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Description

UPDATE 2023/08/12 - I now have a new and better CG model of this one, courtesy of the prolific Captain Mojo over at Thingverse.

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Modified by me for greater accuracy with my own Trek fanon works from the STL model created by Captain Mojo. Original design by Patrick Flannery as published in the old Star Fleet Handbook (SFH) tech fanzine and later reprinted in all editions of the fan-published USS Enterprise Officer's Manual (EOM). Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. You can get Captain Mojo's original effort as part of one of his Klingon starship packs on most STL model sites, but be warned! First and as I've already said, I've made some significant mods to his original to get what you see above, which will require additional modding on your end unless things change. Second, STL files are untextured because they're made for use with a 3D printer for assembly and painting by hand once they're printed. You'll have to come up with your own textures, just as I did. Anyway, here's the link:

cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/k…

Since this had no backstory in the original SFH/EOM materials I invented one for it in my own Trek tech musings, with my most extensive treatment given in Guide to the Klingon Fleet (GKM). I'll share that with you in brief. Since this is a fannish Klingon class and not Franchise canon, you can take it or leave it ... or come up with your own. XD

Kortak is possibly the oldest destroyer class starship still in Klingon fleet service during the TOS/TAS era, as well as one of its worst. It's a cookie-cutter design made to be built and put into service as cheaply as possible in mass numbers A strictly second class destroyer that was both underarmed and underpowered in the original, Kortak was intended to operate in standard Klingon three-ship wolf packs in order to make up for its rather glaring combat deficiencies. It got put into service in the pre-TOS era because the Klingons were ramping up for war with the Federation at the time, and they wanted a destroyer class starship that could be produced en masse for that war. Reality sucks, however, and Kortak was instead given its virtual baptism of fire in the Demon War against the Kinshaya (FASA). Result? They were produced in vast quantities and they were blown away almost as fast as the Klingons could make them. The Klingons soon realized their mistake but there was nothing that could be done about Kortak at the time given the press of need, so other proposed destroyer classes in development were brought up instead to replace Kortak in production. This was a process that eventually resulted in the excellent Lechtu class destroyer (Jackill's) BTW, but that's another story for another time (and entry). All the same, the end of the Demon War found the Klingons with several hundred still-serviceable leftover Kortak class destroyers they didn't really want, and they couldn't even give them away to their allies or servitors given their bad reputation. Being the inventive species that they are they soon found a use for them. Kortak was reclassified as an escort class starship and in that mode became the core for the new BIjHom fleet. The Thlingan'Hol term translates into Standard literally as "punishment ship," and the BIjHom fleet became the one to where the worst Klingon warriors in fleet service were sent regardless of rank (the f-ups, the incompetent, you name it). It was understood by everyone that this was their last chance to make something of themselves before they got court-martialed and sent to a penal ship, or penal colony, or worse. The BIjHom fleet didn't get routine maintenance and periodic system upgrades as did other Klingon fleets; that was strictly up to the skill and ingenuity of the individual ship captains as well as the performance of their crews. If they had done well in battle or on their last mission (or could convincingly lie about it), then their Kortak got serviced. If they hadn't, then it didn't. Consequently the Kortaks in the BIjHom fleet are individually maintained and customized under the care of their captains, with no two looking alike given their various unique mods and states of repair (or disrepair). Kortak as a class never got any real TMP-era upgrades (save possibly for partial ones, such as TOS-R style armor/shielding refits, usually finagled by their most capable captains), and it was eventually replaced in the BIjHom fleet and faded away around the end of the TMP era as each individual Kortak literally wore itself out in service.

This model represents one of the better Kortaks in Imperial service as part of its BIjHom (punishment) fleet at the time of TOS and TAS. Note that the version depicted in the above preview piccy has the twin external clamp-on phaser-III upgrade that I described in my fanon Guide to the Klingon Fleet (GKF, also see ASIDE below). Look for them at the tip of both "points" of the engineering hull in order to maximize their coverage. They couldn't add heavier phaser models due to both limited space and limited available power, plus the Kortak/Ak'hist space frame couldn't handle the bigger and more powerful regular S-2 series warp engines anyway without significant modifications and yard time (which was very rarely done). What they often did instead to beef up firepower even more was to replace their single shuttle in the shuttle bay with a small one man work pod and then use the extra space to install a single drone missile or space mine rack. The latter was more common, as the ability to start dropping mines in the path of any pursuer during your typical Kortak hit-first-then-run-like-hell attack proved itself as the ship's salvation on multiple occasions. That's why the Klingons' many enemies quickly learned to watch for the shuttle bay door being popped open whenever they were chasing a Kortak.

