Buran Buran.

   Couldn't resist the Barbarella pun ;-). Today was 'Bite The Bullet' day and I've started on the Challenger class USS Buran. All my sources agree that the saucer is made from two upper halves of Galaxy class parts. I've opted for the Hudson Valley Gift Shop version:-

   My sources also agree that Galaxy class nacelles were used, but just to be awkward they are at a different scale. I had to print them at approximately twice the size of the saucer scale (whatever that was...):-

    There seems to be some agreement that the nacelles are slightly longer than the saucer. There is then some divergence - some sources think that the engineering deck is thin and straight-edged, others think it's a modified Galaxy secondary hull. I've opted for the latter. To make things awkward again, this is in yet another scale; somewhere between the saucer and the nacelles:-

   The photo shows the pieces I'll be using for the engineering deck (as well as the finished nacelles. The bottom three pieces are currently a rough guide for the shape of the underside. More modification will be needed since the Buran doesn't have those markings. The real fun is yet to come when I try to recreate the submarine tower for the upper nacelle support. Apparently it was taken from a Russian Typhoon kit. I might also reprint some of D-Whale's nacelles as the ones here are a bit 'blocky' for my liking.

    The pieces I cut above for the engineering deck didn't work - it ended up looking like a grey banana and it was too big. I reprinted the pieces and trimmed curves into the joining edges. I also found a design by rocketman on Deviant Art for the Red October, which is a Typhoon class Russian sub. Reworking the conning tower gave the parts necessary for the nacelle supports.

   The tower piece still on card needed to be shortened and reduced in depth and angled for the lower support. I used parts of the Galaxy class nacelle support to construct a way of attaching the engineering deck to the saucer.

     With these sections connected I drew on my damage guide.

    The only reference photos available made a guessing game of where the damage should be and because of this I've left the lower nacelle intact. I used my usual wire wool and shredded offcuts to simulate parts being blown off the saucer and upper nacelle.

    The wires are for another flickering yellow LED.
    The USS Buran turned out to be less of a challenge than I expected; I doubt very much that I'll be able to say the same of the USS Chekov!