Hi all, the kitbashing continues! This time, it is my version of a DS9 kitbash that apparently never appeared on screen, but that I've come to find strangely appealing.
Here's the ship:
And here's the article on it:
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/ds9tm.htm#3-nacelledAt the end of the Ex Astris Scientia article Bernd gives a link to a physical model builder's version of the ship who names it the Scorpio class, which I think is a better tag than "Trident". I have followed his lead on this, even if I disagree on almost everything else he says...lol
Clyde Fleet Shipyards
USS Scorpio NCC-21076
Scorpio-class light cruiserOriginal design:
Owner/Operator: United Federation of Planets/Starfleet.
Type: General purpose light cruiser
Availability: Limited. In service from 2315
Production Run: 30 ships, 2315-2321
StatisticsLength: 384.4m
Beam: 187m
Height: 73.6m
ArmamentPhasers: Ten (10) banks of paired Type-VII emitters giving 720 degree arc;
Torpedoes: N/A.
HistoryOriginally conceived of as a companion vessel to the Excelsior class to replace ageing Miranda and Constellation-class ships, this vessel turned out to be nowhere near as successful a class as those she attempted to supplant. First entering service in February 2315, this class reached 30 vessels before the production run was halted and never restarted.
With the successful introduction of the Apollo-class light frigate in 2303 to replace the ageing and underpowered Okinawa class, plans were made to replace the Miranda class in front line service with a more modern Generation C (Excelsior hullform) successor. It was decided to combine two highly successful design concepts to bring in an even more capable vessel. Utilising the saucer-and-nacelles combination of Miranda lineage with the extra thick saucer section from Constellation lineage, the 'Scorpio' design was born. The outer hull of two Generation C saucers were joined together, giving a massive increase to internal volume and 14 decks. The lower surface of the saucer, being convex instead of concave, allowed the cargo bays on Decks 11 & 12 to be more than just an afterthought with some real storage space.
The hull casings for the additional impulse engines first seen on the Federation flagship
Enterprise-B were re-used to house the ship’s two shuttlebays, each of which could carry four Galileo-class shuttles or two Chisu-class docking ring shuttles and occupied the rear of Decks 4 through 7, port and starboard.
The standard Excelsior saucer phaser complement of 10 banks of paired Type-VII emitters was fitted, but with the diminishing of the galactic threat level with the seclusion of the Romulans and the ongoing internal troubles of the Klingons, no provision was made for photon torpedoes, in much the same way the earlier Knox and Daran classes lacked heavy weaponry.
The warp nacelles were, in a reverse of the Miranda class layout, mounted above the saucer which allowed warp engineering to be located on the upper saucer surface, at the rear of Decks 3 & 4. Impulse engineering was located at the aft end of Decks 11 & 12.
A large modular equipment bay was situated between the warp nacelle pylons and impulse engines at the aft end of the saucer, which allowed for such payloads as enhanced sensor suites, scientific equipment, special quarters for non-carbon-bases life, or extended cargo capacity to be fitted.
This design performed solidly but was never as versatile as the Miranda class she was designed to replace. She was not much faster than the Miranda and, despite her modular equipment bay, her hull construction precluded the very modularity that still is the Miranda’s strong suite. Her lack of torpedo armament also precluded her use in the Cardassian and Tzenkethi Wars, even as the Miranda continued to do so. By the 2360s, most members of this class had been decommissioned and consigned to supply depots, or converted to tugs with the modular bay used to house powerful tractor beam equipment.
This class, as did so many others, got a new, if short, lease on life with the outbreak of the Dominion War. The few Scorpio-class vessels still in service and those that could be quickly reactivated from surplus depots were given hurried "war refits". Unable to keep Fleet speed during transits – being only marginally faster than an original Miranda class – this problem was overcome with the expansion of Impulse Engineering and the addition of an underslung third warp nacelle. While this did boost her speed to expected targets, it also increased her fuel consumption levels. It was decided that this was an acceptable trade-off, even though the ship’s previous sleek, streamlined look became rather ungainly and awkward. The modular equipment bay was occupied by a hurriedly designed and implemented torpedo launch system, and in battle, these ships were often employed as rear-guard ships, protecting major fleet wings from flanking attacks with a barrage of photon torpedoes. Many of these ships were lost during the war.
Since then, the shortage of Starfleet units for general purpose duty has caused these vessels to be retained and properly recommissioned into the Fleet, and several serve on to this day.
Dominion War Refit:
StatisticsLength: 384.4m
Beam: 187m
Height: 129.8m
ArmamentPhasers: Ten (10) banks of paired Type-VII emitters giving 720 degree arc;
Torpedoes: Four (4) rear DW-Mod photon torpedo tubes. Firing rate (per tube): 4 per second; Burst-fire: 16 simultaneously.
=====
Kitbasher: Scottish Andy
Minor Retexturing: Scottish Andy
Scale: Scottish Andy
Hardpoints & Damage Points: untouched
Models & Textures used: “Ajax”, “Ajax+”, “Leavenworth”, and “Hercules” Excelsior variants modelled by Fury of A Seraph based on originals by GAFY and pneumonic81.
Build time: 5 hours
Topic: USS Scorpio NCC-21076 - Completed! (Read 2645 times)