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USS Skinner



Sponsored By:


DaVeK Ventures




by Erick Munoz

Scale: 1/1400

The Springfield class USS Skinner is one of the sister ships of the USS Chekov that was lost to the Borg at Wolf 359. Designed for science surveys and scouting missions, the Springfield class was never considered a front line ship by anyone in Star Fleet. The Chekov was just unlucky enough to be close to Wolf 359 on her fateful day. The Skinner served several years exploring new solar systems, natural space phenomenon and strange anomalies. When the Dominion War started, she was pressed into an intelligence role, but never saw combat. Her extensive sensor suite allowed her to gather valuable information on enemy ship movements and message traffic. When the war was over, she was again sent back to exploring the vastness of space.

The Model

I made this model from a 1/2500 scale Enterprise-D and some custom parts. First, I removed all the raised details on the saucer and secondary hull, and removed the smaller bridge on the saucer and replaced it with a copy of the one from the 1/1400 scale Enterprise-D. Then I removed the neck and a lot the interconnecting structure on both the saucer and the secondary hull. After I reattached the secondary hull to the saucer, I smoothed out the connection and made the transition on the top of the ship look good. I then rescribed all the panel lines on the saucer and secondary hull, adjusting them for the new shape.

To make the warp engines, I made a master from a mold of a Stablio marker. I added several details to the mold to make it look like a warp engine, and then made a couple copies for the ship itself. After looking at all the pictures I could find for the pod, I made a sketch of what I wanted and then cut out pieces of sheet styrene and made a box. That was pretty weak, so I filled it with resin to add strength. After I smoothed all the edges, I added the smaller details. I cut out a section of the secondary hull and made a vertical section similar to the Nebula class and added a small shuttle bay back there, since I had to remove the one on the saucer.

I painted the pod and main ship separate, making the pod slightly lighter since that how it looks in the pictures I had. And boy let me tell you, that was a lot of masking to make that aztec pattern. It was based on the previous ones I did for other models, but it was all a spur of the moment design. The decals are a mix of some custom ones I whipped up, and some from the 1/2500 scale Enterprise. This was the last of the kitbashes that I built from the battle of Wolf 359, and I figured it was time to see how I rated against everyone else.

Image: Top view

Image: Underneath

Image: Again, from the front

Image: Masking the aztec pattern




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This page was last updated 12 January 2004