BB (1 “retired” kitbash)
USS Mars. Decals Pending: USS Kali
The
Federation BB Mars was one of my earliest kitbashes. Completed in 1999, I was constrained by what
miniatures I could actually find for parts.
The Mars was built from two old Fed CVA minis, with an old NCL
engine bar supporting the top engines.
The huge engines put a lot of strain on the little engine bar and where
really too big for the devices they were intended to represent. But at the time, with no Fed BB in
production, this served as my standard opponent for the Klingon B-10. Over time, the mini has taken quite a beating,
and really needs to be completely stripped down and repaired. With a new BB mini available, the Mars
is now in a sort of retirement, safely in storage.
DN
USS Federation
DNL
USS Star Tiger
I saw the
fast ships like the DNL and CF as an opportunity for some unique paint
jobs. If the Federation were ever to
adopt “flamboyant” or “hi-vis” paint schemes on ships, it seem the fast ships
were a natural choice. Not wanting the
miniatures to be overtly different when viewed on the gaming table, I kept the
unique paint to the saucer bottoms. The
paint selected for the Star Tiger was an obvious choice.
DNG
Decals Pending: USS Entente
DNH
Decals Pending: USS Konkordium
CVA (kitbash)
USS Julius Caesar
SCS (kitbash)
Decals Pending: USS George Washington
While the Federation CVA is now available as a production mini, I’ve opted to continue to use the kitbashed CVA and SCS I completed using CVA(O) and Zocchi DN parts I built in 2000. The photo at right shows their original paint jobs. The CVA Julius Caesar is now complete, with the SCS George Washington still waiting for decal application.
CVA (old)
USS Alexander the Great
BC
USS Bismarck. Decals Pending: USS Kirov, USS New
Jersey
CA/CC
USS Constitution, USS Enterprise, USS
Essex, USS Kongo. Decals Pending: USS Hood, USS Potemkin
CCV (kitbash)
Decals Pending: USS Nelson
CVS
Decals Pending: USS Nimitz
CF
USS Wolverine
Like the
DNL Star Tiger above, the CF Wolverine got a unique “hi-vis”
paint scheme on the bottom of the saucer.
I’m obviously a fan of Michigan Wolverines football. If I had to guess, the motto of the USS Wolverine
would undoubtedly be “Hail to the Victors”.
CVF
Decals Pending: USS Gryphon
GSC
USS Lewis and Clark
CX (FASA)
Decals Pending: USS Vincennes, USS Enterprise,
USS Revolution, USS United States
TUG
USS Copernicus
CS (1 kitbash)
Decals Pending: USS Prometheus, USS Agamemnon,
USS Atlas
NCL
USS Kearsarge, USS Prince of Wales, USS
Warpsite. Decals Pending: USS Scharnhorst, USS Olympia
NLF
Decals Pending: USS Derfflinger
I don’t really consider this a kitbash. I purchased an extra NCF and just omitted the aft hull and third engine.
LTT (kitbash)
Decals Pending: USS Gompers
A straightforward kitbash, accomplished by adding a small styrene strut from the tail of the primary hull to a docking pad from a Tug kit.
NCA
Decals Pending: USS Chicago, USS Tokyo
NCF
Decals Pending: USS Manta Ray
CL
USS Texas, USS Crassus. Decals Pending: USS Macedonia,
USS Falklands, USS Virginia, USS California
COM
USS Normandy
While probably not “canon”, I decided to distinguish Federation commando ships from other CLs by using non-standard paint schemes. The Normandy is finished in desert tan.
CLH
USS Sanctuary
CLS (kitbash)
USS Viking
DD
USS Genghis, USS Nebuchadnezzar. Decals
Pending: USS Hannibal, USS Aggripa, USS Czar Alexander,
USS Halsey, USS Scipio Africanus
SC
USS Bowie
DDF (kitbash)
USS Two Moons
DW
Decals Pending: USS Oldendorf, USS Issac Hull,
USS Stonewall Jackson
DWH (1 kitbash)
USS Panzer Lehr. Decals Pending: USS Old Guard
NDD (kitbash)
USS Bainbridge
This kitbash
happened largely by accident. Years
ago, I obtained an old lead FASA Constitution-class mini. I assembled the kit, but never got as far as
painting it. One night, one of our pet
cats decided he simply could not resist checking out the table where I had been
working on minis. I was awakened by an
enormous crash, and turned on the lights to find the board I had used as a
painting surface lying on the floor along with the twisted wreckage of several
miniatures. Said Constitution-class
ship had the engines struts wrapped around the secondary hull like a
burrito. Hence forth, this became known
as the “Cat-a-pult Incident”. The cat
survived, but I had a mess on my hands.
Most of the minis were repaired, but this one was beyond help.
Years
later, looking at what was left of the ship, I decided to make some use of the
parts. I used the primary hull, which
looked different than anything else I had, I discarded the secondary hull, and
re-shaped the engine struts to attach to the rear of the saucer belly, wrapping
around the bottom of the engines. The
resulting mini is a decent representation of the often-mentioned Fed NDD. I’ve posted my own SSD for this ship here.
DDH (FASA)
USS Loknar
DDX (FASA kitbash)
USS Excalibar
FF
USS Burke, USS Graf Spee, USS Yi Sun Sin, USS
St. Vincent
FFB (1 kitbash)
Decals Pending: USS Ramius, USS Prien, USS Tanabe
FFH (kitbash)
USS Enright
The Enright was an early attempt at a fitbashed FFB. With limited information to go on regarding the FFB’s physical appearance, I let the parts I had on hand at the time dictate the shape of the ship. I fitted the rear hull of an NCA between the two nacelles of an FF mini, cutting off the impulse sections from both the rear hull and the stern of the FF. I cut a sheet of styrene the same thickness as the saucer edge into the wedge shape of the upper rear deck, with a concave forward edge to mate with the FF. After some alignment work getting the FF mini, NCA rear hull, and the rear deck in position, I touched up a few gaps with putty.
Since
building the ship, its become apparent that the FFB doesn’t look at all like
this, but I still like the mini and have kept it in the collection. I’m now calling it an FFH and have posted my
own SSD for the ship here.
FFX (kitbash)
Decals Pending: USS Rickover
POL
Decals Pending: USS Masterson, USS Wyatt Earp,
USS Texas Ranger, USS Peacemaker
FASA Excelcior Class
USS Excelcior, USS Proxima
FASA Remora Class
When I first began painting miniatures during the Interregnum, I did what I could to procure whatever miniatures I could find. Most were Federation ships and as a result, much of my Fed fleet was much older than the rest of my mini collection. As with all hobbies, you get better over time, and sooner or later, you look back on you very early work and think “I can do a lot better than that”. By 2007, most of Federation minis had made four cross-country moves, endured a number of conventions, had faded paint, and were looking pretty rough/substandard when compared to the rest of my miniatures. See the “retired” Fed BB at the top of the page for an example. Additionally, I had accumulated a bunch of newer Fed minis but had never had the time on sea duty to work on them. With some spare time on shore duty, I resolved to give the Feds a complete make over. All the unpainted ships were assembled, while I cleaned up or stripped older ships. The entire fleet was painted over a one-week period with a common paint scheme and I began the slow process of decaling ships. Unlike most other ships in my collection, which might receive 1-4 decals on average, if any, my Feds are getting the whole smash. Some minis have received as many as 50 decals. As a result, this effort is not finished. I have all the decals, but time will remain the governing factor. But overall, I’m much more pleased with the current state of my Fed fleet, which now stand up well against the rest of my miniature work.