Romulan - U-4 Cerebus Class [Cozmo Heavy Industries Kitbash]

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

Left: U-4 Cerebus Class - Right: U-13 Cacus Class

While I was writing my review on the Cozmo Heavy Industries 1:2500 Pre-TOS Adversary Set, I made mention of how I did a lot of research to assist Jay at C.H.I. to come up with a classification name for his Romulan ship.

I eventually stumbled across this book which contained lots of historical information, and more importantly... pictures!

We eventually figured out that his model was a slightly modified U-13 Cacus Class.  If you wish to learn more about the U-13, you can read my review of the Cozmo Heavy Industries 1:2500 Pre-TOS Adversary Set at THIS LINK.

While coming to this conclusion, I also found, studied and decided that I was going to also try to build a U-4 Cerebus Class if I found the time and parts.

I ended up acquiring a second, rejected Pre-TOS Adversary Set which of course gave me the most important part that I needed and so I set out and built the U-4.

 

 

 

 

As you can see, at 1:2500 scale, this thing is rather tiny, but I was really happy with the fact that I ended up with something that no one else has in thier collection.

The "Federation Spaceflight Chronology" had this to say about these ships, "This  is  one  of  the  oldest  known  Romulan  starship  designs,  predating  the  Romulan  War  by  at  least  two  decades.    Data  gleaned  from  Starfleet  Intelligence  suggests  that  it  entered  service  no  earlier  than  2130.    This  data  also  suggests  that  it  was  the  first  Romulan  warp-capable  military  spacecraft.    In  many   ways,   particularly   with   regards   to   engine   design,   construction,   and   sublight   maneuverability,   it   was   more   advanced  than  most  of  the  starships  that  the  Federation  Star  Fleet was fielding at the time. Although early and primitive by modern standards, the Cerebusalready  shows  many  of  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  Romulan   military   designs:      the   sweeping,   wing-like   engine   support  pylons,  the  unibody  hull  with  rear-mounted  sub-lightengines,  and  the  “Bird-of-Prey”  emblem  on  its  underside.    Its  curved surfaces were in stark contrast to the angled “slab ship” designs preferred by Terran starship engineers and represented different   approaches   to   starship   combat.      The   Romulanseschewed the inherent stealthiness of a faceted, slab-like hull for the  maneuverability  of  a  smooth  one.    This  gave  the  Cerebusincredible  sub-light  acceleration  and  agility.    A  lone  Cerebusmight  not  outgun  a  typical  Federation  vessel;  however,  it  could  almost  certainly  outmaneuver  and  outrun  it.    Furthermore,  itwas  rare  when  a  Cerebus  was  found  alone.    They  usually  operated  in  packs  of  three  or  six,  preying  on  easy  targets  and  zipping   away   whenever   the   alarm   was   raised.      Another   impediment  to  Federation  attacks  was  the  energy  screens  of  a  Cerebus.    All  Romulan  starships  had  early  forms  of  force  fieldscreens,  requiring  that  their  attackers  first  overwhelm  the  cohesive   energies   of   the   screens   before   weapons   could   penetrate them and do damage to the ship itself.  This remained an  Romulan  advantage  until  just  before  the  war,  when  the  Federation deployed force field screen technology of its own. At  least  30  Cerebus  class  cruisers  are  thought  to  have  been  built  by  the  Romulans  from  2130  to  2137.    Most  were  lost  during the Romulan War.  This was largely due to the fact that by the time the war started they had already been outclassed by improved   Federation   designs.      The   survivors   were   briefly   returned   to   front-line   service   in   2159   but   this   was   a   desperation  measure  due  to  rapidly  mounting  Romulan  losses.    Only  four  Cerebus  class  cruisers  survived  by  war’s  end.    One  sole example remains as a museum ship in orbit around Romulus.  Its presence is meant as a permanent reminder of the great war that  was  fought  “...  to  save  the  Empire  from  Federation  domination.”"

Build Notes:

The build process for building this model was not all that complicated.  I first cut off the wings and nacelles from the U-13 model and then re-glued the wings at a steeper downward angle.  Since the U-13 nacelles were too big, I fashioned some new ones out of sculpting putty.

I then used sculpting putty to fill in the gaps between the wings and the hull as well as along the top of the hull where the wings stuck up a tiny bit. I also used my drill to score a small notch at the front of the model to represent the deflector dish.

Once the putty set, I then glued on the nacelles and filled in a few more gaps with model cement.

Fro there, it was just a matter of painting the model and then detailing it.

 

And there you have it, a very unique model that no one else would normally have in thier collection.  As a side note, I suppose that if you were so inclined, you could probably construct this whole thing using sculpting putty.

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:

 U-4 Cerebus Class ( The Model   Build Process )