For the last seven years, I've been learning how to scratch build. Had I known how difficult this would be, I never would have tried. I loved the Klingon battlecruiser from ST TMP, and I loved the idea of a gunboat tender. After spending 2 years making gunboats, I couldn't just stick them on a kit model, could I?
First, I had to reproduce a passible gunboat. This is my take on it:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/37/gunboatside.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/gunboatfront.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/20/gunboatrear.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/594/gunboatbottom.jpg/I intended to have them brissel with phasers, but the weapons just looked goofy, and figured that this was good enough.
According to SFB, a floatilla of gunboats included a leader and a scout, so first the scout:
This wasn't my first attempt at a sensor apparatus, the first one was too big and silly, so I came up with what I call "The Evil Eye." I'm going to repaint them all, after I give them a propper home.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/806/scoutside.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/10/scoutrear.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/855/scoutfront.jpg/Look Ma, No Gun!
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/560/scoutbottom.jpg/The leader wasn't too difficult. I tried to make the shuttlecraft look something like a helicopter.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/88/leaderside.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/23/leaderfront.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/12/leaderrear.jpg/The powerpack on the back of the ship was extended for an additional APR. I though about adding something for the transporter on the bottom, but nobody will see it, when it is docked to the tender.
The thing I loved most about AMT's K'tinga was the detail of the warp engines. They just looked like they needed lamps. Well, a D5 only produces 80% of the power, so I couldn't just borrow the engines from the larger ship. The engines from the TOS battlecruiser kit were the right size, so I had to rework one and make a mold. They still need some work.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/839/warp01.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/685/warp02.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/402/warp03.jpg/Just about everybody's impression of D5 includes a boom that is identical to the full sized battle cruiser. Since the war cruiser does not pack as much equipment, I decided it needed an original design. Of course, it had to be derivative.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/594/boom04.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/24/boom02.jpg/Yeah, that's a headlight, not a torpedo tube It's dark in outer space!
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/703/boom07.jpg/http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/24/boomhat.jpg/I think that it might need another lamp in here.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/221/boomwires.jpg/About the only other thing I have to show for you is the impulse engines. As they are the exactly same as the power units on the K'tinga, there really wasn't much to do but hack them out of the store-bought kit. Well, I am going to have to stick some lamps in them.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/824/impulse01.jpg/Hopefully, I'll have some more to show in a few weeks. Nothing happens quickly on this project.
Topic: Klingon D5p WIP (Read 4105 times)