Vogon Class

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USS Kuklinski (MSD-5115)

Vogon Class Heavy Construction Vessel

1:2500 Cozmo Heavy Industries kitbash

Inspired by Jean-Paul Jesstiece

I saw a ship on the Star Trek Modelers Group page on FaceBook that Jean-Paul made using a Constellation and an Excelsior body and he had said that it was a heavy construction vessel. The concept behind the ship was to deliver construction workers and supplies to deep space construction jobs. I asked for permission to play with the idea a little bit and decided to go with a much bigger secondary hull.

Dimensions
Length: 325 meters
Width: 137.5 meters
Height: 68.75 meters
Specifications
Decks: 24
Crew: 600 to 650
Speed: Cruise: warp 7 / Maximum: warp 9
Armament: 6 Dual Phaser Banks, 4 Forward Facing Torpedo Launchers, 4 Aft Facing Torpedo Launchers
Defenses: Deflector Shields
Auxiliary craft: 8 Workbees, 8 Sphinx Workpods, 6 Shuttlecraft

Designer Name: Patrick M. Dougherty Sr.

In Universe Notes:

As the Federation continued to expand and new starbases and other deepspace facilities were being built, a need for some sort of ship to be able to ferry construction workers as well as bulk materials to distant locations was soon imagined.

Built around 2317, the USS Kuklinski was the first of the newly designed Vogon Class heavy construction ships.

 

 

 

 

The saucer section sports three shuttle bays and on the back of the saucer section, just below the impulse drives is worker bee hangers. The entire bottom half of the secondary hull is accessed via large hanger doors that open up to allow large items to be loaded into the cargo bay, much in the same way a 20th century Airbus Beluga can open up to accommodate bodies of other airplanes.

Considering the valuable nature of its cargo and passengers, the engineering corps made sure that she could easily defend herself.  Given the amount of fire power that was built into the ship, they may have even pictured the ship being able to be deployed to a hostile environment for construction missions.

After launch, she was immediately put into service.  Unfortunately, given the nature of her primary function, there really isn’t any glorious stories to tell of her existence.

She was still in service around the time of the Dominion War.  In 2374 she briefly transmitted that she was under attack by Jem'Hadar attack craft, but the transmission was immediately cut off before coordinates could be established.  She has not been heard from since and she has been declared MIA.

The Build

1:2500 Cozmo Heavy Industries kitbash
Inspired by Jean-Paul Jesstiece

Parts Used:  Old C.H.I. Constellation Kit, C.H.I. Hornet Engineering hull and the belly off of a 1:2500 AMT Soverign kit.

I saw a ship that Jean-Paul made using a Consellation and an Excelsior body and he had said that it was a heavy construction vessel.

S.C.E Atlantic - Federation Construction Vessel

I asked for permission to play with the idea a little bit and decided to go with a much bigger secondary hull.

I decided that I wanted a beefier secondary hull and to not mix nacelle types. I have pretty much used an entire Constellation kit and the secondary hull from a Hornet class, plus the last remaining hull fragment from the underside of my Enterprise E.

I gave all the resin parts thier obligatory bath and needed to heat treat (boiling water technique) the nacelles to deal with some minor warping (no pun intended).

Before

After

I then did a boat load of trimming and puttied the heck out of her. I opted to over do it on this step figuring to carve, scrape and shape the hull better since I merged two parts that just did not want to go together.

I then glued a bunch of greebles onto the saucer section and then let everything set and dry.

Once the putty had dried and I trimmed and leveled the excess.

I then mounted the saucer section and puttied in the gap on the neck. I mounted the nacelle pylons, filled them in and then started painting.

The ship classification name comes from the Vogons found in my all-time favorite sci-fi, comedy, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”.

 

I eventually finished cleaning up the putty spots then painted the stand. I then started the detail paint. Usually, my detail painting gets a little sloppy at first and then I clean it up when I paint the rest of the ship, including the hanger doors.

 

 

Since this is a construction vessel, I went with several larger hangers in the saucer section. I also envisioned that a majority of the lower part of the secondary hull is an open area that can be accessed via large hanger doors. This is used for storing and transporting building materials. Sort of like the Airbus Beluga.

Eventually after I got all the final painting done, I mounted on the nacelle assemblies.

 

And that is all I have to share on this unique build of mine.  

I always like doing kitbashes.  This one was a bit more challenging as it was the first time I used the modeling and sculpting putty to actually form a new style of secondary hull.  I ended up being extremely happy with the outcome.

As always, I hope you found this article useful and informative.  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to comment below.

So for now, "Live long and prosper!!!"



Additional Links To Photos Of My Collection:

The Model
Contest Entry Pictures
Work In Progress Pictures