Maritime Science Fiction Modelers

U.S.S. Yeager • NCC-65674 • Yeager Class Starship

Kit Bash

Monogram kit 3604 (USS Voyager), 3605 (Maquis Raider), AMT/Ertl kit 8741 (Runabout), sheet styrene, ribbed Evergreen plastic

Model Specifications:
Scale = 1/670
Length = 51.4 cm
Width = 37.8 cm
Height = 12.7 cm


		The U.S.S. Yeager was a starship assigned to patrol the Bajoran Sector. In many episodes during the last couple of seasons of DS9, the Yeager could be seen in orbit of the station. This model was built in the same way and with many of the same materials as the filming miniature. For the filming miniature, it is likely that the registry was a simple rearrangement of Voyager's decals (74656 to 65674). For the name, Voyager letters (with an additional 'E' from a second decal sheet) can be easily rearranged to spell Yeager.

		Coincidently, this Intrepid variant is virtually identical in length to the standard Intrepid Class. The Voyager saucer is built stock. The Maquis Ship had a lot of modified details, especially around the midline. The base color is Flat Gull Gray. The blue detail on top is Model Master Azure Blue. The bottom and side detail color is Russian Underside Blue, which actually looks green. The top of the aft hull and warp engines were detailed with Flat Light Brown.

		The only other kit parts are the vent detail panels from the Runabout kit on the back of the Yeager's secondary hull. The details on these pieces and the forward torpedo launchers were painted Zinc Chromate. The tan color detail on the Yeager is Armor Sand. The lifeboat hatches were painted Sand and the phaser banks are Euro 1 Gray. The ribbed pylon details were painted Rust. The large sensor platforms were painted Battle Matt Gray. The impulse engines and Bussard Collectors are Gloss Red and the warp nacelle grilles are Flat Light Blue.

		I made all of the markings for the Yeager with Adobe Illustrator. The colors are very eccentric for a Federation starship, and these are the closest I could get to the studio miniature's color scheme. Gloss Orange was used as the RCS thruster color with Flat Brown and Zinc Chromate detailing. Windows were Gloss White and Gloss Black depending on their 'on' or 'off' status.

		I chose the nose of the Maquis ship as the main deflector dish, knowing the saucer section already had the auxiliary deflector. The underside colors are mostly speculation as there are no underside shots of the filming model available. I decided to be conservative until I find out otherwise. Just as on the filming model, the angled vents of the Maquis ship were not present as they had been used on the saucer of the USS Centaur.

		It is interesting to note that the Voyager engines were swapped port for starboard on this model. This left the actual warp grille on the inboard sides. The outboard grilles were the holes for Voyager pylon attachment. I placed ribbed Evergreen styrene in the hole to simulate the outer warp grilles.

Photos by Stephen L.