Freedom class

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

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 Freedom class, seen in the episode as the USS Firebrand.

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

Included Ships

The Freedom class is a single nacelle ship, similar to the TOS era Saladin or Hermes classes. The original Freedom filming model appears to have a completely new saucer (which was mostly reused for the Niagara class), while using a slightly modified Galaxy class warp nacelle and either a Constitution or Constellation class neck and torpedo assembly. Another unique feature is the cannon turret (or specialized sensor?) on the underside of the saucer, which is another piece borrowed and modified from the Constellation class.

The only significant variants included in this kit are an alternative saucer phaser configuration with a single contiguous strip on the top and bottom saucer.

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.

Target scale	Scale STL files to:	Notes
1/3900	0.25641026	FASA miniature scale
1/3788	0.26399155	ADB Starline 2400 scale
1/3125	0.32	ADB Starline 2500 scale
1/2500	0.4	The Trek modelers "Golden scale"
1/1600	0.625	TOS 3-Ship Set scale
1/1400	0.714285714	Common resin model scale
1/650	1.538461538	Modelling scale
1/537	1.862197393	Common scale for TMP models
1/350	2.857142857	Large scale

Blenderis 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. Seethe Blender fundamentals tutorials playlistto 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:

freedom-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

Part	Description
freedom-bridge.stl	Bridge module and top deck.
freedom-bridge-lower-detail.stl	Bridge module and top deck (without shield grid and window cutouts).
freedom-impulse.stl	Impulse engine.
freedom-nacelle-deflector.stl	Small deflector unit attached to the underside of the warp nacelle.
freedom-nacelle-lower-detail.stl	Warp nacelle and added greeblies (without shield grid and window cutouts).
freedom-nacelle.stl	Warp nacelle and added greeblies.
freedom-neck-lower-detail.stl	Neck connecting saucer and nacelle (without shield grid and window cutouts).
freedom-neck.stl	Neck connecting saucer and nacelle.
freedom-saucer-cannon.stl	Lower saucer mounted cannon.
freedom-saucer-lower-detail.stl	Saucer (without shield grid and window cutouts).
freedom-saucer.stl	Saucer.
freedom-saucer_alt-phasers.stl	Saucer with alternative phaser strips.
freedom-saucer_alt-phasers_lower-detail.stl	Saucer with alternative phaser strips (without shield grid and window cutouts).
freedom-shuttlebay-lower-detail.stl	Shuttlebay deck (without shield grid and window cutouts).
freedom-shuttlebay.stl	Shuttlebay deck.
freedom-torpedo-module-lower-detail.stl	Torpedo module (without shield grid and window cutouts).
freedom-torpedo-module.stl	Torpedo module.

Combined ship STLs

Ship file	Description
ship-freedom.stl	Standard ship.
ship-freedom-lower-detail.stl	Standard ship (without shield grid and window cutouts).
ship-freedom_alt-phasers.stl	Ship with alternate phaser strip configuration.
ship-freedom_alt-phasers-lower-detail.stl	Ship with alternate phaser strip configuration (without shield grid and window cutouts).

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.

freedom-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.