In the Colonial Fleet, A Warstar is basically A 'Mega-Battlestar', or, A Warship with more Firepower and Capability than A standard Battlestar;A Further Definition is A Ship that can seize and control an Area of Space until Reinforcements arrive; Also, A Ship that can provide Massive Support and Firepower for A Primary Battle Group,Sometimes as A Flagship.
Earth Equivalents are: 'Man 'O War', Dreadnought, and 'Super-Battleship'.
This was A Critical Need for the Newly Formed Colonial Ministry of Defense when they needed an Answer for the Massive Firepower the Cylons begun to bring into Play in the First Cylon War; They needed A Pure Warship that could Give as well as it would Get,Because in some battles,The Standard Battlestars were not enough;And The Colonies could not afford A Long War of Attrition.
After considering many Designs,the CMoD settled on The Marathon-Class Warstar Design: A Simple Hybrid of Atlas and Jupiter class Battlestars ,Utilizing Parts and Production from both classes to construct one Large Warship:
This Ship is designed to deliver double the Firepower and Attack Capability of At least two Jupiter-class Battlestars,with an Expanded Air Wing and A Marine Company on board;With Minimal Support,It can take control of an Area of Space until A Battle Group can arrive.
MARATHON-CLASS SPECIFICATIONS:
ARMAMENT:
60 Heavy KEW Turrets
120 PDG Twin Mounts
96 PDG Single Mounts
4 Horizontal Missile Tubes
10 Vertical Missile Tubes
AIR WING:
8 Viper Squadrons + 1 Reserve Squadron
(180 Vipers)
2 Raptor Squadrons
(48 Raptors)
10 Standard Heavy Shuttles
CREW:
15,000 (Standard)
12,000 (Minimal)
A Total of 7 Marathon-class Warstars were initially planned to be built,with an Option for More;However, the Ending of the First Cylon War,and, The Approval of the Massively Larger and More Powerful Ares- class Warstar Design pretty much made the Marathon class Obsolete.
Two Marathons were completed and one was partially built when the Armistice was declared; The Two Completed Ships fought in the last half of the war,and served with Distinction;After the war, they were retained in the Fleet.
MARATHON-CLASS DISPOSITION
MARATHON (WSR-110)
Lead Ship of the Class and First of the Warstar Line;Participated in at least 5 Major Battles as part of Warstar Group One (WSG-01); Credited with Destroying 7 Cylon Base Stars and at least 23 Supporting Vessels;Helped Re-Take Cimtar near the Outer Rim of the Cyrannus System; Was Dispatched to Canceron for the Last Battle before the Armistice was declared after the loss of the Battlestar Columbia;However, A Unforseen Problem with it's FTL Drive Delayed it's Deployment and it arrived at Canceron one hour after Cylon Forces had withdrawn.
With the Approval of the Ares -class design for Production,The Fleet began to Re-Organize; And, after the Accidental Loss of the Miltiades, Marathon was teamed up with the Second Ares-class Warstar, Plataea, to form Warstar Group Five (WSG-05), assigned to the 5th Fleet.
Helena Cain served with Distinction aboard the Marathon,as A Squadron Commander,Part of her Meteoric Rise through the Fleet Ranks to eventually have the Mercury-class Battlestar, Pegasus,as her Flagship.
At the Beginning of the Second Cylon Invasion, WSG-05 and the 5th Fleet were on the Periphery of Colonial Space; The New Fleet CNP Program had not been downloaded into these Ships;Since Communications with Fleet HQ on Picon were severed after the Initial Attack,The 5th Fleet has not been heard from; Rumors are, they are still out there,Maintaining Subspace Silence...
STATUS: UNKNOWN - PRESUMED ACTIVE
MILTIADES (WSR-105)
Second Ship of the Class; Assigned to Warstar Group Three (WSG-03); Participated in 2 Major Battles,and took Heavy Damage in Both;Credited with Destroying 2 Cylon Base Stars and 10 Supporting Vessels.
5 Years after the Armistice,Miltiades was Destroyed in A Freak Accident as A Result of an Accidental Combustion in her FTL Drive;The Only Survivors were 2 Viper Pilots and A Raptor Crew on CAP who managed to get clear of the Massive Explosion; An Investigation Revealed A Flaw in The Ship's Redesigned Fuel Cells that led to the Catastrophe;The Flaw was Identified and Corrected in Marathon.
STATUS: DESTROYED-STRICKEN FROM FLEET LIST
PASAUNIAS (WSR-107)
The Pasaunias was 35% Complete at the Time the Armistice was Declared;With the Cancellation of the Remaining Marathon-class Ships,it was decided to Retrofit this ship to Jupiter-class specs; It eventually became the Last Jupiter-class ship built by the Colonies: The Battlestar Herodotus.
STATUS: CONVERTED
THE MODEL
It's really sad that Moebius Models lost it's License from NBC/Universal to Produce these kits(There are some of these floating around under the Revell Germany Label,they're probably Moebius Molds),Because now,These Kits are getting more scarcer than Chicken Lips;And, if you happen to find one on E bay,or another Auction Site,we're talking BooCoo Cubits! If Lords of Kobol be kind,Hopefully, Someone will crank out these kits again!
I Grabbed 3 of these kits from Monsters in Motion,Via E Bay;To my surprise,2 of them were the 'Limited San Diego Comic Con' Edition Molded in CLEAR PLASTIC! What the Frak? Well, I didn't care! A Coat of Grey Dollar Store Primer from the Rattle Can took care of that Technicality!
Beforehand,I found Pictures of other People's Interpretation of Warstars,to guide me to Possible Directions I could go;Then, I decided to go with the only thing that really works: Keeping It Simple.
I Started with the Center Body: A Normal Hull would have the 2 Hull Inserts,where the Flight Decks would retract into before the FTL Jump; I Installed 2 on the Upper Half,and 2 on the lower;The Result is A Bigger Center Body; Two Pieces of PVC Tubing connected the pins that connect top to bottom; I also made sure all 4 Hull Inserts were solidly reinforced;When those points were secured, I closed the Open Spaces with Evergreen Styrene sheet #4062 ;I cut the Pieces to shape,with the Ribs in the Vertical Position;Once all the Gaps were filled, I moved to the Head;I Followed the Same pattern;Once everything was in place,I Used Evergreen Styrene Strip #6-115(.015x.100) and 6-8206(.022x.066) to replicate the Armor on Battlestars from the First Cylon War;Since I really didn't have the time to precisely replicate the pattern on the Armor,I decided to 'Wing It',and be as random as I could; I made sure all the Unprotected Areas,except for the PDG Gun Stations,Viper Launch Portals,and Engine exhaust Portals,were Covered;
Added Extra Sublight Engines,and Gun Turrets from the Spare kit,and, the Horizontal Missile Tubes and other doodads from an Armor Kit I Built A Month Earlier; Painting was done with Model Master Colors( They're out of Production too! FRAK ME!) Weathering was done with polly scale acrylics,and Scorch Marks were added with Tamiya Dry Brush through Cut out Patterns in An Index Card.
Oh, The Third Kit I bought will be the Herodotus;I've Already Built the Galactica.
