10 Legendary Star Trek Kit-Bashes

3. New Orleans-class

Star Trek USS Kyushu
Eaglemoss / Fabio Passaro

The New Orleans-class had a bit of a false start when it came into being. The early seasons of The Next Generation were light on newer designs of ships. The Enterprise-D, Enterprise-C, and the Constellation-class Stargazer were the major new designs, with the Excelsior, Reliant, and Grissom models all serving to pad out the fleet.

This gave the impression that Starfleet was comprised of mostly older ships, so Ed Miarecki was tasked with designing some new ships that would emulate Andrew Probert's Galaxy-class design. The New Orleans-class originally featured a Galaxy-class saucer, with a secondary hull borrowed from the Excelsior-class.

After receiving feedback that it was a bit too similar to the Enterprise, three marker pens were added to pad out the design. This, combined with the longer Galaxy-class nacelles (created with a bit of ingenuity and some glue) gave the USS Kyushu a distinct appearance.

Unfortunately for the Kyushu, it was called up for service only once - at Wolf 359.

 
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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"