The "Makuda" Class Klingon Battle Cruiser Background

Awhile back, Michael Okuda shared a tale from his time working on Star Trek: The Next Generation to the Facebook page that he shares with his wife. The post includes a single photo of his suggestion for what would become the K'Vort-class. The photo shows a kitbashed model using what appears to be a K't'inga model kit as its base. He reinforced the model with a brass rod, installed lights, and attached various greebles. Rick Sternbach added weathering and battle scars. Unfortunately, the model was not used and the ILM's Bird-of-Prey became the (much larger) K'Vort.

I'm thinking about using the design whenever our Star Trek Adventures campaign starts back up. The Klingon fleet, even in the 24th century, could use a little more variety. I wrote up a quick history of the class and gave it a name inspired by its creator. Stat-wise, I'm planning on just using the K'Vort from the book.

The Makuda-class battle cruiser was originally conceived as a response to Starfleet's Excelsior-class starship. The design is a modified K't'inga-class with enhanced systems and a reinforced hull. The Klingon Defense Force ultimately rejected the design. Although the Makuda would have set new standards for battle cruiser performance, it was far more expensive than simply keeping the K't'inga-class in service. Upgrading existing K't'inga-class battle cruisers to the Makuda-class design was considered, but the estimated cost was comparable to new construction due to the additional hull bracing and upgraded structural integrity fields needed to support the improved systems and performance.

The Makuda-class design was revisited on three occasions.

The first was in response to Starfleet's introduction of the Ambassador-class starship. To save time, a new team took the existing Makuda-class design study and updated it with the technologies that had been developed in the interim. The design was well-regarded, but lost to the K'Vort-class - an uprated and expanded Bird-of-Prey design based on the B'Rel-class. Again, the deciding factor was cost. The K'Vort could be more economically produced in the numbers the Klingon Defense Force needed to protect the Empire. On the other hand, a few Houses took a liking to the design, preferring "proper battle cruisers" to "overgrown scout ships" and it entered limited production to replace older battle cruisers. Most were never deployed outside Klingon space, but a few saw action against the expanding Cardassian Union.

A proposal to expand production of the Makuda-class was put forth after the reemergence of the Romulan Star Empire along with their fleets of impressive D'deridex-class warbirds. However, the Vor'cha-class battle cruiser was entering service to glowing reports from their first crews as they shattered performance records. Another factor was the latest refit for the K't'inga-class - one that would enable the venerable battle cruisers to serve in the brief Federation-Klingon conflict just prior to the Dominion War. With brand new battle cruisers joining the fleets and plenty of freshly refitted older ones around, the Klingon Defense Force rejected the proposal and even orders from the Houses began to dry up.

The desperate early days of the Dominion War was the third and final time production of the Makuda-class for the Klingon Defense Force was seriously considered. It was pointed out that there were some slipways too small to build a Vor'cha, but not suitable for a K'Vort or B'Rel either. Most of these slipways originally built D-7 battle cruisers and had been retooled for civilian production as the Empire tried to restore its economy after Praxis. It had always been possible to use them to produce Makuda-class battle cruisers, but the direct cost of retooling and the indirect cost to the Empire's economy was always deemed to be too high. Questions of cost disappeared as the Dominion proved to be an existential threat to the Federation-Klingon Alliance.

The Makuda-class plans were once again updated, but there were limits to what could be done with the aging design and progress was slow. Only one slipway was retooled and limited production began by the time the Romulans entered the Dominion War. With the tide turning, the Klingon Defense Force halted plans to expand production further. The single slipway continued to produce Makuda-class battle cruisers - at a rate just enough to replace losses - until the end of the war. The slipways that were to be used to build Makuda-class battle cruisers were instead retooled to produce troop transports to ferry Klingon warriors to take planets in Cardassian space instead.

Homicidal Warbot Trash Bash WIP

I was going to spend my free time this weekend on Kaladrax Reborn, but I got distracted by a shiny new idea. It occurred to me that certain bits from my collection of random junk could be assembled into a sci-fi defensive emplacement or robotic weapon system. I did put some paint on Kaladrax, but that was in between prepping and assembling this brand new project.