My thanks to Captain Mojo for coming up with a better model for all of you and which I can use to replace my old SFC low-poly hack. I also give him creds for more accurately depicting the back part of the engineering hull with his effort. That said I have two major gripes with his model: he overarmed it, and he gave it too much beam for those funky forward "wings" his model has. That's strictly his thing; they aren't present on Patrick's original drawings nor on mine or Eric's (Jackill's) later redraws. Anyway, I removed his "wings" and reduced the beam by almost half to better match with my own interpretation. I reduced the weapons fit accordingly, and I also replaced the warp engine with a standard Klingon model downsized and down-proportioned to fit. BTW the warp engine mod was just a personal thing for me, chiefly to make it easier for me to tell Kortak apart from Ak'hist, and those of you duplicating my efforts can leave his warp engine on if you want with no harm done. Finally, I note that Captain Mojo also did a TMP era version of his interpretation of Kortak. This doesn't happen in my thread of the Trek multiverse given the way I interpret Kortak, save for the few that got TMP-style shielding upgrades per IKV Groth in TOS-R "The Trouble with Tribbles," but perhaps it does in yours. If it does, then more power to you (wink).

This is fanon, but it's been around since the very early days of TOS/TAS fanon and is widely accepted in almost all fanon circles and most of us think it's good fanon IMHO. It nicely fills a rather obvious gap in the TOS/TAS era Klingon fleet lineup, that being their first-ever TOS/TAS era second tier destroyer or escort class in the long history of the Trek franchise. What you do with it in your own Trek related efforts is up to you. After all, Trek is a multiverse now. Right? Right. And as for Captain Mojo's original versus my modded version? He has his interpretation, I have mine, Trek is a multiverse, so we can have both and everybody happy. Go with whatever works for you. (chuckle, grin-and-wink)

'IwlIj jachjaj!

ASIDE - Clamp-on external weapons are common for the later BIjHom Kortaks per my old notes, such as a pair of wing-mounted phaser-IIIs for self-defense, but the weakness of its single older model warp engine severely limits what and how much can be added. That is, unless its captain can somehow secure a better warp engine (say, a later S-1C or TMP era S-1D) AND get a Klingon ship facility to install it for him -- by hook or by crook or sometimes both (chuckle). Understandably and given the unique peculiarities of BIjHom fleet operations, a warp engine upgrade is a rather rare thing for a Kortak in BIjHom fleet service. Of course, House fleet service in either the major or minor Houses is another thing entirely (wink).

Description

UPDATE 2023/08/12 - I now have a new and better CG model of this one, courtesy of the prolific Captain Mojo over at Thingverse.

--------------------

Modified by me for greater accuracy with my own Trek fanon works from the STL model created by Captain Mojo. Original design by Patrick Flannery as published in the old Star Fleet Handbook (SFH) tech fanzine and later reprinted in all editions of the fan-published USS Enterprise Officer's Manual (EOM). Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. You can get Captain Mojo's original effort as part of one of his Klingon starship packs on most STL model sites, but be warned! First and as I've already said, I've made some significant mods to his original to get what you see above, which will require additional modding on your end unless things change. Second, STL files are untextured because they're made for use with a 3D printer for assembly and painting by hand once they're printed. You'll have to come up with your own textures, just as I did. Anyway, here's the link:

cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/k…

Since this had no backstory in the original SFH/EOM materials I invented one for it in my own Trek tech musings, with my most extensive treatment given in Guide to the Klingon Fleet (GKM). I'll share that with you in brief. Since this is a fannish Klingon class and not Franchise canon, you can take it or leave it ... or come up with your own. XD

Kortak is possibly the oldest destroyer class starship still in Klingon fleet service during the TOS/TAS era, as well as one of its worst. It's a cookie-cutter design made to be built and put into service as cheaply as possible in mass numbers A strictly second class destroyer that was both underarmed and underpowered in the original, Kortak was intended to operate in standard Klingon three-ship wolf packs in order to make up for its rather glaring combat deficiencies. It got put into service in the pre-TOS era because the Klingons were ramping up for war with the Federation at the time, and they wanted a destroyer class starship that could be produced en masse for that war. Reality sucks, however, and Kortak was instead given its virtual baptism of fire in the Demon War against the Kinshaya (FASA). Result? They were produced in vast quantities and they were blown away almost as fast as the Klingons could make them. The Klingons soon realized their mistake but there was nothing that could be done about Kortak at the time given the press of need, so other proposed destroyer classes in development were brought up instead to replace Kortak in production. This was a process that eventually resulted in the excellent Lechtu class destroyer (Jackill's) BTW, but that's another story for another time (and entry). All the same, the end of the Demon War found the Klingons with several hundred still-serviceable leftover Kortak class destroyers they didn't really want, and they couldn't even give them away to their allies or servitors given their bad reputation. Being the inventive species that they are they soon found a use for them. Kortak was reclassified as an escort class starship and in that mode became the core for the new BIjHom fleet. The Thlingan'Hol term translates into Standard literally as "punishment ship," and the BIjHom fleet became the one to where the worst Klingon warriors in fleet service were sent regardless of rank (the f-ups, the incompetent, you name it). It was understood by everyone that this was their last chance to make something of themselves before they got court-martialed and sent to a penal ship, or penal colony, or worse. The BIjHom fleet didn't get routine maintenance and periodic system upgrades as did other Klingon fleets; that was strictly up to the skill and ingenuity of the individual ship captains as well as the performance of their crews. If they had done well in battle or on their last mission (or could convincingly lie about it), then their Kortak got serviced. If they hadn't, then it didn't. Consequently the Kortaks in the BIjHom fleet are individually maintained and customized under the care of their captains, with no two looking alike given their various unique mods and states of repair (or disrepair). Kortak as a class never got any real TMP-era upgrades (save possibly for partial ones, such as TOS-R style armor/shielding refits, usually finagled by their most capable captains), and it was eventually replaced in the BIjHom fleet and faded away around the end of the TMP era as each individual Kortak literally wore itself out in service.

