Dreadnought USS Abaddon -Finished Pics and Video!

[trekriffic]

Ok. For my contest entry I've settled on bashing together something like this...

tos_dreadnought_mesh_by_davemetlesits.jpg (54.27 KiB) Viewed 4210 times

... an TOS era dreadnaught. I've been thinking of doing one for years so this should be fun!

Among other things I'll be using two 1/1000 scale TOS Enterprise kits.
Here they are with a copy of the local paper dated April 1:

My initial inclination is to make my build into a variation of the dreadnought; there are a few things I think can be done a little differently to make it more uniquely mine.

Stay tuned folks!

[Moongrim]

That looks intriguing.
Will you be utilizing the Federation Models Conversion kit for same?

[slawton]

I was considering doing something similar. I think I saw a different image where the top of the saucer was more stair-stepped than smooth.

[Kremin]

Very cool I always wanted a refit dreadnaught, just so much work

[Moongrim]

A refit dreadnaught?

Which version?

Federation *Uprated?


Or Ascension?

[Kremin]

A refit dreadnaught?

Which version?

Federation *Uprated?


Or Ascension?

Federation Class, Ascension would be too much work in 1/350

[Julien]

Nice ! I look forward to it !

[trekriffic]

So made some progress last weekend and a few evenings this week. This ship will have a double thick saucer and beefier secondary hull with extra thick nacelle struts to support its three warp nacelles. It will feature a mega-phaser and photon torpedo ports fore and aft. It will be a real beast, nothing frilly just a true battleship capable of taking and dishing out severe punishment. More massive than the Federation Class, this is the proto-type of the Goliath Class Super Dreadnaught...

Double thick saucer test fit. I'll be using two lower saucer halves for this:

Test Fit of Lower Saucer Halves by trekriffic, on Flickr

Using identical halves required trimming locator pins on one half and gluing tubing onto the stubs for the pins in the other half to slide into:

Evergreen Tubing by trekriffic, on Flickr

To broaden the secondary hull I cut two sections of .040 styrene sheet to mostly match the profile of the secondary hull with exception of the undercut in the stern which this design won't have. It will actually be more cylindrical and somewhat longer than the unmodified secondary hull:

40 mil Styrene Sheet by trekriffic, on Flickr

The kit part's locator pins slide thru holes drilled in the .040 styrene sheet:

Test Fit by trekriffic, on Flickr

I cut out a slot to accommodate a short length of Evergreen tubing for the brass display rod I'll be using to slide into:

Slot for Mounting Tube by trekriffic, on Flickr

The nacelle pylons would later be removed and thickened using brass strip. The angle would be lowered to 30 degrees from the horizontal as well:

Secondary Hull Glued and Clamped by trekriffic, on Flickr

Took this photo before I redid the pylons:

Secondary Hull on Display Rod by trekriffic, on Flickr

I'm toying with the idea of attaching the upper hull B-C deck from the kit to the lower saucer and making it into some kind of mega-phaser/photon torpedo housing:

Upper B-C Deck Repurposing by trekriffic, on Flickr

Everything seems to fit together really well up to this point. I had to widen the slot in the lower saucer though to fit the thicker dorsal:

Test Fit with Saucer by trekriffic, on Flickr

Working off some schematics of the TOS three engine dreadnaught on the internet I determined that the two lower nacelle pylons on the secondary hull were at a 30 degree angle from the horizontal. I bent a narrow piece of brass strip to that angle on each end and sandwhiched it between the upper and lower kit pylons halves, gluing it together as one assembly using CA glue:

Template for New Nacelle Pylon Angle by trekriffic, on Flickr

Two holes were drilled thru the center section of the brass strip to allow for pins to be inserted thru it and into the secondary hull for added strength:

Holes Drilled in Brass by trekriffic, on Flickr

This turned out really well and the pylons are very rigid and sturdy with the brass reinforcement. The struts will actually get 50% wider and possibly a little shorter before I'm finished with them though:

Nacelle Pylons Glued into Strongback by trekriffic, on Flickr

That's all for now. More to come!

[DefiantClient]

I love the idea of the weapon pod on the bottom of the saucer. Great job thickening up the hulls. Are you going keep the saucer edge like that or are you planning on beveling it to only be at one angle? I personally like it the way it is.

[Drop_Bear]

Say! This is a really neat concept. We need more love for the concept of Federation warships. Sun Tzu (or maybe it was someone named Bob) told us to "pray for endles peace, but prepare for eternal war", not "pray for endless peace, and stick your fingers in your ears and pretend war does not exist".