This is a design that will give me great pleasure to turn into a physical model. It has great lines and fits well into the S.T. universe. This variant is derived from an original design by Masao Okazaki at the Star Fleet Museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I have converted the illustration into line art, I can star to create the various components of the subassemblies. That means taking the color art and turning it into B&W art work for the proper size of the pattern. The logical choice for me is to start with the warp engines. At 1:144 scale, the master will be approximately 11″ in length.

What is nice about this design is that the engines are typical from left to right. That means one engine can be created for both L&R engines for the purposes of molding and casting.

I started with dividing the engine into three sections, the front ‘cone’, the mid section behind the cone and the rear section consisting of the straight body and tapered tip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The front ‘cone’ section of the engine will be the Bussard Collector, probably  clear cast for lighting.

Next is the primary hull or ‘saucer’ section. I decided to create the primary hull as a wall-thickness pattern. With all of the windows and formation/marker lights present in the design, a wall-thickness pattern will make it much easier for the customer to light this kit. Normally, I would machine a solid plate for this part of the hull, no wall thickness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The toughest part about creating a wall-thickness pattern for this design in the tapered wall. At approximately 12˚ angle, it was very difficult to lay-up the wall and maintain that angle! You can se the bosses in place to retain the walls once they are glued. Next is creating the top plate for the hull. It has to fit nice and snug to the lower hull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are some interesting shapes to this hull design. I created them by milling two identically shaped plates and then carving them for the top and bottom of the main hull or ‘saucer’ section. Although they are similar in appearance, it took a great amount of time to shape them to their compound curves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The upper hull shape in position.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The secondary hull is next to be created. The block is cut, drilled with locator holes and shaped. Slots for the engine pylons are milled in as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the pylons are made, I can test fit the engines. The slots for the pylons are milled at 10˚ so the pylons match the angle in the ship drawings. The slot s on the engine are also at 10˚ to keep the engines center line vertical. One engine pattern for L&R positions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving on……to the impulse deck and engine area.

I created a flat plate in the shape of the engine exhaust and attached it to the lower hull. This plate will give me the mounting point for the tapered end cap, which will be a separate piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before final shaping, I mill a pocket in the part for the recessed area and frame work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More shapes are added to the upper hull and scribed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All parts in position;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The deflector deck turned out to be a model in itself. Its a basic rectangle and a turning with some hand shaping needed. The deflector deck also has the front landing pad built into it. The basic block is milled to size and fitted to the hull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now it can be milled and drilled for the rest of the components.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The shaping finished, its time to add the parts to this section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View with the deflector dish in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pylons have had their panel lines added;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to the upper hull, its time to make permanent those hull bulldogs on either side of the central hull. The panel line have also been added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the unique designs about this ship design is its ability to land. I have seen some clever and complicated designs for folding foot pads and legs, I decided to go simple and classic. Keeping in m ind that the design is current with T.O.S. Star Trek, Mr. Jeffries would have used available tech. to create the landing legs designs. I used typical heavy aircraft wheel struts for my design. The tight quarters inside the hull did not leave much room for fancy pivoting and folding to landing gear. My design calls for the legs to fold up and down  vertically. Pictured below is my small concept mock-up of the legs folded in the retracted position for the port side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The legs deployed as designed for the kit;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bottom view of the doors in place;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An overview of the assembled pattern and the parts. Thanks for looking!