USS Excelsior Study Model (Named USS Xavier)

During the making of the Star Trek III movie, the production designers built several study models of the USS Excelsior to show to the director, Leonard Nimoy. He chose a design that we are now familiar with. This model based on one of the study models that was not chosen. There is only one picture of this particular concept (shown with the model) and I have made several modifications. Firstly, I have completely redesigned the secondary hull into a more squared of version of the Excelsior type. Secondly, I have made the warp engines the same basic shape, but I have added grilles that are intended to look like an step in between those of the Enterprise refit and the Oberth class. Thirdly, I have thickened the pylons into sturdier versions and added impulse engines to the rear and the neck sections. I have also added several hull details seen on the final Excelsior model, such as the RCS thrusters and ventral saucer sensor dome. I have also added several phaser turrets strategically around the vessel and forward and aft torpedo tubes to provide an effective arc of fire. The registry comes from the 'Excelsior Technical Manual - Revived!' written by Praetor on the TrekBBS chat boards. As he writes:

"The initial design, SV-20A, completed in 2268, was quite unconventional in design. It featured a saucer-shaped primary hull in line with a flattened, stepped engineering section. A horizontal “wing” supported four twin warp nacelles, two mounted above and two mounted below each at the end of the wing. Warp power would have been provided by a horizontal intermix chamber. Impulse engines were mounted aft, between warp nacelle pylons. The warp nacelles looked radically unique but were nearly the same size as those that would be installed aboard the refit Enterprise. The ship also featured an unconventional navigation deflector “pod” mounted on the ventral side of the engineering hull."
http://calamitysi.deviantart.com/art/USS-Excelsior-Study-Model-Named-USS-Xavier-485764366?ga_submit_new=10%253A1412191987&ga_type=edit&ga_changes=1&ga_recent=1

 

Btw, this is the picture that I used to create the model from:

 

Neat! A possible design predecessor to the Stargazer.

 

Yeah, actually I think Praetor mentioned that that was indeed the case in his ''Excelsior Technical Manual - Revived!" thread on here. Do read it btw, it's very good!

 

Impressive design and I love how you worked out the bugs in it. Truly a unique design and I am glad that you brought it to life.

 

Thank you so much, that's very kind of you to say! I'm working on some more views of her, but it's been a really fun project to work on.

 

Very good looking design there

 

Thanks Kaiser! Good to hear from you mate.

 

Welcome!

 

Nice work! Definitely would like to see more views of it.

 

Thanks B.J. More to come, promise. Just waiting for this darn pooter to finish rendering. It'll be days at this rate!

 

I would love to see this as Stargazer in the new continuity.

 

At first, I thought it could be a possible attempt at a more advanced design using the same configuration.
After all, the Constellation class hardly looks as advanced as the Excelsior class.
The Constellation even has a lower registry number (NX/NCC-1974), though the a registry number can't always accurately place a design's contemporariness, especially the 4-digit ones (after all, the Larson, Loknar, and Federation classes. to name a few, have higher registries than the Excelsior class, but were launched far earlier.

But on Memory Alpha, the Constellation herself was mentioned as undergoing field trials in 2293, and still considered experimental, carrying an NX suffix, so she could be a much cheaper class using the same configuration.

The unusual registry of the Xavier suggests to me that she was probably just a testbed for new technologies, and I doubt that she was ever commissioned, let alone used in battle. If she wasn't donated to one of Starfleet's Museums throughout the Federation (which I think she could have been), she probably continued to test new technology until she was eventually scrapped (or destroyed in an accident, whatever happens first).

 

The look of that study model always makes me suspect the intention was to have "variable geometry" nacelles, where the nacelles would slide to different distances from the centerline.

 

I'm working on a nice big poster of this ship at the moment which will show some orthos and angled views. However, the process has not been without it's faults and some of the rendered images, for one reason or another, haven't made it to the final cut. One of them was still usable though, so I've added a nice background of it with a shuttlecraft and presented here.

 

Thanks for all the comments guys. Some interesting background conjecture there JES. Actually, one of the main problems I had with this design was how to justify it's construction in the first place. If this concept wasn't chosen to go into the test phase like the Excelsior, why would they build it? My lame excuse was to 'parallel universe' it but if anyone else could come up with a better background story for it, I'd love to hear it. And Maurice, I think this version of the concept designs was the one to have "variable geometry" nacelles included in the design.



This one, like the Constellation class, has them firmly fixed in place.

 

That Xavier is a good looking design

 

Hi all, well it's taken several days to complete, but here is that big ortho poster I promised. Hope you all like it!

 

Actually, I can see that it's come out full size here...if you want to see it in a bit more perspective, please follow this link to my deviantart page:

http://calamitysi.deviantart.com/art/USS-Excelsior-Study-Model-USS-Xavier-Orthos-486806263?ga_submit_new=10%253A1412616431&ga_type=edit&ga_changes=1&ga_recent=1