Sorry, but I have to say the Ralph McQuarrie Phase II concept Enterprise was the UGLIEST Enterprise of them all..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Phase_II_Enterprise.jpg
Granted, though it wasn't official. Someone made a very nice interpretation of his design, however. http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=4483052&postcount=25
That's exactly why it was amazing! It actually looked like something from hundreds of years in the future built by a multicultural space-faring federation.
As rendered there, with maybe a tweak here or there (mainly the nacelles), that would have fit nicely in the lineage as the "C", if TPTB hadn't given us a different one. Definitely more interesting than the "in-between" design that we got.
The secondary hull looks a lot more like something that might fall between the Excelsior and Galaxy classes, which the Ambassador's didn't, to my eyes...it looked more like a 24th century version of the Constitution secondary hull. And the relatively small, circular primary hull reminds me of the Excelsior.
Enterprise-B. The modifications don't really do the Excelsior Class any favors. In fact, the modifications are only there so the Nexus can take something out of the ship without damaging the original Excelsior model so by definition the design is more about a plot point than aesthetics.
Let's go one step further. In order: - Reboot 1701 - TMP 1701 - 1701-D - 1701-B - TOS 1701 - NX-01 - 1701-C - 1701-E - 1701-J - XCV-330 So the XCV-330 is my least favourite, followed by the J.
That is not quite correct. All the shots of the Enterprise-B where there is interactive light with the Nexus-ribbon are CG. Basically everything after leaving the drydock and before the final shot of the hull-damage on the added pieces. (The warp-shot doesn't count, as this is stock-footage from TUC) http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/generationshd/generationshd0192.jpg http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/generationshd/generationshd0219.jpg http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/generationshd/generationshd0288.jpg http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/generationshd/generationshd0292.jpg http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/generationshd/generationshd0293.jpg And there were a few CG-shots of the E-D http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/generationshd/generationshd1090.jpg http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/generationshd/generationshd1332.jpg
If they did CG for 1701-B, why the hell did they modify the Excelsior model, then ? They could've done the rest in CGI, too.
Maybe. Anyway, now that I know it's CG, I can tell fromt he screenshots that the windows on the edge of the saucer section aren't very convincing.
Yes, they are simply mapped on the surface. But it's not really noticeable in all that flickering light and motion.