Nebula-Class U.S.S. Neil Armstrong

By David Jong

"One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." This is a kit-bash of the classic AMT/Ertl 1:1400 scale Galaxy-class kit. It took me about 3 years to make, with several months-long sanity breaks. I got a very good start from the tutorial done by the Maritime Science Fiction Modelers group, as well as an opportunity to measure and scale-up a 1:2500 resin Nebula-class upper pod. My pod is built from 9 layers of various Evergreen sheet stock. The top of the engineering hull and supporting pylon for the pod were made with scrap plastic sheet that I scavenged from an old Dell laptop endcap at a store I used to work at, and is heavily reinforced with plastic Evergreen strips for added strength. I also inserted 9 brass rods through the nacelle pylons into the saucer section at opposing angles to help ensure that they would not break off, as the upper pod is quite heavy. The paint job was done with PollyScale acrylics. The main hull pattern is in Light and Dark Ghost Gray (FS 36375 and FS 36320). I know that a screen-accurate Nebula-class should not have the impulse engines on the saucer and should have many of the windows removed. I opted not to do that on the grounds that 1) a "real" Nebula-class should have as much in common with the Galaxy-class as possible, 2) the lack of windows and impulse-engines on the actual shooting model was probably a consequence of a rushed production schedule, and 3) it was easier to build this way. All of the decals except for the name and NCC numbers were from a PNT Models Galaxy-class detailing set. I can't recommend their decals highly enough. They are extremely detailed and well made, and they clearly had kit-bashers in mind because they included the yellow maneuvering thrusters for the upper pod on the Galaxy-class decals! The names and numbers I made myself.

As for the name, I had originally planned on going with U.S.S. Prometheus, which would also have served as a nod to the Earth Ship Prometheus from Stargate SG-1. However, as the model was nearing completion Neil Armstrong sadly passed away, so I made the decision to name the ship in his honor. Happily, the registry number NCC-72069, which of course is the date of the first moonwalk, fits in nicely with other numbers used on TNG-era starships. Image: Front Image: Front Bottom Image: Front Top Image: Top Rear

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