Nebula Class Model Development

-Article and pictures by Stephen L.

These are some development photos of a Nebula Class identical in construction to my USS Prometheus NCC-71201, in addition to a few pictures of specific areas of mine to aid the modeler in construction techniques for kitbashing a Nebula Class from a Galaxy Class.

		This shows the area under the saucer where the connecting dorsal 'neck' was cut away from the model. A thin sheet of styrene was glued to the area so the hole wasn't prominent. The weapons pod was built in 9 layers of plastic. The sensor area (middle band of the pod) was built up from three 1mm thick styrene sheets. Small plastic pieces were glued to the outer edge for sensors. The middle layer was given the ribbed detail. (This was an early pod. The pod in the finished pics below uses Evergreen ribbed plastic for the detail layer.) The uppermost layer has cut-out holes so the ribbing can be revealed. The bottom of the pod below the sensor part is the same as the upper one.
		The warp pylon was cut from the remainder of the secondary hull. Styrene was cut in a 'U' shape to fill the void so the pylon could attach under the saucer. The forward-most edge had to be filed to round with the curve of the saucer for a better fit. Several of the indented window sets under the saucer had to be filled in with putty as they don't exist on the Nebula Class filming model. These window sets sown here are puttied, but not yet sanded flush with the hull.
		This picture shows hoe the pylon sits under the saucer, and also shows where the secondary hull is located under the pylon. A box-like adjoining structure need to be built on the upper aft end of the secondary hull so the upper weapons pod can be positioned.
		This is the second pod done with the Evergreen ribbed sheet. The divisions in the ribbing are strands of fiber-optics. Note that as the Nebula Class doesn't have saucer module impulse engines, the Galaxy Class impulse engine locations have been filled, sanded and painted.
		This picture shows off the connecting portion of the secondary hull to weapons pod. There are two parts to this structure: the first is the area connected to the secondary hull. This area is built upon the secondary hull itself and has a flat top. This structure is the same for both Nebula versions, the upper portion would be different for the USS Phoenix-style sensor pod. The upper neck was built as a four-sided box with forward-swept angles.
		This shows how the components all fit together. You can see where the  secondary hull meets up with the connecting dorsal area and the pylon is set in between.