Yes, it has been released. I remember seeing where somebody had posted photos of their QMx Enterprise on Facebook recently.
Strange.
I just googled using your exact words and found several, many mentioning it's just a Polar Lights 1/350 model that you can get and build yourself for far less.
Doing it yourself with all the extras will still bring it in at under $1000.
$60-$90 for the model, $300+ for a full lighting kit, maybe another $100 for PE and resin upgrades, another $100 or so for paint if you don't use the decals that come with the kit.
As for do it yourself, yeah, I still need paint but I have the kit, a resin replacement shuttle bay, TrekModeler premium preassembled lighting kit with replacement base (Ships this week!), and I even picked up a 350 BOP and a 537 dry run AMT refit and I haven't gone over $500 yet.
So did QMX pay Polar Lights for permission and use of their model?
Now that is the question.
Strange.
I just googled using your exact words and found several, many mentioning it's just a Polar Lights 1/350 model that you can get and build yourself for far less.
Doing it yourself with all the extras will still bring it in at under $1000.
$60-$90 for the model, $300+ for a full lighting kit, maybe another $100 for PE and resin upgrades, another $100 or so for paint if you don't use the decals that come with the kit.
Why would they have to?
I can buy a model and Polar Lights gets paid for it. If I can't build it myself, I commission someone to do it for me. They charge me their fee to do it, but they are in no way 'hurting' Polar Light's business by doing so.
Sideshowcollectors had a thread going about someone who was going to buy one after comic con. It ends with a reference to the mega therpf thread, and its not the first one I've found that does that. I'm going to speculate that the modeling community might have hurt the chances of seeing one in the wild. I mean, after reading what for me was 5 threads about the QMx model, would you buy one, let alone own up to it? I doubt I would on this or any other hobby thread but then again I don't have a spare $5k in the bank-not that I'd buy one it in the first place. IMHO DIY gives you absolute control rather then limited but we'll have to see how mine turns out.
I like what they've done with the Enterprise D and Serenity, but in my opinion their refit really takes away from their originality as a custom design and build house.