gral-class starship | The Black Campbell

All the Franz Joseph fans from the ‘70s were in for a treat with the first episode of Strange New Worlds — the Saladin-class!

Nope…this is the Gral-class starship USS Archer, NCC-627. Fanhome dropped their latest model of the ship this month and the wee booklet that came with it describing the design process and thinking buffs out what we know about her: she’s small, has a crew of three, and is “more of a runabout than a starship”. There’s no mention of if it is armed, but if the Class C shuttlecraft had phasers, this mot likely does, as well — if only a bank or two.

She’s described as 110.47m long, 58m on the beam (making the saucer 77ish meters from bow to stern), and a draught on the dish of 10ish meters. The guide claims one deck, but the thickness suggests there could be two. The bridge is supposed to be at the bow (so that’s a window), and the slits along the sides also windows. That makes it about the size of two super-yachts side-by-side…more than enough space for a standard crew of 25-50 by SNW standards (with Enterprise having a crew of 210.)

So here’s my take on the Gral — your lightyears may vary:

This build assumes these are used for covert missions in denied areas — either watching pre-warp alien cultures in secret or scouting the edges of the Neutral Zone. For our game, I’m assuming two decks, with most of the engineering areas in the space under the central raised section on the dorsal hull, and a crew of 25-30 standard, with the senior staff typically being lieutenant commanders.

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I’ve been remiss in getting some of the reviews for the new Fanhome ships. Meanwhile, the one I’ve been waiting for has arrived: the Gral-class USS Archer (NCC-627) that was featured in the first episode of Strange New Worlds. They’ve popped up in the background a few times, always at a distance — I suspected because they were a bit under-designed.

As with the rest of these models, the quality of the model is very good, although — as with the Eaglemoss models — the clear portion of the base really does need to be better designed; this one really doesn’t want to sit right in the bottom portion of the base.

The booklet on this is instructive. Archer was actually fairly heavily designed and went through a number of iterations before they reached the current look. I like the single nacelle with the antenna on the end; very The Cage-looking. The underside has more going on that the top — a break from other minor background ships designed for Discovery and Picard where the ventral portion often feels unfinished.

Archer is a Gral-Class scout that is described as “more of a runabout”, butat 110.47m long with a dish “58m” on the beam and about 77m long, this isn’t that small. That two decent-sized super-yachts side-by-side, and the dish looks to be about 10ish meters in draught — that’s enough for two decks, rather than the one the ship supposedly has. She is supposed to have a crew of three, although it could bit more. By my estimation, a standard complement of 25-30 would still have plenty of room, with all the necessary equipment (transporters, cargo, impulse and warp engines…)

Here’s a decent look at the size and the orthos of the ship:

So is it worth it? It’s an interesting design, although visually a bit bland. If you are looking to complete a collection of Disco/SNW vessels, I’d say get it.

The Black Campbell

New Ship for Star Trek Adventures: Gral-Class

Review: FanHome’s USS Archer, NCC-627

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