USS Kelvin and derivatives

[This kit is can also be found on my Google Drive mirror]

I am notoriously hostile to pretty much every Paramount Star Trek product post-Enterprise. I actively dislike/hate pretty much all of the ship designs and visual retcon decisions we’ve seen in all of the new shows and movies.

The exception to this is the USS Kelvin and the related ships seen in the 2009 Star Trek (and used in the fan-made Axanar trailer). I think these ships look like plausible Starfleet ships in the pre-TOS era. As a result I’ve gone ahead and built models and parts you can use to print or kitbash Kelvin era ships.

This expansion parts kit is meant to be compatible with my original Star Trek Constitution Class Parts Kit and all of the related kits.

See my Thingiverse Profile for the full list of parts kits I’ve released so far. All parts are meant to be cross-compatible between kits for your kitbashing enjoyment.

The contents of this kit are provided in three zip files:

• kelvin-blender-files.zip – The Blender source files used to generate the ship and part STL files.
• kelvin-parts-stls.zip – STL part files.
• kelvin-ship-stls.zip – Print-ready combined ship STL files.

This kit supports the following variant ships:

Kelvin type

As seen in Star Trek (2009).

Armstrong type

As seen in Star Trek (2009).

Mayflower type

As seen in Star Trek (2009).

Uprated Mayflower type

Hypothetical variant of the Mayflower upgraded with an Armstrong style roll bar and Kelvin style secondary hull mounted on the ventral side.

Newton type

As seen in Star Trek (2009).

Lagus type

A hypothetical variant that serves as a transport variant, based on the Franz Joseph Ptolemy class (single and dual container variants included).

Notes on scaling and working with Blender

Assumed Kelvin size: The only official Paramount size for the Kelvin is a listed length of 457m according to the 2009 Star Trek Blue-ray release. Some online have speculated even larger sizes based on the cavernous shuttle bay scenes.

However, one of my major problems with Nutrek are the unnecessary star-destroyer scale resizing of trek ships, so I reject these sizes, and accept a Kelvin length of ~315m as speculated by Ex Astris Scientia. All other ships and parts are scaled based on this assumption.

Note this still results in a saucer significantly wider and longer than the later constitution class derivatives, but prevents the worst of the Nutrek bloat.

My target scale for all source files and output STL files is 1:1000. Although these files have not been extensively tested through printing, they are intended to be resized to match common modelling and miniatures scales.

Target scale - Scale STL files to: - Notes

• 1/3900 - 0.25641026 - FASA miniature scale
• 1/3788 - 0.26399155 - ADB Starline 2400 scale
• 1/3125 - 0.32 - ADB Starline 2500 scale
• 1/2500 - 0.4 - The Trek modelers "Golden scale"
• 1/1600 - 0.625 - TOS 3-Ship Set scale
• 1/1400 - 0.714285714 - Common resin model scale
• 1/650 - 1.538461538 - Modelling scale
• 1/537 - 1.862197393 - Common scale for TMP models
• 1/350 - 2.857142857 - Large scale

Blender is free, which to be honest was the primary factor in my decision to learn it. There are many fine video and text tutorials available online if you're interested in learning more. See the Blender fundamentals tutorials playlist to get started.

You can use File -> Import -> Stl (.stl) and File -> Export -> Stl (.stl) to load or save STL files in blender.

Note: These kits were built using Blender 2.9.

Post-processing STL output

Although all of the STL files included have been tested as valid watertight meshes, joining the parts together and exporting new STL files can introduce small errors that may cause issues with slicing programs. I recommend any STL files you create are checked using a program like Netfabb Basic free edition. Doing a simple "Close All Holes" repair has fixed most of the issues I've run into so far. If you do run into issues with mesh quality, please let me know.

Parts list

The following lists provide a summary of the included parts. Parts are included in the ZIP file kelvin-parts-stls.zip.

For the majority of items, the mesh origin has been set so that when you import these objects into your 3D editor of choice, they are positioned as they would be on the sample ships provided.

