3125 Scale General Augmented Commercial Platform

Commercial platforms were civilian-manned installations placed in orbit around colony planets to serve as a base for local mining and shipping operations. Platforms could not be used to supply or repair fleet elements. Their purpose was to provide orbital survey, weather tracking, materials processing, and shipping services to the corporation developing the planet. These platforms were used by every empire, and while slightly different, this one miniature covers all of them as form follows function.

The center section is a pod which can be carried and deployed by tugs, light transports, or freighters. Depending on the planet, a given commercial platform might have two standard cargo pods (if the colony is engaged in production and export) or two base augmentation modules in the case of a purely scientific station. As a given colony evolves from the survey phase to the production export phase, the same commercial platform can change roles by simply changing which attachments it is using. The augmention modules come in a variety of types including storage, shuttle bay, medical, ground mapping, geosciences, and others. This particular miniature shows the cargo pod type and the augmentation module type. Ships can dock to either end of the Commercial Platform, or to the ends of the cargo pods.

This base is available in a variety of materials. Bases are unpainted, use standard flight stands available from many sources, and, while designed for gaming, make fine display pieces.