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The
starship commonly referred to as the Shelley Class is one of the
survivors of a major conflict with the Dominion. The name of the
vessel on screen is now known as the USS Curry, but I had
completed the kit bash long before that information was out. (I
had the model done two weeks after the episode aired.)
I was going to make it a 'brand new' ship, but decided it looked
cooler with a chunk of the saucer missing, so I got out the Dremel
and went to work. The difficult part was getting the decks into
the already assembled saucer. Tweezers and some twisting and
turning did the trick.
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The
model only uses the warp engines and pylons from the Reliant,
and the saucer, neck, and secondary hull of the Excelsior. The
shuttlebay was placed up front which, in profile, makes the ship
look more like a boat. The neck was placed in the middle of the
saucer, upside down (to match the angle I could see from the
screen cap I took.)
Long grooves were cut under the saucer that the Reliant pylons
were fit and glued into.
The navigational deflector was painted Flat White on the back
side and was painted with fluorescent Horizon Blue on the front.
It made an interesting effect.
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The
base coat was Model Master Light Gray. The blue hull paneling
was Mat Sky Blue mixed with a couple of drops of Flat Black.
Gloss Sky Blue was used for the warp engine grilles. Flat Gull
gray was used as the area around the bridge module.
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The
battle damage was done with a Dremel tool. The areas damaged on
the secondary hull were carved out with the Dremel, and thin
strips of evergreen plastic were placed in carefully to simulate
exposed decks along the sides.
Decals came from a Web Games set.
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The
sensor array at the bottom of the Excelsior saucer was chopped
out as the neck would be hiding it anyway. So the piece wouldn't
go to waste, it was placed under the saucer, in the area the
dorsal would connect to.
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The
name Earhart comes from the famous aviator Amelia Earhart (one
of Janeway's heroines) mysteriously lost in 1937. The NCC number
I gave is actually the registry number on her Lockheed Electra aircraft.
Coincidently, such a number is within the range of numbers
registered to vessels with Excelsior Class components.
The quote was taken from the tag line from Star Wars: The
Phantom Menace, which in turn, was paraphrased from an ancient
Chinese proverb.
An episode of TNG established that Deep Space Five was involved
in shipbuilding.
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Photos
by Stephen L.
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