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

Note: I’ve created a Patreon to support my modelling projects. If you’ve found my work useful, have the means, and would like to support my efforts, please give it a look. I will continue to release my designs for free on Cults 3D and Thingiverse, but Patreon members will get early access and in progress updates on my new projects, and it will serve as a central location for announcements. Thanks for reading!

Following up on my recently released Galaxy and Nebula class models, I’ve started working on reconstructing the kitbashes seen in the Wolf 359 starship graveyard scene in The Next Generation episode Best of Both Worlds Part II. This kit provides parts and ship files supporting the Challenger class, seen in the episode as the USS Buran.

This ships and parts files are scaled consistently, and meant to be compatible with, all of my other Star Trek Parts Kit.

See my Thingiverse and Cults 3d 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.

In addition to the included ship stl files, this kit includes additional zip files:

• challenger-ship-stls-lower-details.zip – Print-ready version of all ship files without shield grids or windows.
• challenger-parts-stls.zip – contains the kitbashable parts in STL format used to create the combined ship STL files.
• challenger-blender-files.zip – Blender source files used to create the ship and parts STLs.

Included Ships

Challenger class

The original USS Buran filming model appears to have been created with the discarded pieces from the model kits used to create the Cheyenne class (or perhaps it’s the other way around). Whereas the Cheyenne saucer is built from the bottom halves of two Galaxy saucers, the Challenger’s saucer is built using two top halves.

Another interesting aspect of the original model is the upper pylon, which uses the conning tower from a model kit of a Soviet Typhoon ballistic missile submarine. A small bit of trivia, while this piece is generally said to be from a Revell 1/400 kit, my research suggests it was actually from a slightly bigger 1/350 kit originally from Dragon models. The photos of the part on the original model show the details line up pretty much perfectly with the latter, and not the former.

In addition to the standard ship file, I’ve included several hypothetical variant ships. For those who don’t like the way the vertically symmetrical saucer looks, I’ve built an alternative version that uses a more conventional Galaxy class saucer shape.

I also created variants of both saucer versions with parts similar to those found on the All Good Things Galaxy-X model, including a phaser lance and saucer torpedo pod. Obviously very non-canonical, but there if you want them.

Notes on scaling and working with Blender

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.

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: This kit was built using Blender 3.5.

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 following ZIP file:

• challenger-parts-stls.zip – contains the kitbashable parts in STL format used to create the combined ship STL files.

Note these parts are not meant to be printed by themselves, they’re intended to be combined to kitbash your own ship variants. For most 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

Combined ship STLs

In addition to the standard ship files, additional variants are included in the following zip file:

• challenger-ship-stls-lower-details.zip – Print-ready version of all ship files without shield grids or windows.

Blender files

An additional zip file is included containing two Blender files. The first file contains the standard STL parts arranged as used in the sample ship designs, while the second contains parts-source file contains the raw blender objects used to create the parts.

• challenger-blender-files.zip – Blender source files used to create the ship and parts STLs.

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.