This is a test shot of a potential after market conversion kit in 1/1000 scale to make the USS Saratoga, NCC-31911, a Miranda-class variant. I originally received the conversion parts just after Christmas of 2017 and built it up over the course of about four weeks, into the last week of January, 2018. It uses the Round 2 Reliant kit as the base and is a pretty simple, straight forward kit.
It comes with 8 resin parts and three sheets of decals that allow you to make the original Saratoga we see in the pilot episode (titled "Emissary") of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" - Sisko's ship that gets Blowed Up Real Good! - or a later replacement version, per some of the novels, that has a designator of "-A" (i.e. "NCC-31911-A').
One thing not included that will likely be provided with the conversion kit, should it go to full production, is sheet stock for the top of the extended hull that's parallel with the sensor mounts. It should likely only be no thicker than .040" to work to cover the area where the rollbar assembly normally mounts to the upper hull. Or the builder could provide them, tho I think that the manufacturer will add those, IIRC.
Anyhow, it's a pretty simple and straight forward build. There were no particular hurdles to overcome, other than my own rush to try and finish it. If this goes into production and I get a chance to purchase a second, I'll definitely do it differently. The main issue I should have foreseen, and didn't, was to NOT fully assemble the sensor pods. I broke both of the "antenna" off at different times, with the last time I broke the starboard (right) antenna being the last - it flew away and I never did find it.
As you can see from the pics, I added some of the ParaGrafix Modeling System (PGMS) photoetch bits for their 1/1000 Reliant set. Namely, the aft bridge docking port piece, the VIP/Officers lounge windows, vents for the impulse engines, and the port docking hatch. Should I do this over - I might just strip this and make a basic mold for the antenna that I need for the starboard sensor pod - I think I'll add a lower saucer mounted navigational deflector, as I've been doing for most all of my StarFleet ships from this timeframe.
Again, initial construction was pretty straight forward. I had to remove the upper portion of the photorp pod/rollbar assembly. I did this by fully assembling the main hull and the pylon/rollbar assembly parts, then carefully excising the rollbar assembly along the top of the extended hull via sharp Xacto blade, initially score the plastic, then slowly cutting a bit deeper with each pass.
Next was lining up the point of contact for the outboard portion of the sensor pod mounts. It's pretty simple itself, as the inboard portion of each mount is shaped almost perfectly to fit with the warp nacelle pylons. This is where I should have stopped initial construction, BTW.
After that, I added the aforementioned PGMS PE bits, very lazily attempted to putty and blend the parts, then primered the sub assemblies.
Subassemblies complete and primered.
More to follow....
