Star Trek III Merchantman and Redresses: Star Trek Starship Parts Kit Expansion #21

[Note: Because Thingiverse is dying, I’m switching over to Cults3d as my primary publishing location. You can find this project there at: <https://cults3d.com/en/users/Captain_Mojo/creations&gt;]

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!

This is the 21st expansion parts kit meant to complement my original Star Trek Constitution Class Parts Kit, providing parts and ship models to support Merchantman ship first seen in Star Trek III, along with the redressed and modified versions used by later Trek productions (as documented by Jörg Hillebrand and Bernd Schneider at Ex Astris Scientia).

See my Cults3d Profile for the full list of parts kits I’ve released so far. Each of these kits includes combined ships and ship parts STL files, along with blender source files used to create them. Ship files should be ready to print. Part files are provided so you can import into your 3d modelling software of choice to combine and modify to easily create your own ship designs. All parts are meant to be cross-compatible between kits.

Included Ships

This kit includes the following variants:

Merchantman

The original model built for Star Trek III, first seen transporting the photogenic Lady Valkris, and then being destroyed by Commander Kruge in his Bird of Prey.

This model was reused, unmodified, as the Atlec security vessel in the second season TNG episode "The Outrageous Okona".

This same configuration was with a repainted hull as the Cardassian freighter Bok’Nor in the second season DS9 episode “The Maquis, Part 1”.

Sheliak Colony Ship

Seen in the TNG episode "The Ensigns of Command", this was the first major change to the original Merchantman filming model, with the addition of a secondary bridge module, some weird tubing and canisters, and two outriggers made of uboat model hulls. Most of these changes were subsequently removed.

Peliar Zel ship

The model had most of the Sheliak parts removed (with the exception of the disks on the wings) for its next appearance as the Peliar Zel ship in the TNG season four episode “The Host”.

Vidiian ship

Last major variant for the Merchantman kit: The Viidian ship from the early season one Voyager episode "Phage)".

Removing all of the previous additions, cutting major sections off the "wings", and replacing the bridge module completely, this is the most extreme of the redresses of the original filming model. It was also recreated as a CGI model during this time.

It was later reused in the DS9 season 4 episode "Rules of Engagement" as a Klingon transport, the last time the Merchantman was seen in live action screen-canon Trek.

Zip Files

Zip files are included in the following google drive locations:

• merchantman-ship-stls.zip – Contains the combined, ready to print, ship files.
• merchantman-parts-stls.zip – Contains all of the individual part STL files used to create the combined ship files.
• merchantman-blender-files.zip – Contains the source blender files used to generate the parts, as well as files with the parts assembled as used to generate the combined ship files.

Notes on scaling and working with Blender

Note: as noted in the Ex Astris Scientia
article, there is no good sizing guidance on how large the original Merchantman model is supposed to be. Just to have some number, I’ve gone with the FASA game stats that list the ship at \~200m. If you want a smaller version, modify the scaling numbers below as appropriate.

My target scale for all source files and output STL files is 1:1000, However, I generally recommend 1:2500 or smaller given the detail level of the model. Although these files have not been extensively tested through printing, they are intended to be resized to match common modelling and miniatures scales.

Blender

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. For a basic tutorial on moving and joining objects in Blender(which should be the minimum you need to know when working with these parts), see this instructables tutorial.

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 3.1.

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.

File manifest

Parts

The
merchantman-parts-stls.zip file contains all of the part STL model files listed below. Note some parts will be shared between ships, for instance the engine parts are used in all variant. There are also “Thick” variant parts that are meant to be used in smaller-scale prints.

Combined ship STLs

Pritable ships created using the parts are included as combined STL files. “Thick” variant ships are included support printing at smaller sizes.

Blender files

The
merchantman-blender-files.zip file contains parts files, containing the STL parts arranged as used in the sample ship designs, and parts source files, containing the raw blender objects used to create the parts.

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.