Model Specifications:
Scale = 1/1400
Length = 46.1 cm
Width = 34 cm
Height = 10.7 cm
The
U.S.S. Challenger is a Galaxy Class starship that I conjecture was
involved in the Federation's war with the Dominion. The concept
is that it was heavily damaged in battle, and the Challenger is
currently in the midst of its overhaul.
The U.S.S.
Challenger made an appearance on Star Trek Voyager in
"Timeless", with Captain Geordi LaForge in command.
The hull number indicates the ship was around since at least
2357.
The
Dremeled battle damage sections were misted with Flat Black and
then again with a gray color. Silver paint was applied to
a plastic rod and lightly scraped around the edges of the damage
as a dry brush technique.
The
kit was sliced in places to indicate areas of new construction.
A Dremel tool was used to score away areas for battle damage.
The
Warp Core ejection hatch is missing. The girders were made
from Evergreen plastic and painted a custom mixture of Flat Red
and Flat Black.
The
two 'holes' on either side of the bridge are the cargo
turbolifts that can connect to tubes at a spacedock facility.
These cargo lifts can supply cargo to any deck inside the saucer
section. There are corresponding hatches on the saucer's
underside as well.
The
base coat is French Light Blue Gray. The saucer impulse engines
are Medium Gray.
The 'powered down' warp engine grilles are painted Copper.
The lifeboat hatches are painted Sand.
The
exposed areas inside the hull were carefully built from the
Official Enterprise-D Blueprints to
show where the appropriate girders, cabins, corridors and turboshafts
would be inside the vessel.
Near one of the sections
under repair, the components inside the upper phaser bank can be
seen.
This
photo shows the repair work underway on the secondary hull. The
massive deuterium fuel tank is visible through the framework. It
spans three decks of the secondary hull. Note that there are no
cabin windows within these three decks. Another two decks are
visible below the horizontal frame member.
The RCS thrusters seen here on the saucer and lower hull are
decals I made in Photoshop.
The Bussard Collector caps were heavily
sanded to reduce the transparency and Gunze Sangyo red tint was
painted on the inside to achieve the powered-down effect.
The
shuttlebay 3 door was left off the model and the shuttlebay was
scratchbuilt from Evergreen ribbed plastic. The shuttlebay has a
Shuttlebay Ops station on a balcony with slanted viewport and an
indented hatch for shuttle storage.
As the engines are 'off' while the ship is under repair, the
impulse engines were painted Euro 1 Gray.
The
underside 3-level cargo bay was scratchbuilt from the same
Evergreen plastic as Shuttlebay 3. Small plastic pieces from
various models became the blue and yellow cargo drums and
gray crates. I assumed the door would rise upward and I glued an
appropriately thick piece of plastic near the ceiling to make it
seem as though the door is actually there. There are two
balconies on either side of
the bay and a hatchway along the back wall to exit into a
corridor.
This
was also composited in Photoshop. It depicts the
Challenger in Earth orbit with three Workbee craft surveying the
damage and reconstruction with powerful floodlights. The lit
areas are just brightness adjustments using Photoshop.
This model was
built as the first part of a two-part diorama. A 1/1400 scale
scratchbuilt McKinley Station drydock is in the works. The
Challenger will be mounted beneath the drydock.
