Again, inspiration for my miniature of the Federation Command Cruiser USS Balson comes from the wonderful internet repository of Star Trek designs showcased over at the Starship Schematic Database. This class of vessels is shown in both TOS and upgraded Refit configurations, and is an attractive subject in any modeling scale. It is not an official ADB Star Fleet Battles design, but lends itself well to creating an SSD for playing within the game system and isn't so overly armed as to be problematic for inclusion.

Using Amarillo Design Bureau's Starline 2400 1:3788 scale gaming miniatures, this is a quick kitbash of readily available parts from the venerable Federation Heavy Cruiser and the Dreadnought Cruiser. Every angle and fitting on the ship is appealing to me and having one, two or a bunch enhances anyone's gaming miniature star fleet.

Converting the parts is easy even for a novice modeler, calling for a minor trim to the Heavy Cruiser's Primary Hull/Neck to fit properly into the Dreadnought's Secondary Hull slot. Once done, I used simple ModelMaster Liquid Cement for bonding all of the parts and made an alignment jig using sanding sticks to support the miniature upside-down overnight as the glue setup. The cleanup of ejector pin remnants and seams took longer than coming up with the alignment jig and putting the five pieces together - it's a great weekend model project.

I didn't follow the rendering strictly when I built my version - leaving the armament of the Dreadnought's Secondary Hull in their original positions behind the connecting dorsal neck instead of relocating the Phasers aft. Sure, one would think the firing arcs are compromised by the proximity of the warp nacelles - but it worked for the Dreadnought, so it should work out for this class too. Leaves room for another miniature showing this revision too, eh?

Listed in the Starfleet Registry, the Balson-Class is made up of USS Balson (NCC-2105); USS Pact (NCC-2121); USS Territory (NCC-2122) and USS Formality (NCC-2123) if you wanted different marking options for your miniature(s) in this era of ships. In modeling the class ship, USS Balson, I didn't change any of the basic details and weapons fittings found on the standard Heavy Cruiser or Dreadnought, unlike the drawing above from the Starship Schematic Database which would show an upgraded USS Balson. However, for modeling USS Pact as the second ship in the class, I relocated the secondary hull's Phasers to the aft position seen in the drawing. For the last two ships, USS Territory and USS Formality, I added another Phaser battery to the primary hull in the forward firing arc and two additional Photon Torpedo tubes on the command blister.