Javelin Class

NOTE:  You can click on most pictures to get a larger view of them.

I love kitbashing starships together.  This art form allows me to add models to my collection of ships that you can't buy kits for, as well as allowing me to create my own unique one of a kind designs. 

 The Javelin Class was inspired by an Eaglemoss article about thier NX Refit model.  In the magazine, Doug Drexler shared one of his concept pictures of what the NX might have looked like.  I liked the design and wanted to do something similar.  As I started putting parts together, I took the design a slightly different way and the Javelin class was born.

IN UNIVERSE NOTES:

USS Asclepius (NX-2629)

Javelin Class

1:2500 Scale Cozmo Heavy Industries Kitbash

Inspired by Doug Drexler NX Class Prototype Picture

 

 

 

 

The USS Asclepius, a Javelin Class prototype was designed and built by a joint Vulcan and Terran engineering task force.  The vessel was built using a Hippocrates Class hull and it has a very unique appearance in that it has both Vulcan like warp rings as well as Terran type warp nacelles.  This is because the ship now has two separate warp cores.  The primary warp drive is a highly experimental technology that was developed by both the Vulcans and the Humans.  The drive does allow the ship to travel faster than other ships of it's time, however, the top speed is classified.  The second drive system is a traditional Starfleet issue warp core and nacelle configuration.  This is in place as a backup in case the primary system fails, thus not stranding the ship and allowing the technology to fall into other's hands.  Currently, the drives do not operate simultaneously, however, the engineers in charge of the ship are experimenting with ways to operate them in tandem.

The ship's primary purpose is to quickly transport individuals.  This can take take the form of diplomats or personnel with dire medical emergency issues.  The ship has also been used to transport goods or documents as well.  When not on official missions, the engineers continue to experiment and tinker with the drive technology to try to improve it further.

It is rumored that the ship may have a cloaking device on board as well, however, this information would be classified and has the rumor has never been confirmed.

The ship still has a state of the art hospital facility, but is not as large as one on board a Hippocrates Class ship.  These facilities are geared more towards stabilizing a patient for transport than treatment on location.  The ship also houses several very nice staterooms for important dignitaries who might need transportation to important events.

Unfortunately, the ship is not well armed as she is not meant to be transporting individuals into or out of hostile situations.  The engineers wanted to give her a non-threatening profile and felt that light phaser armaments would suffice for her primary purpose.

REAL UNIVERSE NOTES:

Parts Used: Cozmo Heavy Industries Hippocrates Class Hull, Constitution Class Refit Nacelles and Nacelle Struts, Sheet Styrene

As I stated at the start of this article, this build was inspired by a picture that Doug Drexler had provided for the Eaglemoss magazine about their NX Refit model.  His idea behind this concept art was that during the ENT era, humans and Vulcans were working very closely together,  As we then learned right from the start of the series, this was not the case and we ended up with a ship that looked vastly different.  I've always like building ring ships and decided it was time to add another to my fleet.

My first challenge though had nothing to do with the build though!  I went to my two favorite model building sites on FaceBook and asked for some naming suggestions.  Michael J. Simmons over at the Everything About Models Group page suggested calling her the USS Asclepius and even suggested making her a Medical class Frigate or Cruiser.  Asclepius was the Greek god of Medicine.  Butch Bryan over at the Star Trek Modelers Group page gave me the idea to call her a Javelin Class.  Both of these names fit well for what I was intending to build so I went with them.

 

 

I started this project over a weekend, thus providing me with some nice quality time with the build.  I started with a defective Hippocrates class hull from Cozmo Heavy Industries that had an air bubble in the nose.   I carved this section out and it will become a deflector dish.  I then used the boiling water technique to roll myself some new warp rings from sheet styrene.  Unfortunately, I miscalculated the lengths and then attempted to rectify the mistake my adding more into the ring.

 

 

 

The next day, I decided that I didn't like the and-aid approach.  The rings would have looked horrible if I tried to just cover over my mistakes with paint.  So I proceeded to fashion another set of warp rings.  These turned out much better, although there was some minor stress fracturing in one ring due to my rushing the melting process.  A little glue in the cracks should rectify that issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next time I worked on this model, I made a TON of progress in one night.  I was very nervous about the ring support assembly, HOWEVER, it all came together very well and for now it removable so that I can easily paint the ship.  There was one minor issue with the primary support strut not lining up correctly, but I was able to cut out a tiny shim and adjust it.  The shim will blend in well with some model glue applied to it.  The concept art picture that I'm working from also had traditional nacelles on the ship and I intend to do mine with TMP era ones.  I have the nacelles and some struts and will attempt to figure out how and where to mount them next.  Other than that, this one is ready for painting and final assembly.

 

The next day saw me detailing the warp rings and nacelles.  I also started detailing the main hull.

 

The next day was a busy one and I didn't get home until late so I didn't get a lot of time with her.  Surprisingly, I got a lot done in that very little time.  I painted the outside connectors for the ring assembly and I was feeling like the outside of the rings were a little plain so I did some Metallic Green Flake lines to give it a little more glowing effect.  I added the last detail painting to the nacelle struts.  I also finished up the detail painting of the top, front and rear of the ship.  I find that Testor's silver enamel paint takes a LONG time to set so it's best to let it sit for a bit.

 

The next evening saw me making quite a bit of progress on this last night.  I finished the detail painting of the bottom of the main hull and then painted the bottom and rear of it white.  I also managed to paint the inside of the entire ring assembly and one of the three outside sections.  I then commenced painting the nacelle parts too.

 

 

I then took the weekend off from model building which is a shame as I would probably have been done the build then.  I finished painting the outer part of the warp ring assembly.  I then painted the upper part of the hull it's traditional white color and finished painting the secondary nacelles and struts.  By then, the rings were dry and I was able to mount the rings permanently to the ship.

 

 

At this point, I was in home stretch for this this little project.  I mounted on the secondary nacelle struts and then glued on the secondary nacelles.  While that was all drying, I put together a stand and quickly painted it.  I then needed to cut a tiny little shim piece to connect one of the struts to it's nacelle as it didn't quite reach it.  I then touched up all the paint and added on the phaser banks.  While everything was drying, I then  did a major re-write of the backstory as I had an epiphany on how to make it slightly better.  I clear coated the model and once that dried, I did my typical photo-shoot.

I will admit that I was nervous about building another ring ship.  Bending sheet styrene into a circle can be a harrowing experience for the average builder.  However, she turned out way better than I had envisioned and I'm very proud of being able to pull it off.  I hope you enjoyed following along with my build of her.

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 Ship     Work In Progress