The S. S. Botany Bay

DY-100 from Star Trek's "Space Seed"

with a bit more styling—maybe, as it might have looked had it appeared in The Wrath of Khan...

Construction Notes:

I built this over a two-month period early in 1996. I began by making a set of prints in 1/288 scale, which would also be the scale of the finished model. From the prints, I cut sheet styrene pieces to create structural frameworks as well as the skin of the ship. I broke down the design into four assemblies: main body, sail, cargo modules, and propulsion section.

 

Main Body

This consisted of three sections: the nosecone, the forward body, and the aft body. The nose is a wood turning attached to the rest of the body with epoxy. The gaps between the nose and the body were filled with epoxy putty. I coated the wood with a urethane finish which I later sanded smooth. The fore and aft body is built on an internal framework of 5/32" aluminum tube running from the nose to the engine section. Octagonal styrene bulkheads were placed along it at intervals. The body is sheathed in .06" sheet styrene.

Sail

This consists of an internal framework of .06" styrene with a skin of .06" styrene on the flat aft surfaces, and .02" styrene for the curved main section. A short piece of aluminum tubing runs across the sail to provide a structural support for the winglets.

Cargo Modules

Yes, plural. Based on some of Matt Jefferies' concept drawings, I designed the cargo section as five individual modules docked at five of sixteen hardpoints. Look closely at the aft body for engraved hatches & lockpoints. Again, an internal framework of .06" sheet styrene is covered with a skin of same. The surface consists of trapezoids and rectangles of "sheet metal" styled styrene. I finished the corners with strip styrene.

Engine

Again, its an internal styrene framework and sheet styrene skin. The supports for the radiators are square brass tubing. The radiators are brass screen superglued over sheet styrene (and, yes, I know the "real" BB has backswept supports - those pictures surfaced after I built this). The engine bells are from a Space:1999 eagle. The reactor caps are diesel locomotive cooling fans.