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U.S.S. Southern Cross NCC-75122

History:

The Endurance Class cruiser was developed in the late 2360s as a new multi-purpose starship incorporating technology from the Sovereign Class starship in a smaller hull package. These ships were designed to serve as medium to long range explorers during peacetime, and heavy gun cruisers during times of conflict.

Roughly between the Sovereign Class and Excelsior Class starships in size, the Endurance Class cruisers are well suited for extended patrol and fleet operations. Their Advanced TA/T/TS targeting sensors and extensive defensive phaser arrays were especially effective against Dominion and Cardassian fighters, and they were frequently paired with guided missile/torpedo cruisers and carriers, such as the Akira Class, in hunter/killer teams.

USS Southern Cross, NCC-75122, is one of the earlier Endurance Class cruisers. She is equipped with a dorsal sensor pod, just above the aft shuttlebay, and a single forward torpedo launcher in place of the captain's yacht. She was assigned to convoy escort duty, guarding transports and planetary/amphibious assault carriers during much of the Dominion War, and never lost a single transport ship under her protection.

Naming:

U.S.S. Southern Cross is named after the Crux constellation visible from Earth. The class name Endurance honors Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic Endurance Expedition of 1915.

Image gallery:

Model notes:

This model was built by Markus C. Nee and was completed in May 1999. It is in 1:1400 scale, and is approximately 16" long. The model is a heavily modified AMT/Ertl Sovereign Class kit. The design is loosely based on two of John Eaves' alternative concept drawings of the Enterprise-E on pages 100 and 101 of the TNG Movies Sketchbook.

I trimmed half an inch off the edge of the primary hull of the Ertl model to create a slightly smaller and lower profile saucer section, and reworked the impulse engines to give them more of an enclosed look. I moved the secondary hull aftward, shortened it, and scratchbuilt a new aft section from sheet styrene. The upper secondary hull and warp nacelle pylons were also scratchbuilt out of sheet styrene, and the warp nacelles are resin castings from molds I made off a scratchbuilt styrene master. It was painted with Gunze Sangyo acrylic paints and lettered with the stock AMT decal sheet, and Chartpak dry transfers.

Behind the scenes:

• Description of hull modifications.
• Unpainted model.

All photography on this page by Steve Stock and Markus Nee.

All original materials on this web page, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright 1999 Markus C. Nee. All rights reserved. Ask for my permission before using any of my work. Thanks.