USS Thunderchild
Here is the USS Thunderchild, an Akira class starship that has appeared in Star Trek: First Contact, Deep Space Nine and even Voyager. The ship used in the shows is not a physical model, but rather a 3-D computer model. They will probably never make a model of it either, since you can do more with a computer model than you can with a physical model. Someone decided to make a model of it anyway. After all, it does look really cool.
This model was made by Starcraft Models, and you can get it at Federation Models. It is my far their most popular model. The version I have is pretty old, and I think they did a little retooling since then. The model is pretty expensive though. Resin models don't have the volume sales that normal models have, and the cost of making them is much higher. It's a good model though, so I wouldn't pass it up if you can afford it.
Problems with Resin
This model gave me some headaches. It was only 7 pieces and easy to build, but because it's made of resin you can paint it normally. I never worked with resin before, so I wasn't too sure how I should do it. I tried to use a primer I had, but it didn't bind to the model like I thought it would. I had to use oven cleaner to get the paint off and try again. I then repainted it and did the detailing by hand. It ended up turning out fairly well, but it took about 5 months too long for me to figure out what to do. I later learned that automotive primer works well for resin models, and you can find it in any automotive store.
The main color is dark ghost gray, and the details are slightly darker. The engines use a blue that I mixed up myself, and the phasers are euro gray I. A pretty simple paint scheme. The decals are just the stock ones that came with the model. It all turned out well for my skill at the time, so I'm happy with it.
This was one of the first models I added to the 1/1400 scale Star Trek models that I have. For me, it was a big step into resin models, and I enjoyed it. Now that I have been doing this much more, I could go back and re-paint it. I think a good paint job would really make this model look great.