Romulan Bird of Prey

(TOS; Balance of Terror, The Deadly Years)

Pictures

• Studio model
  • Front quarter
  • Close-up of bow
  • Detail of plasma cannon & hull edge.
• Publicity photo

Interpretation

These pictures of the studio model reveal a number of shortcomings in the old Bird of Prey model kit from AMT. Most notable are that the model:

• has spheres rather than hemispheres on the nacelle leading ends
• lacks plasma cannon
• lacks angled rim around edge of hull
• vertical fin looks too thick
• dorsal blister stands too high off the hull
• "exhaust" cone at end of each nacelle is too short
• decal doesn't exactly match the bird of prey pattern on the keel
• no raised rings demarking the ?viewports?
• the aft keel have a curved area cut out of it

.

This enhanced image of that area shows shading (red arrowheads) where the hull surface is a concave V-shape or half-ellipse. The vestige of the tail shows additional 'bird of prey' marking.

 Robert Klaus has written an extensive article on reworking the Bird of Prey. It's posted here with his kind permission.