Parts

Part - Description

• armstrong-impulse.stl - Impulse engine module.
• armstrong-nacelles.stl - Port, starboard, and center warp nacelles.
• armstrong-necks.stl - Necks connecting nacelles with saucer.
• armstrong-necks-thick.stl - Thickened necks for smaller prints.
• armstrong-rollbar.stl - Top roll bar containing weapon pod.
• armstrong-saucer.stl - Main saucer hull.
• armstrong-top-neck.stl - Rear top hull extension.
• kelvin-bottom-neck.stl - Neck connecting nacelle with saucer.
• kelvin-bottom-neck-thick.stl - Thickened neck for smaller prints.
• kelvin-impulse.stl - Impulse engine module.
• kelvin-nacelle.stl - Center warp nacelle.
• kelvin-saucer.stl - Main saucer hull.
• kelvin-secondary-hull.stl - Lower secondary hull with sensor dish and shuttle bay.
• kelvin-secondary-hull-thick.stl - Thickened secondary hull for smaller prints.
• kelvin-style-command-module.stl - Standalone saucer top bridge decks.
• kelvin-style-lower-dome.stl - Standalone saucer lower sensor dome.
• kelvin-style-sensor-dish.stl - Standalone sensor dish.
• kelvin-style-sensor-dish-thick.stl - Thickened sensor dish for smaller prints.
• kelvin-top-neck.stl - Neck connecting secondary hull with saucer.
• kelvin-top-neck-thick.stl - Thickened neck for smaller prints.
• mayflower-impulse.stl - Impulse engine module.
• mayflower-lagus-dual-containers.stl - Paired port and starboard transport containers.
• mayflower-lagus-dual-necks.stl - Necks connecting saucer with containers.
• mayflower-lagus-dual-necks-thick.stl - Thickened neck for smaller prints.
• mayflower-lagus-solo-container.stl - Single center transport containers.
• mayflower-lagus-solo-neck.stl - Necks connecting saucer with container.
• mayflower-lagus-solo-neck-thick.stl - Thickened neck for smaller prints.
• mayflower-nacelles.stl - Port and starboard warp nacelles.
• mayflower-necks.stl - Necks connecting nacelles with saucer.
• mayflower-necks-thick.stl - Thickened necks for smaller prints.
• mayflower-saucer.stl - Main saucer hull.
• mayflower-secondary-hull.stl - Lower secondary hull with sensor dish and shuttle bay.
• mayflower-secondary-hull-thick.stl - Thickened secondary hull for smaller prints.
• mayflower-top-neck.stl - Rear top hull extension.
• newton-bottom-necks.stl - Necks connecting secondary and main hulls.
• newton-bottom-necks-thick.stl - Thickened secondary hulls for smaller prints.
• newton-impulse.stl - Impulse engine module.
• newton-nacelles.stl - Port and starboard nacelles.
• newton-rollbar.stl - Roll bar connecting nacelles and containing weapon pod.
• newton-saucer.stl - Main saucer hull.
• newton-secondary-hulls.stl - Lower secondary hulls with sensor dish and shuttle bay.
• newton-secondary-hulls-thick.stl - Thickened secondary hulls for smaller prints.
• newton-top-necks.stl - Necks connecting nacelles with saucer.
• newton-top-necks-thick.stl - Thickened necks for smaller prints.

Combined ship STLs

All combined, ready-to-print ship files are included in kelvin-ship-stls.zip. These files provide sample ships generated using the parts included in this kit.

Ship - Description

• ship-armstrong.stl - Armstrong type.
• ship-armstrong-thick.stl - Armstrong type. (thickened for small prints)
• ship-kelvin.stl - Kelvin type.
• ship-kelvin-thick.stl - Kelvin type. (thickened for small prints)
• ship-lagus-dual.stl - Lagus type – dual container variant.
• ship-lagus-dual-thick.stl - Lagus type – dual container variant. (thickened for small prints)
• ship-lagus-solo.stl - Lagus type – single container variant.
• ship-lagus-solo-thick.stl - Lagus type – single container variant. (thickened for small prints)
• ship-mayflower.stl - Mayflower type.
• ship-mayflower-thick.stl - Mayflower type. (thickened for small prints)
• ship-mayflower-upgrade.stl - Uprated Mayflower type.
• ship-mayflower-upgrade-thick.stl - Uprated Mayflower type. (thickened for small prints)
• ship-newton.stl - Newton type.
• ship-newton-thick.stl - Newton type. (thickened for small prints)

Blender files

The file kelvin-blender-files.zip contains two blender files for each design: a parts file, containing the STL parts arranged as used in the sample ship designs, and a parts source file, containing the raw blender objects used to create the parts. The Armstrong, Mayflower, and Lagus types share a common set of blender files.

License

I'm releasing this under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. You're free to distribute and modify these files (even for commercial use), provided you attribute the creator and distribute your contributions under the same license.