Here's a little something I put together during a bout of OCD. When I got her almost all done... the original warp nacelles looked all wrong and I said I want to change them. Gabe sketched a quick shape for the nacelles - and it was PERFECT, of course.
Love it. Nacelles remind of Narsil's Interceptor class from way back, or a few fan designs from the Bridge Commander modding community (not sure of the exact modders right now). And those impulse engine housings look awesome!
Narsil did the concept drwaings, and Mavek fleshed the ship in lightwave. Later, I converted her to 3ds max and pepperman ported it to bridge commander. Yes the naceles are similar, but the interceptor has longer naceles. Probert´s Enterprise F has more similarity.
I would love to see some more of this, very interesting concept. Are those solarpanels on the saucer?
Nope. Them's windows. Hundreds and hundreds of windows packed together in a honeycomb grid. I liked the idea of the tops decks of the saucer having huge expanses of window area when you look up and into the majestic... majesty of the galaxy. Sadly, Klingons are peeping Toms, so this might not work well over private living quarters.
Yep. I'm still not satisfied with them, but I haven't been able to come up with something better - yet. But that's the location where they will stay.
Reminds me of the solar road treatment. Nice to see something besides the aztek--that wouldn't show at that scale anyway. One of the best saucers ever!
Two details that popped out to me are the stars over the impulse engines and the bridge complex. The D had a little extension off the central part of the bridge but this has several. It conveys a sense of activity.
Haven't decided yet. I do know she's considerably smaller than I had originally planned. I'm saving "big" for my next project: essentially a mobile star base. I threw this together to show roughly where I'm at with her size. I see her as a direct descendant of the "D" lineage; maybe an alternative universe where the Borg weren't a threat and/or the "D" had a long service life, and its successors followed its design philosophy instead of the more "badass" John Eaves' "E". (Anyone know who did that "D" so I can give credit?)
What a bold and striking design! At first I thought it looked a little... awkward, but seeing it "flying in formation" alongside Enterprise-D... quite lovely!
Thanks! FWIW, I actually like to design in a bit of awkwardness - to my mind it makes something like this more believable. In the same way a 747 is actually quite cumbersome and ungainly until it takes flight.
Thanks! The stars over the saucer impulse engines were inspired by the compressor turbines on the P-38. The engines are of course shaped like the Trek Insignia, and I was looking for a legitimate way to include the insignia's star. Sadly, I think the star needs work because it doesn't seem to DO anything, and as such, looks like a too-cute detail thrown in just to have it there. I'm glad you like the bridge complex! I worked on that separately a long time ago for a different, shelved project. What I have in mind for what's going on in it... is something that I'll never be able to draw! But, I see a large, "conventional" bridge module at the rear; instead of a view screen, it opens wide directly into 3-story room (the center dome) that houses a holodeck-style holographic projector. The center dome balconies and the command bridge look into a holographic projection of whatever is needed - the galaxy, the solar system, the commander of an alien ship, or just a tactical display of a couple of ships. The crew would walk around inside the holographic display if they wanted to. (Yeah, kinda like the Prometheus holographic projection idea, only with more Star Trek-style "stellar cartography" and less killing and creepiness and stuff.)
Actually, I think it does - it shows that the Federation has entered a new era of peace & exploration, so much so that they would give attention to such small aesthetic details like this, as opposed to pumping out purely functional and less aesthetically pleasing designs with hideous makeshift cobbled-together components and paint schemes, like during the Dominion War era (DS9 kitbashes). I say don't change a thing - it's a great designator of the times in which it was built!