Background

Rogue Class: More than a decade after the maiden voyage of the Galaxy Class, one of the largest starships ever constructed by Starfleet, a design variation emerged to reinvest existing components salvaged from decommissioned and damaged vessels into a starship at the cutting edge of design and technology.

The time since the Galaxy class was first commissioned has seen more technological and scientific advances in starship design that in most of the history of warp travel. The Rogue class integrates these advances into a marvel of technology. Neural gel pack bio-components form the core of ship’s central and library computer systems. Adaptive nacelle armaments from the Defiant Class development have been installed. The extensive scientific , research, and sensor facilities have been expanded and improved. Ablative armor and multi-phasic regenerative shields have greatly improved the vessel’s defensive capabilities. And all of these improvement have been introduced while decreasing the profile and bulk of the vessel to a streamlined organic design.

At a time when powerful, versatile starships are in shortage, Starfleet Engineering's solution to resurrect an aging class of vessel into a sleeker, more advanced ship was intended to maintain the balance of power in the Dominion conflict. Tragically, the U.S.S. Tzen-Tza was lost in a conflict at Utopia Planitia before she was officially commissioned. The vessel, manned only by a visiting admiral and a skeleton crew pulled from the shipyard's senior staff and field consultants, valiantly defended the shipyard from a major offensive by the Jem'Hadar. The U.S.S. Tzen-Tza held off the attack for seven hours, enduring a level of damage never before imagined. Despite nearly 40% of her hull having been compromised, she continued to fight, and eventually crippled the Jem'Hadar fleet. Before Admiral Markus and her crew could abandon ship, the punishment she endured took its toll as a catastrophic warp core breach destroyed the vessel and all aboard. But the bravery and sacrifice of the Tzen-Tza's crew saved the shipyard and the majority of the ships under construction. The power and endurance so impressed those at Utopia Planitia that three new Rogue class vessels were commissioned; the first to be named the U.S.S. Markus.

Model Details

This ship was the first major kit-bash I undertook and I have to give credit to Markus C. Nee, an acknowledged master of scratchbuilding, whose creations inspired me to take a chance and try it. The ship was built from an Enterprise D kit with the new sections of the secondary hull constructed from sheet styrene and detailed with pieces from various kits.

For more detail shots of this model, click the links below:

• Rear View

• Front View