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Description

Ported to OBJ from the fan created model made by Wicked Zombie and released by Demon Renegade Studios for the Starfleet Command (SFC) series of video games. Based on the original model created by Taldren Studios for the video game Klingon Academy (KA). Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. You can download Wicked Zombie's original Midway model (without my aft end mod) at the link below (scroll down until you see it):

www.demonrenegadestudios.com/d…

These were among the biggest and most powerful shuttlecarriers to enter service with the Federation Starfleet during the TMP era. Super shuttlecarrier was a better term given their size and number of small craft carried, but this author defers to the official Starfleet class designation. Midway was also Starfleet's last shuttlecarrier class of the TMP era, with lead starship USS Midway (NCC-2200) being commissioned into Starfleet service less than a decade before the Praxis Event (STVI). These was known officially as the Midway class since it was the first ordered and also the first to enter service. This made it the class ship by whatever official or unofficial measure you care to use. Despite this it was frequently called the Ark Royal class in many civilian publications since USS Ark Royal (NCC-2202) was the best known and most popular at the end of the TMP era and beyond due to her many exploits. These were essentially extensively reworked and updated versions of the old and beloved Napoleons from the TOS era, redesigned from the keel up with linear warp technology and also taking into account all of the lessons learned up to that date from all of Starfleet's earlier shuttlecarrier types both large and small. They also had four warp engines in order to avoid the warp power availability and distribution issues that plagued its supersized predecessor Ariel class (and derivative Fredrickstad) from the get-go, given that those had only two warp engines. Likewise Midway didn't carry as many combat small craft as Ariel (48 total, two full squadrons of 12 less than Ariel's 72) but that was due in part to its more traditional hull form and in part to the presence of a dreadnought class weapons battery along with dreadnought class shielding systems. This allowed any Midway to go into combat in support of her small craft, just like most Federation smaller shuttlecarrier classes and almost all Klingon ones of any size. This was a capability for which Ariel was never designed, being seen more as a stand-off carrier type by her creators. Starfleet's choice to go with Midway instead of the proposed improved Ariel type it had already been offered revived the whole internal shuttlecarrier design debate that had plagued the program for decades, with both sides working up a full head of steam rather quickly and at one point threatening to derail the whole program, but in the end cooler heads prevailed and Midway was given the final go-ahead by the Federation Council in a very close vote. Midway passed her builders trials with flying colors as did the rest of the class in turn, and with that the whole debate mess was pretty much over for good. The entire class began getting their first Extended Service Live Program refits (ESLP) about a decade after the signing of the Khitomer Accords, and they would remain in service as Starfleet's premiere shuttlecarrier class well into the post-TMP era. You can read more about the service records of the Midway class and of Ark Royal in particular in the appropriate sources.

Without a doubt Wicked Zombie's take on Midway is the best low poly version that's out there of which I know. All the same I couldn't resist making one change to it that I wanted to make to the original Taldren model but couldn't given its lower resolution and poly count. If you'll look at the aft end (see image upper left) I've enlarged it enough so I could put a very large single shuttle bay door back there. This permits Midway to be used for through-deck operations like her TOS era predecessor Napoleon, with shuttles being landed at the rear of the flight deck while being launched forward from either side. The bottom hangar deck gets reserved exclusively for non-combat small craft in this revised take, thus keeping them out of the way of small combat craft flight ops on the main hangar deck. You can hand-wave this change away in your own various takes on Midway as being part of a later refit in order to improve overall small craft flight ops. He also named his Julius Caesar as a nod to the Napoleon class shuttlecarrier of the same name. I left this as is even though it conflicts with my separated upgraded Julius Ceasar entry. Hey, Trek's a multiverse, right? Right. XD

This is semi-canon, as it was created for a Franchise licensed video game.

Live long and prosper!

TRIVIA - ESLP comes from my own Federation Spaceflight Chronology (FSC) and is Starfleet's analog of the American naval Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) carried out on most of its own conventional powered aircraft carriers during the 1980s and 1990s to keep them in service for as long as possible. The term has been used ever since and by other branches of the American military for similar programs carried out on other military hardware. ELSP refits for Starfleet's most valuable starship classes take place on a regular but rather spaced-out basis (as opposed to regular refits and such), depending on the ship class in question, more or less rebuilding them with the intent of bringing them as up-to-date with the times as possible in order to keep them in service as long as possible. For example, I view the various TMP era rebuilds and conversions for Feddie starships as a form of ESLP refit and say as much in FSC. It's safe to say that the Klingons, Romulans, and all other major Trek spacefaring powers have similar programs, but I'll let you fellow fans define them and given them appropriate names on your end.

