by Justin Miller
Scale: 1/1000
Inspired by the teaser from the fan film Starship Exeter: The Trasaurrian Intersection, the reveal of the crashed saucer section of the USS Kongo on the surface was a memorable scene. The Exeter is dispatched to the Starbase on Corinth 4, only to find the base destroyed and the crashed hull of the Kongo . If you haven't seen the film yet, I won't spoil it. You can view it here.
Construction
I started the diorama with the base. A simple black picture frame, some dry wall spackle to start with. Once the putty was dry I primed the surface with Krylon primer. I sprayed on some desert tan, and added more color with Doc Marten's pastels. Rocks and sand came from my back yard and were attached with Ultimate white glue.
The saucer is from Polar Lights 1/1000 Enterprise Kit. I built the saucer pretty much stock, then cut up the front with a razor saw. I painted the hull Testors camouflage grey.
The rust ring and grid panels are from David Tomita's after market decal set and the Kongo name and registry are from PNT's decal sheet. I wasn't sure about placing a decal on top of a decal, but Future and setting solutions worked great. Once the decals were dry and dull coated, I scratched up the name and registry with a knife blade.
The hole in the hull was backed with sheet styrene. I added some Wave detail parts, copper wire and mesh screen for some detail. Weathering was done with pastels and washed on top of the decals that were dull coated. Since the Kongo experienced some sort of powerful dimensional weapon, part of the grid is missing. I wanted to simulate that a layer of the hull skin had been ripped away. Weathering consisted of streaking gray pastels across the hull and layering of pastels for the right side damage. Once the weathering was done and pastels sealed I mounted the hull onto the base with more Ultimate.
![[SSM's 15th Contest: Wrecks]](rex.jpg)
