So, I'm looking through the old Estes catalogs trying to decide on something to clone. I get to the picture of the USS Atlantis, and probably like many others, admire the obvious homage to the lines of the original Star Trek USS Enterprise.

http://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/rock...a/78est034.html

Then I get to remembering Bill's thread of his BT-60 upscale Atlantis with the FlisKits Deuce's Wild canted engine mount.

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/show...hlight=atlantis

Finally, I recalled my meeting with Dan and Dave of Sirius Rocketry at the WOOSH 2005 ECOF event. There I saw in person their beautiful USS Atalntis Refit kit. This is BT-55 based, and as you can read from their "back-story", it's a vision of how the Atlantis would look if it went into a full refit ala the transformation of TV Enterprise to Movie Enterprise.

http://www.siriusrocketry.com/Atlantis01.htm

I absolutely love this design, but my extreme-tight-wad-ness just can't justify spending 60 bucks on a single rocket kit. Besides, my preferences tend towards flying on engines from a Blast-Off Pack I can get at 40% discount with a Michael's coupon.

So, inspired by two different people's interpretations of the USS Atlantis, I give you my own, the USS Atlantis - Prototype Warp Drive, or "ProtoWarp" for short. My "back-story" goes like this;

When the USS Atlantis was brought into drydock, the original intent was only to upgrade to newer technology warp engines. While this prototype (what I'll decal my bird as the "SCC-7107X") was quite successful in proving the upgrade in performance of the new warp drive, it was decided by Fleet Command that the changing missions of the Atlantis warranted upgrades to the entire space frame of the ship, almost creating a new spacecraft entirely.

My model is based on the same length BT-50 as the original. In fact, to keep with my "back-story", the only thing that will be different than the original kit will be the engine nacelles, pylons, and the nose-cone.

Why change the cone you ask? I just think the pointed ogive looks better, and I can say that "the shape change was required by the changed warp field signature created by the new engines".

The engines themselves are two BT-5's, with the front bevel cut at 30 degrees and the rear at 45 degrees. I then took a 3/8" wide strip and bevel-sanded the back so that it would sit nicely in between the two tubes. The ends are just capped with a shaped piece of 1/16" balsa.

Oh yeah, I'll also do up the decals a little differently. As most automotive prototypes are devoid of exterior finishing and trim, I might just go with the minimalist treatment on the decals.

So, whatcha all think?

Later,
EV

Attached Thumbnails

         

I love the way you did the ram tubes. I've been working on the old USS Atlantis decal scan lately, cleaning it up and resizing it for BT-60. It really isn't all that complicated. I think you could make something that looked close enough with a decent graphics program and some imagination.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

That is superslick EV. I like it! Can't wait to see it with the custom decals.

__________________
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

^ Many, many moons later........ ^

While waiting for paint to dry on other projects, I finally got around to doing some work on this thing. While drawing the custom decals, I decided to do a little color change to the original decals. My custom set is all drawn and printed out, but before I start on that, I felt the need to add a bit more color to the body itself first.....





Later,
EV

Got the decals done on this last night. I'm really satisfied with the final look, and glad I switched to the blue accents. I have enough white rockets with red trim!






Later,
EV

Looks great with the blue trim!

__________________
Don
NAR 53455
"Carpe Diem"

That warp engine design was definitely the way to go... looks more Trekkie than the original... the lines (as you have them) somehow psychologically balance out the fact that the airframe is just a plain ol straight body tube a little better than the original, which is a good effect to have, because that's the only thing about the old Estes one that didn't quite do it for me.

__________________
Daniel Runyon Net

to coin a phrase...

to coin a phrase...


WOW !

very nice looking bird... I;m jealous of all the talent on this forum, guys make my simple clone jobs look sick by comparison .

hoping you (beg) submit the design and decals to BARclone ?

~ AL

( painting in NY season is almiost here, fingers crossed )