ASIDE - Midway is one of the most popular Feddie starship classes to come out of KA. There's very few Trek-based TMP era starship combat video games out there that either don't already have it or soon get it via add-on mods by enthusiastic fans who remember it from the original KA or discover it via fan mods for other games by other fans. XD

Description

Ported to OBJ from the fan created model made by Wicked Zombie and released by Demon Renegade Studios for the Starfleet Command (SFC) series of video games. Based on the original model created by Taldren Studios for the video game Klingon Academy (KA). Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. You can download Wicked Zombie's original Midway model (without my aft end mod) at the link below (scroll down until you see it):

www.demonrenegadestudios.com/d…

These were among the biggest and most powerful shuttlecarriers to enter service with the Federation Starfleet during the TMP era. Super shuttlecarrier was a better term given their size and number of small craft carried, but this author defers to the official Starfleet class designation. Midway was also Starfleet's last shuttlecarrier class of the TMP era, with lead starship USS Midway (NCC-2200) being commissioned into Starfleet service less than a decade before the Praxis Event (STVI). These was known officially as the Midway class since it was the first ordered and also the first to enter service. This made it the class ship by whatever official or unofficial measure you care to use. Despite this it was frequently called the Ark Royal class in many civilian publications since USS Ark Royal (NCC-2202) was the best known and most popular at the end of the TMP era and beyond due to her many exploits. These were essentially extensively reworked and updated versions of the old and beloved Napoleons from the TOS era, redesigned from the keel up with linear warp technology and also taking into account all of the lessons learned up to that date from all of Starfleet's earlier shuttlecarrier types both large and small. They also had four warp engines in order to avoid the warp power availability and distribution issues that plagued its supersized predecessor Ariel class (and derivative Fredrickstad) from the get-go, given that those had only two warp engines. Likewise Midway didn't carry as many combat small craft as Ariel (48 total, two full squadrons of 12 less than Ariel's 72) but that was due in part to its more traditional hull form and in part to the presence of a dreadnought class weapons battery along with dreadnought class shielding systems. This allowed any Midway to go into combat in support of her small craft, just like most Federation smaller shuttlecarrier classes and almost all Klingon ones of any size. This was a capability for which Ariel was never designed, being seen more as a stand-off carrier type by her creators. Starfleet's choice to go with Midway instead of the proposed improved Ariel type it had already been offered revived the whole internal shuttlecarrier design debate that had plagued the program for decades, with both sides working up a full head of steam rather quickly and at one point threatening to derail the whole program, but in the end cooler heads prevailed and Midway was given the final go-ahead by the Federation Council in a very close vote. Midway passed her builders trials with flying colors as did the rest of the class in turn, and with that the whole debate mess was pretty much over for good. The entire class began getting their first Extended Service Live Program refits (ESLP) about a decade after the signing of the Khitomer Accords, and they would remain in service as Starfleet's premiere shuttlecarrier class well into the post-TMP era. You can read more about the service records of the Midway class and of Ark Royal in particular in the appropriate sources.

Without a doubt Wicked Zombie's take on Midway is the best low poly version that's out there of which I know. All the same I couldn't resist making one change to it that I wanted to make to the original Taldren model but couldn't given its lower resolution and poly count. If you'll look at the aft end (see image upper left) I've enlarged it enough so I could put a very large single shuttle bay door back there. This permits Midway to be used for through-deck operations like her TOS era predecessor Napoleon, with shuttles being landed at the rear of the flight deck while being launched forward from either side. The bottom hangar deck gets reserved exclusively for non-combat small craft in this revised take, thus keeping them out of the way of small combat craft flight ops on the main hangar deck. You can hand-wave this change away in your own various takes on Midway as being part of a later refit in order to improve overall small craft flight ops. He also named his Julius Caesar as a nod to the Napoleon class shuttlecarrier of the same name. I left this as is even though it conflicts with my separated upgraded Julius Ceasar entry. Hey, Trek's a multiverse, right? Right. XD

This is semi-canon, as it was created for a Franchise licensed video game.

Live long and prosper!

TRIVIA - ESLP comes from my own Federation Spaceflight Chronology (FSC) and is Starfleet's analog of the American naval Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) carried out on most of its own conventional powered aircraft carriers during the 1980s and 1990s to keep them in service for as long as possible. The term has been used ever since and by other branches of the American military for similar programs carried out on other military hardware. ELSP refits for Starfleet's most valuable starship classes take place on a regular but rather spaced-out basis (as opposed to regular refits and such), depending on the ship class in question, more or less rebuilding them with the intent of bringing them as up-to-date with the times as possible in order to keep them in service as long as possible. For example, I view the various TMP era rebuilds and conversions for Feddie starships as a form of ESLP refit and say as much in FSC. It's safe to say that the Klingons, Romulans, and all other major Trek spacefaring powers have similar programs, but I'll let you fellow fans define them and given them appropriate names on your end.

ASIDE - Midway is one of the most popular Feddie starship classes to come out of KA. There's very few Trek-based TMP era starship combat video games out there that either don't already have it or soon get it via add-on mods by enthusiastic fans who remember it from the original KA or discover it via fan mods for other games by other fans. XD