Someday I'll figure out how to make a plan and stick with it.

This figure is built around the plastic spigot of a liquid laundry detergent container. I noticed that the spigot appears vaguely like part of a turret awhile back, but I wasn't sure how to complete that look. Everything started to come together while I was rummaging through my bits bin for something else. The "barrel" - actually the hub of the feed roller for a printer - fit snugly into the spigot. An old pull tab fit around the barrel, evoking some kind of barrel shroud or sensor system. The big discovery was that the orange base part - originally a screw-on cap for a bottle of something or other - fit nicely under the "turret" piece. The rest of the parts were selected to add details to suggest various functions - communications, venting heat/fumes, etc. I have multiples of all the parts, giving me the luxury to experiment.

Initial bunch of parts used for this project.

Next came the test fit. On a practical level, this step confirmed that the parts could actually be assembled into a completed figure. Parts on builds like this often need a little "convincing" to fit. Test fitting also gave me a better idea of what the assembled figure would look like on the tabletop. I used a little mounting putty to hold everything together during this step.

Initial test fit. Some of the parts moved around for the final assembly and the side parts haven't been added yet.

The test fit revealed no assembly problems, but another issue appeared. The long barrel unbalanced the figure. It tended to fall over even when resting on a table or desk and was almost hopeless on terrain or felt. Possible solutions included weights, adding more parts, and gluing the figure to a wide base. I decided to plow ahead while I mulled it over.

Preparing the parts involved an abrasive sheet and a little elbow grease. Many plastics tend to be too smooth for glue and paint to "grab" - resulting in weak bonds. Roughing up the parts produces more surface area and allow glue and paint to bond properly. All parts were then washed with soap and water. No telling where these things have been.

Close up of newest bits.

While waiting for everything to dry, I found a couple more parts that fit on the sides of the figure. I have no recollection of what these parts are, but they are visually interesting and I have plenty of them. These parts counterbalance the barrel and the "legs" stabilize the figure. I'm still planning on putting this figure on a base, but I feel better knowing that it will rest on a flat surface on its own. The latest parts were prepared using the same techniques as the rest.

Rear view with various parts added to provide detail.

Assembly was straightforward. Test fitting provided good practice. All parts were bonded using cyanoacrylate glue.

The assembled figure looks like a cross between an astromech droid and a Dalek. I'm thinking less "static defensive emplacement" and more "homicidal warbot" for the future of this project. For now, I'm setting it aside for a few days. I don't want to get a bright idea on some new part to glue on after I've already primed and started painting it.

Reaper Bones Kaladrax Reborn WIP Part 3

Time for an update! Progress has been slow and steady. See Part 1 and Part 2 to see how slow and steady. I'm still hoping to get this project done by Halloween.

Test fit of what's been painted so far.

My goal last month was to get the main body ready for assembly. I decided to go for broke and paint green necrotic glowing effects on the figure. My inspiration for the idea can be seen here. This meant getting the brown and off-white layers down on the skeleton and the green layers on the areas in between. I also made a first pass at the glow effects on the main body.

Test fit (front). Long tail is long.

Getting that bright "glowing" green was a challenge. My research into achieving a glowing effect turned up a couple of essential points. Much of it involves color theory and thinking about how light moves around. The area generating the glow should be the lightest tone used. "Light" in this context meaning as close to white as possible. The areas lit by the glow should shade darker as they get further away from the source. This required multiple layers and several passes to get right.

Close up of the glowing areas. I might need to knock back the glowing effect on the ribs.

