Model Specifications:
Scale = 1/1021
Length = 45.9 cm
Width = 17.6 cm
Height = 7.5 cm
This
model represents the third structural refit to the Excelsior Class
starships. The USS Al-Batani was a ship on which Kathryn Janeway
served as Science Officer under the command of Captain Owen
Paris.
This model was built with no modifications.
The
base coat was a spray Flat White. The major blue paneling detail
was a custom mixture of Mat Sky Blue and a few drops of Pale
Green. This was done to offset the light blue color of the
sensors and such. The dorsal was painted Steel. The windows around the saucer edge were hand marked with a black
pen.
This
model was formerly decaled USS Lakota, but I had gotten the
registry wrong as this model was built before the registry was
published. (There was only one brief scene in DS9 that showed
the registry quickly). I recently stripped off the decals (as
they weren't set under a flat coat).
In a second decal test (after my USS Nautilus), I decided to
make my own decals for the Al-Batani. All of the markings on the
model were hand made in Adobe Illustrator.
The 'glowing' areas such as the Bussard collectors, lower
sensors, and the navigational deflector were painted Mat Sky
Blue and were then treated with a light coat of fluorescent
Horizon Blue.
The
shuttlebay door was painted Dark Ghost Gray and the cargo hatch paneling
along the upper secondary hull and the sensor array around the
bridge are Flat Gull Gray. The main sections of the Warp
nacelles are Flat Black and Intermediate Blue.
The impulse engine shrouds are painted Steel and the impulse
engines themselves are painted fluorescent Fire Red.
Note
the name 'Al-Batani' just under the opening in the lower hull. A
small version of the name also appears
on the aft facing sensor on the saucer's underside. The gray rectangular
details in sets of two and three on the lower sensor platform
are small decals made in Illustrator. The phaser banks are
painted Sand with Light Gray emitters. The red stripes
surrounding the phasers and the registry on the saucer is done
with a red pen.
The aft torpedo launcher is painted Steel.
The RCS thrusters are not engraved in the plastic as they had
been on the USS Excelsior model, so the appropriate areas were
masked off and painted Gloss Yellow and Flat Black.
There are more name and registry markings than on the AMT/Ertl
decal sheet. I have also updated the symbol to the yellow
Starfleet emblem.
This
scene depicts the USS Al-Batani entering orbit of a desolate,
Class-D planetoid in a triple star system.
This scene was put together in Photoshop. The background was
entirely made with Photoshop. The background started as
difference clouds to create the nebular effect, then portions
were selected and filtered for color. The moon was created with
a planet-making plug in. The star was created by selecting a
circular portion of the nebula and using the spherize tool three
times in a row.
The photo of the Al-Batani was reddened through filters to match
the hue of the background. Lens flare filters provided the
running/navigation lights and the floodlights in the lower
cargo bay. The running lights were further filtered to give the
green-starboard, red-port tints. Hue and color filters helped
illuminate the impulse engines.
