apparent inability to get anything painted properly. While I did paint the details on these kits, the overall hulls were simply just the white plastic. I did many versions of the refit; the original NCC-1701 (made by simply omitting the "A" from the decal sheets), the "A" from ST:IV (of course), and a lighted "A" that I would give to my dad for Christmas one year! I also made a variant called the USS Betelguese (that I painted light purple... don't ask! 😅). I also took the original Refit I made years earlier, smashed the saucer, spray painted most of it black, and made the self-destructed version of the ship from ST:III! These didn't look very good, mind you, but someone loved them enough to buy them off of me a couple years after I made them. I don't know if he still has them, but if not, it wouldn't be hard to understand why. 😅 It wasn't until the next re-release of the kit from ST:V The Final Frontier that I would finally build and paint what I thought was a really awesome model that I myself enjoyed! This next release also sported a mini version of the new shuttle seen in the film! 😍

The box and secondary hull parts for the refit Enterprise. Note the new shuttle parts next to the display stand parts. The clear parts in the pic above were not included in this release but were necessary for the next releases of the kit... more about that below. Also of note; part #5, the lower sensor dome, was relocated in the tooling to accommodate the area for where the shuttle parts were located. It was moved over by the nacelle parts.

The Star Trek V release of the kit saw totally new box art for the model (even the box for the ST:IV kit was still a retouched image of the one used from the first three releases), and was also the first time pics of the actual model were shown on the side of the box (previous releases would only show retouched photos of the studio model). While the shuttle is not in scale with the kit, it was a welcome addition and a fun little build. I bought several copies of this kit just so I could have multiple shuttles!

The ST:VI boxart was new yet again!

The saucer in this release was changed due to modifications AMT made to the mold for the release of the kit as the lights & sounds version of the Enterprise.

The kit included a runner of clear "bulb" parts to fill the bigger holes in the saucer and nacelles. These were necessary because the holes that were made in the kit were there to accommodate the "grain of wheat" sized bulbs and LEDs that were used as running lights in the lights & sounds version of the kit.

Right after AMT released the 25th anniversary lights and sounds edition of the Refit Enterprise, they re-released the kit yet again for the latest Star Trek movie, The Undiscovered Country. It pretty much had the same parts layout of the Star Trek V release, including the shuttlecraft that came with that kit, but also came with a clear runner of running light parts. There were 8 clear running light pieces that were needed for the bigger holes that were made by AMT when they modified the kit for the lights and sounds edition. Early bird versions of the kit even came with a promotional giveaway of the Enterprise D, a small two-piece plastic toy that I believe was a leftover promo item that the then defunct Galoob had stored away in a warehouse somewhere.

I bought the Star Trek VI kit with the firm intention of turning it into my ultimate version of the Refit Enterprise. Detailed as all heck and covered in multi-colored panels, full of lighting, and many battle-damaged details like what was seen in The Undiscovered Country! I still have plans to do pretty much both versions of the model I envision in this scale, but it might take me awhile. I actually hate lighting (well, maybe not hate it, but it seems I am a complete klutz when it comes to wiring... 😅), and painting is exceedingly difficult for some reason.

The Refit in the latest re-release from Round2!

Showing a close-up of the newest part!

The part installed! This enables the model to sit on Round2's included dome base!

Not much has changed from the last release (from 1991)

Round2 omits the base that came with the IV, V, and VI releases of the kit. The initial runs of this release omitted the shuttle engine covers. The error was noticed at the factory and subsequent runs now have them.

Check out the new decals! Wow!!! 💓💓💓

 If you want this kit, you're in luck! Round2 has finally re-released it! Now with an enhanced decal sheet, and a new part that makes it easier to sit the model on Round2's awesome dome stand, you really can't mess this one up! Even a klutz like me can churn out a really cool-looking model in no time with all of this stuff! 😱😍😎

Too much stuff for one post, I'm going to put the lights and sounds version in a separate post! Lots to cover there! 😁👍

~Sean Kneeland, aka ZAKUFORMER

P.S. I opened my latest purchase of the Round2 re-release of the refit, and it had the other two pieces of the shuttle in the kit! So, yes, they are including those parts now! Also, Round2 will send these to you if you purchased a kit that does not have them. Let them know you were missing parts 33 and 34 from your kit!

There are the missing shuttle parts! Parts 33 & 34, right below the "strongbacks" and to the left of the shuttle halves! Just be sure you don't discard the little tree when opening your baggies!