The base color for the green glowing areas is Reaper 09294 Alien Goo. I applied a mix of it and FolkArt 869 Glass & Tile Medium directly to the white plastic to act as a primer. Next I drybrushed on some FolkArt 644 Grass Green on the edges of the glowing areas and on the surrounding bones. Unfortunately, this darkened the glowing areas too much. I thinned down some more Alien Goo to lighten the glowing areas, but this turned out to lighten the overall appearance too much. I went back and forth between the Grass Green and Alien Goo until I found a balance that I could live with. Finally, I highlighted the innermost glowing areas with some thinned down Reaper 09287 Neon Yellow. Despite the name, Neon Yellow does contain enough green to blend with the other colors used. This achieved the gradation that I was looking for.

Brown base layer on the head. Reminds me of chocolate. Why did I type that? Now I want a snack. 

I started on the head and wings this month. The skeletal areas received the FolkArt 231 Real Brown / FolkArt 869 Glass & Tile Medium mix used on the rest of the figure. The coverage is uneven, but my main concern is getting the color down to the recesses. The raised areas will be covered up with the off-white I've been using for the bone color. Painting in the green areas are next.

Close up showing a couple of issues. Note the color differences between the pieces and the patchy coverage in some of the recessed areas.

Taking the photos for this post seemed as a good a time to take stock as any. I assembled the painted parts on the base. I once again realized that this thing is going to take an enormous amount of space to display. I also noticed a couple of issues with the paint job. The first was expected - the colors of each piece don't match precisely. This is a consequence of mixing my own paints and doing each piece over a period of time. Some color variation was going to happen. The second was that the brown areas on some of the pieces are looking patchy. I'm not sure what caused it. However, I am planning on applying a wash to the entire figure prior to detailing. The goal is to mask any color variations. It should also fill in the recesses.

Kaladrax Reborn will be on the prowl for adventurers soon enough.

I should have the head and wings painted to the same level as the rest of the figure by the end of September. With a little luck, I may also have the wash layer down. After that are any other corrections, applying the green glow effects on the rest of the figure and base, sealing in the paint job, and deciding where I can store this thing.

The next post in this series will be out in October.

Pegasus Hobbies Hexagon Construction Kit Review

Let's look at the Hexagon Construction Kit. I've posted about this product before. None of those posts are proper reviews - more like a couple of early impressions and a project that made use of this product. So what's in this kit? And is it worth getting?

The Hexagon Construction Kit "Large Box" and contents.

The Hexagon Construction kit has been around for awhile. The manufacturer is a Russian company named Tehnolog Limited (copyright 2003). Pegasus Hobbies distributes the kits in the United States. These kits were once a popular choice for 15mm to 28mm scale sci-fi wargaming terrain and used to be available from many online retailers. Either the supply of this product has dried up or the demand declined in the years since then. The kits are still available, but they are harder to find these days.

The "Large Box" Hexagon Construction Kit holds a dozen sprues of parts and a set of instructions. There are three different sprue designs and each sprue holds a variety of parts. Expect to spend some time with a hobby knife cutting away mold lines and flash. The most useful part of the instructions are the notes on how the five different connectors work. The rest of the instructions describe how to build the structure pictured on the box. I couldn't find any reference to anybody actually building that structure. Most folks seem to use these kits for building custom sci-fi wargaming terrain.

The connectors used to hold the parts together take up a significant amount of real estate on each sprue, but they are a necessary component to assembling the parts as designed. The connectors fit tightly enough not to require glue. That stated, I'm not going to judge anybody who uses a little superglue to make sure everything holds together. There are gaps between the parts when using the connectors, but they don't stand out at tabletop distances. The connectors can break during assembly, but the sprues supply plenty of them.

The sprues are made from a hard plastic. Each part has different greebles on each side. The details are sharp - the vents, bolts/rivets, and ribbing on the cables are all clearly visible. The parts take spray primers and paints well. Some highlighting and a wash is recommended to bring out the details.

The look of these parts is fairly generic, but they aren't universal. They might work for steampunk, but not for more traditional fantasy. They slide seamlessly into the grimly industrial look of darker sci-fi settings, but might not fit a sleeker sci-fi aesthetic where rivets look out of place.

The sprues with the titular hexagon parts (front and rear views) and my current storage solution for the connectors - medicine pill bottles (cap not shown).

