Micro-Machines version of the USS Enterprise
I have slowly been working on ship data cards for A Call To Arms Star Fleet for The Next Generation era. I enjoy the versatility of ACTA but all the vessels available data back to the original series. So I have for some time been pondering updating the ships to cover The Motion Picture to the Dominion War period.
Repainted Micro-Machines USS Enterprise
One of the most iconic ships of that period is the Constitution Class (e.g. the original Enterprise). So below is my ACTA Star Fleet take on that ship and some musings on the conversion process.
Saucer Separation modification
First up though, I wanted to show a conversion of the Micro-Machines version of the Constitution class starship (i.e. Mico-Machines USS Enterprise). I painted the ship in a similar fashion to the Constellation class Mico-Machines USS Stargazer miniature.
I wanted to make a ship that can undergo saucer separation. The Micro-Machines model is a plastic miniature. As such, I was able to cut along the baseline where the sail joined the saucer section to the engineering section. I then super-glued rare earth magnets to both the upper and lower connection points. You need to be careful to ensure that the you don't place them in such a way as to have the same magnetic field facing each other. Otherwise the magnets won't join properly. Once this was done, I then painted the model. Below are more images of how this turned out. I also attached another magnet to a flying base for use when the saucer is finally separated.
The magnets are strong enough to keep the saucer in place.
ACTA Star Fleet Constitution Class Ship Data Cards
Next process was to develop the ACTA ship data cards for the Constitution class vessel. For guidance I used the book Star Trek Mr Scott's guide to the USS Enterprise by Shane Johnson. I used the book to determine the number of weapons systems present on the ship.
Standard Constitution
Newer version of the Constitution
Working out how many points a ship cost was a difficult trick. But I wanted to be able to compare ships fairly easily.
So firstly I worked out a point system for weapons. For example, a single Phaser 1 would end up being 14 points and a single Photon ended up being 6 points. Points were awarded for the range band of the weapon and also the weapons traits. Shorter ranged weapons received 1 point and the longest range weapons received more (I made a chart for this, definitely too much time on my hands with this project!). So the longer range the weapon can shoot and the more positive traits the weapon had, the more points it received. Negative traits, such as Reload, were also deducted from the weapon. That value would then be multiplied by the number of weapons present on the ship (i.e. the number of AD the weapon had in that firing arc).
I then added a point for each Shield and Damage the ship could take. I then added the number of Marines and Shuttles and gave a point for each of these. The ship then received a point for each positive trait it had, so Labs 8 would be 8 points. Traits such as Cloak and Scout gave 10 points each and negative traits such as Slow and Lumbering subtracted points.
Finally, I rounded the total score to the nearest 5 points. Surprisingly this process seemed to work fairly well (I even amazed myself!). Ships that were more powerful obviously got more points than less powerful ones and the Next Generation ships received in the end more points than the older Original Series ships. So the process seemed to work! Once I have refined it, I may even do a post on the process.
To Boldly Go...blah, blah, blah... Just FIRE will you!
More ships to follow, so stay tuned!
