Federation Renaissance-class Exploration Cruiser
Renaissance-class Exploration Cruiser
Overview:
No fancy write-up here since this is an existing ship. It’s one of the “background” ship classes from TNG/DS9 episodes. No screen appearances, but one ship (the USS Aries) was offered to Commander Riker and was part of Captain Picard’s interdiction fleet during the Klingon Civil War.
Advanced Starship Design Bureau Link and Fanon Design
Specifications:
- Entered Service: 2318
- Active Ships: 13
- Endurance: 36 months
- Length: 330 meters
- Beam: 196.5 meters
- Complement: 364 crew
Designer’s Notes:
This is a mash-up of two different versions I’ve found online: the ASDB version (linked above), and an old low-poly model for Bridge Commander (still available in the Gamefront downloads). This model is mostly built using CaptainMojo’s Niagara and Ambassador parts kits: link Most components have been stretched, skewed, flipped, and otherwise transformed.
I really liked using the Niagara-class kit for this build. CaptainMojo did a great job on all of its component meshes… but I think the Niagara-class itself is one of the most hideous Federation designs of all time! It felt good to turn those parts into a ship that I actually want in my own collection.
Updated June 2025: Shortened the neck, squared the cross-section of the nacelles, rescaled to a proper 1:1000
Parts Used:
- Saucer, bridge, c-deck, saucer sensor dome, secondary hull, nacelles, (Niagara-class parts kit)
- Neck, warp pylons (Ambassador-class parts kit)
- Torpedo module (Freedom-class parts kit)
Please post your prints and remakes!