AMT 1/2500 scale Star Trek Allies & Adversaries plastic model kit review

The AMT Star Trek 1/2500 scale Allies & Adversaries plastic model kit groups together some fan-favorite Trek ships, which is great if you love starships but are limited on space.

The ships can be built quickly, with most consisting of 10 parts or fewer and assembling like "snap-fit" models. Building the whole box of starships can easily fit into an evening or two or could make an excellent weekend project. The ships all built similarly, with top and bottom saucer halves and two-part nacelles. The only places I found that needed filler were where the saucer sections meet on the USS Reliant and USS Saratoga and where the central body parts of the Klingon battle cruiser fit together.

The decals were the main challenge of this kit. When placing them on the models, I could not find a way to get them to lay down smoothly. I knew trouble lay ahead when the saucer decal for the Saratoga wouldn’t go down. From there, I embarked upon a voyage, experimenting with every decal trick I knew to get them to lay flat, including Micro Set and Micro Sol, a hair dryer, Solvaset, and combinations of the three, which had no real impact.

The process that I found worked best was a high gloss coat brushed with Micro Sol. Then, I positioned the decal before applying another coat of Micro Sol. After a minute or two to let the solution soften the decal, I pressed the decal into the model with my thumbs for about a minute. To my dismay, I couldn't get this process to work on the large saucer section of the Saratoga.

The Klingon ships have few decals. I hand-painted the molded details on the K’t’inga. The Cardassian cruiser has enough details that paint alone seemed acceptable to make it look like the ship in the TV show. But the Reliant is too smooth and featureless to look "right" without the decals.

Even with the decal issues, I enjoyed the small ships. I didn't end up with show-quality results, but the ones I was able to get decals on look suitable from an arm's length away. Building and painting the AMT 1/2500 scale Star Trek Allies & Adversaries plastic model kit, I spent about 5-6 hours, and for the decals, I spent around 15-20 hours experimenting and trying to get them to lay smoothly on the surface. I don't know if the decals in my kit were just a bad batch, but I would only suggest this box set to more experienced modelers.