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

This ship started out as a 1/2500 scale Enterprise D kit bashed with 1/1400 scale Enterprise E pylons. Most of the design was based around a similar concept to the New Orleans class ships. I added 1/1400 scale lifeboats, enlarged the main shuttle bay, added a hanger observation deck and used 1/1400 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.

I used a Tamiya seas grey for the base color then hand painted the aztec pattern. After the pattern was dry, I ''misted '' more of the Tamiya base color over the while ship to smooth out and blend the pattern. Everything else was painted pretty standard. The windows were hand drawn on with micron markers before the final clear coat was applied. JT Graphics decals were used for the lifeboats, transporter arrays and thrusters. PNT Graphics decals were used for the phaser banks and assorted spare AMT decals were used for all the miscellaneous Federation insignia. The shuttle bay landing pad, and all the name/registry numbers were home made decals.

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.

Shuttle Bay

Saucer

Right

Left

Underside

In Progress Images

Bay

Rear

Saucer Underside

Front RIght

Right

Rear