Wow, it's been so long I'd forgotten what it felt like to complete a model! This started as yet another project to get me back into 3D modelling... and it almost worked, but then it went on the back-burner for most of a year until I recently returned to it. This is inspired by Wingsley's answer to the FJ scout/destroyer, his Hermes/Herman (see thread). My main idea was to add some TOS-style curves to the design (because I like them ) and due to that and some bad planning (fixed for the most part "on the fly") it's evolved into it's own beast. Because of that I'm not at all sure what to class her as. Perhaps she's a bit too chunky for a scout, so maybe a destroyer... what do you think? (click to enlarge) And the next task is to light and render some proper scenes, which isn't something I've done a lot of in Blender.
My first thought is that the primary hull reminds me of a lirpa, but it still looks good. I really like the shape of the secondary hull, especially the "rounded box" on the upper half. Looks like it has a significant amount of volume in there!
I've got to say, this is a pretty splendid TOS era vessel. Follows most of the imaginary 'rules' of Starfleet ship design.
I have to hand it to you, Starscape, you took my concept in some interesting new directions! I never envisioned the "lirpa" forward segment. Neat idea. The only thing I would like to see differently would be the Phoenix-style opposing aft nacelle caps.
Thanks everyone! Yeah, the engineering hull has quite bit of volume. I guess, between 1.5x and 2x the Connie's secondary hull volume - I suppose it makes up for the smaller "saucer". Here's another view:
Intrepid class, huh? I hadn't intended that, but I can see where you're coming from. Thanks again for the comments.
I was about to say something similar. I mean that the primary hull is indeed reminiscent of many later primary hull designs, and may be chronologically one of the first to use this hull shape for the primary hull (though there are of TOS-era vessels that does have a primary hull with a similar shape, such as the Fast Dreadnought). While the shape of the front of the secondary hull and placement of the navigational deflector is reminiscent of the placement on the Intrepid-class. It will be interesting to see where you will place the phaser emitters and torpedo tubes, assuming you intend to make them visible, since not every designer makes the weapons visible of ships of this era. The Hecla has some nice design elements, and her primary hull makes her look faster than her Saladin or Larson-class Destroyer contemporaries.
Thanks, JES. I did consider adding a pair of launchers above the sensor/deflector dish (which, again, would have added another Intrepid similarity), but I decided to keep it consistent with the non-visible weaponry of the Enterprise. With the comparisons to the Intrepid-class, maybe I should reconsider the possibility of classifying the Hecla as a scout ship. I named her after a RN ship that served as both a warship and an arctic surveyor, so I've got it covered either way.
I've never been entirely sure whether I like those lit panels on the top surface of the Enterprise's saucer, but I had a sudden urge to try something similar on the Hecla: ...it was either that or start building up some starfield backgrounds for final renders.
I still really like that secondary hull. And it just dawned on me that the secondary hull reminds me a little bit of the Olympic class, with its "rounded rectangle" hull.
Thanks. I'd originally plan for the secondary hull to have an egg-shaped cross-section, but it didn't work well with the shape of the primary hull at the join.
I've been tweaking the model and preparing a starfield background, but I keep getting distracted by trying different things, like this... A 3D image from a 3D model, why didn't I think about it before - does anybody have a pair of those red/cyan 3D glasses? Click to enlarge Warning: If you suffer from Computer Eye Strain, don't look at it for too long using the glasses - my eyes are certainly feeling the effects.