Movie: Galaxy Quest

Ship: NTE 3120 NSEA Protector

For my second entry I decided to model the NTE 3120 NSEA Protector from the movie Galaxy Quest. While this is parody on the many Star Trek movies there can be little doubt that it is also a comedy.

The difficulty with this model is the total lack of available reference and photo information. I had to start by watching the movie 4 times and making sketches of the ship when it appeared. This was made more difficult by the fact that I only have the VHS version of the movie and could not freeze frame the ship. I eventually knew to a frame where the ship

I start the construction using a 13/16 inch length of the BT 5 and the two BT 5 Ogive nose cones. Each of the nose cones required some shaping that was performed with an X-acto knife and sand paper. The wing/fins were then constructed from two layers of balsa with offset joints to provide the required strength and rigidity. These were then attached to the main hull on the front nose code just forward of the BT. The joint of the wing/fins and the nose code should be reinforced with a piece of paper. Both engine pods were then constructed using 2 one inch BT 7mm tubes and pieces of 3/32 balsa and attached to the back of each of the wing/fins. Pieces of the Kevlar thread were attached to each of the engine thrust rings (cut from the BT 6mm) and fit between opposite engine tubes. This was to provide additional rigidity to the wing/fins and to help compensate for the engines being on the distal ends of the wings.

The remaining work was to detail the hull with pieces of balsa to construct the super structure. The front engine intakes were then added using balsa. The launch lug was installed on the bottom of the main hull and the other piece was cut in half and installed along the sides of the superstructure as the escape engine pods. The model was painted flat white and detailed with black and blue magic markers.

The model was launch at the October MASA launch in Ossego Minnesota. Due to the windy conditions and the difficulty of getting the igniters to stay in the engines, only two engines were used, but the model flew on the two engines for a somewhat loopy flight and short glide. Note that the model can be flown on 2 or 4 engines. The paper reinforcement between the wings and across the main body was added after this flight due to slight wing damage on landing.

USS Grissom (Flis Kits) Parts

1. Instructions (Paper) 11.0*17.0”*3
2. BT 5 9.5 7.56”
3. BT 5 Nose Cones 2 3/16” Ogive*2 11/16” Rounded
4. Shock Cord (Kevlar) 12”
5. 1/16 Balsa 3”*6”
6. 3/32 Balsa 3”*6”
7. Kit Photo Sheet (Paper) 5’*16 ¼”
8. 1/8” Launch Lugs 1” * 2
9. BT 7mm As Required.