This is the most common sprue - six come in each "Large Box" kit. Sprues like these were the basis of the Sci-Fi Landing Pad and Shelters project. Before that project, I considered using the square and rectangle parts to assemble some 28mm scale sci-fi cargo containers as scatter terrain. I decided against the idea after considering the number of 28mm scale sci-fi cargo containers on the market.

Sci-Fi Landing Pad and Shelters. The hexagonal parts make up the top of the landing pad. Note that seven hexagons were needed - I had to use parts from a pair of kits.

 Shelter details. Square and rectangular parts were used for most of the shelters, the landing tower, and the elevator structure. An earlier version of the landing pad incorporated a couple of rectangles for a ramp.

The sprues with the large rectangular, various triangular, and ladder parts (front and rear views).

Each "Large Box" also contains four of these sprues. I planned to use the large square parts as part a security barrier scaled for 15mm, but I had a better idea when I started a Star Trek Adventures campaign. Note that at least two kits will be needed for a complete cube. The ladder parts are a little large for for 15mm, but should work for 28mm. I'm reserving those for my next electrical box or trash bash terrain project. The small equilateral triangles can be combined into an additional hexagon part. I assembled them as the opening doors of a missile silo for an abandoned project.

I'm thinking of calling this one "Techno-Pyramid". I'm also thinking that "Techno-Pyramid" sounds like the name of a Synthwave band.

The "Techno-Pyramid" was the result after tinkering with some of the triangular parts. It will probably appear on the table as an alien artifact or something. I just need to decide if I want to paint it metallic silver or some neon color.

The sprues with all the railings (front and rear views).

The "Large Box" only has two of these sprues. Most of these parts were intended to be used as railings. The open design works well for structural supports as well. There are also a couple of rectangular parts with integrated ladders.

These elongated right triangles? I have yet to use them for a project. I've played around with connecting them to the other parts, but inspiration hasn't struck. They are most likely going to end up glued to an otherwise flat surface on some kitbashed terrain piece.

Much of the utility of this product comes from being able to assemble the parts into structures, but the parts themselves are an excellent way to bulk up a bits box. I have a small pile of parts left over from previous kits and will have more once I take my cutters to this one. They have been a handy way to add details to trash bash terrain, a kitbashed spaceship model, or the base of a large figure.

These kits have gotten harder to find, which may be a turn off for those interested in a reliable long term supply. The full retail price for a "Large Box" kit from Pegasus Hobbies is $32.99. That works out to about $2.75 per sprue. That's a good value considering the number of parts that come on each sprue.

Back from a Blogging Break

I made the conscious decision to take August off. Things at work have been changing non-stop since my place of employment changed hands a year ago. 2020 has been weird and stressful for everybody. Putting paint on plastic and metal figures seemed a little meaningless. I couldn't focus enough to put words on the screen. I took a month off blogging and hobby stuff to recharge a bit.

During my blogging break, I realized that I need a plan. In March, I started posting more regularly to this blog. My goal was modest - two posts a month. I achieved posting twice a month in March, April, and May. June and July each saw an increase to three posts per month. It was going well. Then I hit a wall. I had been dusting off old projects, reviewing a few things, and sharing thoughts about tabletop games. But just doing whatever came to mind could only go so far. Without direction, I drove off a cliff.

I still don't have a solid plan. That's coming together. Right now, I want to continue to gradually increase the number of posts I put out per month until I find a comfortable and sustainable pace. I've barely put a dent in my mountain of miniatures, so slinging more paint is in my future. My reviews seem to be well received, so I'm happy to offer up more opinions about the products I purchase. I can discuss tabletop gaming all darn day, so more posts about whatever game or gaming topic that catches my attention seems like a good outlet. I'd like to experiment with more tutorial posts. I did a post on electrical box terrain quite a while back and I've been thinking about revisiting the idea in more detail. Finally, I have almost as many old projects that need finishing as I do unpainted miniatures, so that's a bunch of stuff that needs doing.

It's not a plan, but it is a direction to go until I come up with one.