Hammerhead |
| By Craig York |
|
|
In service from the early 2080's to the present, the 'Ohai' or Hammerhead class destroyers were an expensive, but useful adjunct to the workhorse Cruisers of the SSC. Intended almost exclusively for active reconnaissance, the ships used the same engine fit as the Leif Ericson class cruisers on a substantially smaller hull. The forward 'wings' were hard points that could mount a variety of weapons fits, from a pair of large phased-array lasers, to a cluster of missile boxes. ( The latter so marred the lines of the ship that the fit became known as the 'Trashmouth' fit. ) With a crew of eight officers and twenty ratings, the 'Head is a reasonably comfortable ship, in contrast to the even smaller Stilletto class corvettes. This model started life as a pair of 1/700 scale Arliegh Burke class destroyer hulls, shaved a bit to fit top to top, with a lot of sheet plastic thrown into the mix. As I started with the idea of a flying hammerhead shark, I printed a good shot of a a real hammerhead seen from below, and used the line of the fins to cut the main wings attached to the shrouds. The two engines are clear resin copies of the original Leif Ericson cast by my friend Frank Henriquez, and wired with a pair of small red LED to a battery box in the base. |
