On The Bench: Scratchbuilt USS Chekov.

Here's some pics of a custom 1400 scale TNG Era Federation ship I'm working on; The USS Chekov.

This ship started out as a 2500 scale Enterprise D kit bashed with 1400 scale Enterprise E pylons. Most of the design was based around a similar concept to the New Orleans class ships. I added 1400 scale lifeboats, enlarged the main shuttle bay, added a hanger observation deck and used 1400 scale impulse engines on the saucer. The Nacelles were standard for the most part with the exception of dorsal mounted phaser banks in a style similar to the Venture Galaxy Class conversion. The panel lines I hand scribed following the inaccurate raised panel lines of the original kit.

Other details I added were a rear underside tractor beam, sculpted the rear torpedo bay and added a dual forward mounted torpedo bay to the saucer underside. The main impulse engine between the pylons is scratch built as well. The Bridge and lower sensor area actually came from a very old playmates enterprise toy. The toy was beyond repair and I decided to hack at it for scraps.

Also, a point of interest: I decided to keep the saucer separation area on the rear saucer "neck". The New Orleans class ships do not have this option even though they are a similar size and concept. I felt that the saucer should still be able to separate and serve as a large lifeboat if need be, like the Enterprise D, however due to it's relatively small size would probably not serve any tactical function like the Galaxy class saucers could.