Federation Space Tug DS9 U.S.S. Atlas

[Lightning]

Just seeing this for the first time. So glad you found the last part. I've done my fair share of ebay scrolling trying to ID stuff.

 

[publiusr]

I could see this as a follow-on to a work bee…as a full tug? Must just be a reactor, drive and tractor beam

 

[stevielewis]

I could see this as a follow-on to a work bee…as a full tug? Must just be a reactor, drive and tractor beam

Believe it or not but there is an option for a crew of 6 or it can be totally automated. The idea is of a towing vehicle for returning disabled starships to a base for repair during the Dominion War.

 

[Lightning]

Believe it or not but there is an option for a crew of 6 or it can be totally automated.

I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around the scale, how big is it compared to a person? there is some length info online, but it doesn't really help me picture it.

 

[stevielewis]

I will find out the dimensions and where it fits in with the other ships.


Here is a short synopsis card about the Tug that is online:

I have found a couple of other schematics that have the size of this ship a bit larger. So I would say that it depends on which dimensions you want to believe in. In any case, this "starship" is on the small size but with lots of power to move larger starships.

 

[stevielewis]

I am back with pictures of the part I received for this build:

The part did crack when I put it on my build, you can see it on the right side. I think it happened when I tried to remove it from the build the first time. I hope it doesn't crack again on the other sides. Anyways you can see it is a perfect fit and everything lines up. All I need to do now is wait till Spring and warm weather to paint it.

Thank you for looking. Comments welcome.

 

[publiusr]

Voyager struts attached to Warbird nacelles by the look of things

 

[stevielewis]

Voyager struts attached to Warbird nacelles by the look of things

Yes, that is correct. The Voyager's main deflector shield, turned backwards, makes the front of the top structure. The top structure is the upper half of the Weapons/sensors pod from the AMT Runabout.

 

[stevielewis]

Don't have any pictures to post (maybe later) but I did some work on the mounting post that the new red part is mounted to. Basically I sanded and scraped each of the octagon sides of the mount until the red part slid onto it without causing the crack in the red part to open up. I then sanded and scraped the eight sides of the Orange part that also fits into the opening on the Red part until the Orange part slid into the opening without causing the crack in the Red part to open. I then glued the crack on the Red part and let it set up.

Looking at my reference photos of the Tug I noticed that I will need to cut the "top shelf" off as it appears to have been removed to get the two "tank halves" to fit under the Runabout weapons pod half. I will probably do that later today.

 

[Barnstormer]

GREAT build!

 

[stevielewis]

GREAT build!

Thank you Barnstormer!

 

[Searun]

Space Tugboats. Love the concept

 

[stevielewis]

A small update to this build: I was able to remove the top flat surface from the Red colored part by using an exacto knife and repeatedly scoring the 90 degree angle from the inside until it cut off. I then lightly sanded the edge. I also glued where it cracked on the Red part. Next I cut a section of sheet styrene to fit the width of the Runabout weapons pod and to fit across the space from the tug body to the Red part. I then placed the two tank halves on the sheet styrene and got them lined up in place. The picture below shows how this looks from the rear of the tug. Next I will be gluing the sheet styrene piece to the weapons pod half and then shaping the styrene to the pod shape. Then I can glue the tank halves to the styrene. Once that is complete I will leave the pod loose fit to the tug so I can remove it later when I go to do the final painting to the tug and assembly of the tug sometime this Spring. Thank you for looking.

 

[stevielewis]

Believe it or not but I have been painting this build since my last post. Unfortunately I did not get the correct Blue color paint so it will look much darker than the actual prop. Anyway, here are four recent photos:

As can be seen I do have some touch up painting to do, adding decals (the few that are on the actual prop), and then sealing the decals and weathering, so lots to do yet. Thank you for looking. Comments and likes are welcome to keep me going.

 

[kermet]

Looks nice very clean work Thanks for sharing

 

[stevielewis]

Looks nice very clean work Thanks for sharing

Thank you kermet.

 

[Searun]

Stevie Lewis,
Great work. Went back and reread your thread on how you researched and determined kit parts. Such a rare studio model. Such good detective work to uncover the kits used.

Many a salvage vessel at sea. Expect many after a war in space. The build is a credit and honor to the original artist and builder. Also, nice for me to review again.

 

[stevielewis]

Stevie Lewis,
Great work. Went back and reread your thread on how you researched and determined kit parts. Such a rare studio model. Such good detective work to uncover the kits used.

Many a salvage vessel at sea. Expect many after a war in space. The build is a credit and honor to the original artist and builder. Also, nice for me to review again.

Thank you Searun. Yes, it is a studio scale model but not one that even got much notice in the five seconds of screen time it got. I do hope to get this build finished later this year. I hope that my time and effort to recreate this studio prop will be, as you say, a credit and honor to the original artist and builder.

 

[publiusr]

The nacelles and struts would have worked well as a Klingon design.

 

[stevielewis]

Here it is again, two years later, and I am following up on this build. I was able to get a stand for this build and get the Tug mounted on it. Here are a couple of photos of that. Thanks for looking.