This model represents one of the better Kortaks in Imperial service as part of its BIjHom (punishment) fleet at the time of TOS and TAS. Note that the version depicted in the above preview piccy has the twin external clamp-on phaser-III upgrade that I described in my fanon Guide to the Klingon Fleet (GKF, also see ASIDE below). Look for them at the tip of both "points" of the engineering hull in order to maximize their coverage. They couldn't add heavier phaser models due to both limited space and limited available power, plus the Kortak/Ak'hist space frame couldn't handle the bigger and more powerful regular S-2 series warp engines anyway without significant modifications and yard time (which was very rarely done). What they often did instead to beef up firepower even more was to replace their single shuttle in the shuttle bay with a small one man work pod and then use the extra space to install a single drone missile or space mine rack. The latter was more common, as the ability to start dropping mines in the path of any pursuer during your typical Kortak hit-first-then-run-like-hell attack proved itself as the ship's salvation on multiple occasions. That's why the Klingons' many enemies quickly learned to watch for the shuttle bay door being popped open whenever they were chasing a Kortak.

My thanks to Captain Mojo for coming up with a better model for all of you and which I can use to replace my old SFC low-poly hack. I also give him creds for more accurately depicting the back part of the engineering hull with his effort. That said I have two major gripes with his model: he overarmed it, and he gave it too much beam for those funky forward "wings" his model has. That's strictly his thing; they aren't present on Patrick's original drawings nor on mine or Eric's (Jackill's) later redraws. Anyway, I removed his "wings" and reduced the beam by almost half to better match with my own interpretation. I reduced the weapons fit accordingly, and I also replaced the warp engine with a standard Klingon model downsized and down-proportioned to fit. BTW the warp engine mod was just a personal thing for me, chiefly to make it easier for me to tell Kortak apart from Ak'hist, and those of you duplicating my efforts can leave his warp engine on if you want with no harm done. Finally, I note that Captain Mojo also did a TMP era version of his interpretation of Kortak. This doesn't happen in my thread of the Trek multiverse given the way I interpret Kortak, save for the few that got TMP-style shielding upgrades per IKV Groth in TOS-R "The Trouble with Tribbles," but perhaps it does in yours. If it does, then more power to you (wink).

This is fanon, but it's been around since the very early days of TOS/TAS fanon and is widely accepted in almost all fanon circles and most of us think it's good fanon IMHO. It nicely fills a rather obvious gap in the TOS/TAS era Klingon fleet lineup, that being their first-ever TOS/TAS era second tier destroyer or escort class in the long history of the Trek franchise. What you do with it in your own Trek related efforts is up to you. After all, Trek is a multiverse now. Right? Right. And as for Captain Mojo's original versus my modded version? He has his interpretation, I have mine, Trek is a multiverse, so we can have both and everybody happy. Go with whatever works for you. (chuckle, grin-and-wink)

'IwlIj jachjaj!

ASIDE - Clamp-on external weapons are common for the later BIjHom Kortaks per my old notes, such as a pair of wing-mounted phaser-IIIs for self-defense, but the weakness of its single older model warp engine severely limits what and how much can be added. That is, unless its captain can somehow secure a better warp engine (say, a later S-1C or TMP era S-1D) AND get a Klingon ship facility to install it for him -- by hook or by crook or sometimes both (chuckle). Understandably and given the unique peculiarities of BIjHom fleet operations, a warp engine upgrade is a rather rare thing for a Kortak in BIjHom fleet service. Of course, House fleet service in either the major or minor Houses is another thing entirely (wink).