Hi, this is a model I´ve done a few months ago, but I´ve never made the textures. So now it is done. Hope you like it. It is not all canon as I´ve changed the deflector an some things from the textures. (mainly to adapt it to my limited texturing skills
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Pic:
D/l link.:
http://dynamic5.gamespy.com/~sfc/files/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=698And a lttle history from Star Trek Miranda.:
A science vessel, one of the many considered replacements for the aged Oberth-Class, the USS Zandura and her sister ship, the USS Jaeger were commissioned shortly before the Borg incursion of 2373. As such, both ships were part of the defense mounted at the Typhon Expanse.
Though the Jaeger was destroyed in that battle, the Zandura herself fared exceedingly well - so much so that these science vessels were refitting with ablative armor and upgraded weaponry during the Dominion War. Only a handful of these ships were lost during that long conflict, prompting Starfleet to increase the production upwards of 20 vessels per year, starting in 2377.
The Zandura Class began production at the same time the Akira Class did. And, as the Akira Class was to be the next full production Heavy Cruiser, the Zandura was to be the next Heavy Frigate. Its design was revolutionary at the time, and, still is a break from the traditional Starfleet design philosophy. Heavy shielded bulkheads are required to protect the crew from the intense radiation associated with the bussard collectors, which are built right into the hull. This method of bussard design was later incorporated into a similarly radical vessel, the Bradbury Class Heavy Cruiser.
The Zandura's four rapid-fire torpedo tubes replace the need for multiple weapons-pods her predecessor, the New Orleans Class, depended on. Big, powerful, and downright ugly, the Zandura Class has been in the midst of every major military action over the past three decades. Eighty were lost to the Dominion during the course of the War. To date, 177 Zandura Class frigates are deployed across the Federation, and six additional hulls are laid out each year, two at Utopia Planitia, two at Antares, and the remainder at several undisclosed yards.
During the late 2360's Starfleet became increasingly worried about the average age of the ships in the fleet. Although vessels such as the Miranda and Excelsior class were performing adequately as mid sized cruisers and destroyers, these designs dated back between 50 and 100 years and were lagging behind the latest technology despite frequent refits. Rapid expansion of the Federation was also putting a great strain on both the exploratory and defence capacities of Starfleet, and although the Nebula class was under development Starfleet was predicting that it would be unable to meet all of its commitments by 2365.
The Zandura design was fielded in the early 40s along with the Saber as part of a major fleet wide program of modernization. Essentially the Zandura's serve as smaller, faster counterpart to the cruiser class ships which would be deployed in large numbers to augment the more capable designs. The first of the class was launched in 2342, and series production began after a six month flight test program.
The Zandura introduced several innovations into Starfleet; at the same time as her sister Steamrunner, Akira, and Norway classes Her hull form was also rather unusual in appearance; the angular profile of the primary hull was claimed to be an inherently stronger shape than the traditional circular/elliptical shape, allowing a reduction in the thickness of the structural beams which decreased the overall vessel mass by some 12%. This made for greater acceleration at both impulse and warp. However, some flaws have surfaced in the design; Zandura class ships which engaged in extended periods of high warp speed found some cracking in the structural members of the primary hull. Several fixes were tried to correct this problem;
Starfleet finally found that a combination of a modified Structural Integrity Field system and slight changes to the Warp drive itself eliminated the harmonic vibrations which were causing the problem. Those vessels already damaged had to have some of their main hull support structure replaced, a task which set construction of the class back some time. Although the Zandura is highly capable in its capabilities to perform scientific and exploratory functions compared to a larger ship, its real difficulties lie in the diplomatic area. The Zandura is capable of holding only limited diplomatic venues. Despite this the Zandura's have proved their worth in diplomacy, helping to settle many matters in sparsely populated areas where Starfleets "big guns" rarely make an appearance.
Today the Zandura is beginning to take a more front seat as the Nebula class becomes older. Thirty six of the class were recently been rebuilt as border patrol craft. This involves a reduction in Shuttle craft Facilities by approximately 50% in favour of a larger load of photon torpedoes and a refit to the shield generators. Serving with the Typhon Sector Fleet, these ships were heavily involved with the Borg attack of 2373 where they suffered severe casualties. Zandura class ships served as scouts during the war with the Dominion. Over two hundred of these vessels are now in service, with no end in sight to the production line.
Topic: Zandura class available for d/l (Read 6187 times)