I'm getting a lot of feedback on the elimination of the aux deflector dish, mostly that I should find a way to keep it. I have to agree that it is a somewhat necessary feature if the saucer is going to be capable of operating independantly at warp. I'm in the process now of restoring the aux deflector and making some modifications to the forward pulse cannons to blend the various lines together. I should have some updated WIPs to post later today.
Sorry gang, as usual, real life has managed to interfere with my plans. I'll try to get those updated WIPs posted tomorrow.
Vek, I missed this beauty. Thanks for bringing her back. Any chance you'll do anything further with the Vanguard? By the way, I still maintain that your Grandeur design would have been lightyears ahead of the Sovereign Class mess John Eaves "designed." The Batman
I plan to do some significant work on the Vanguard as my next project after the Grandeur is finished.
Well, it's been a very busy day and I didn't managed to squeeze in much modeling time, but I did manage to get this far: Ignore the missing deflector dish and the messed up thruster quads. I'll get to those when I can.
I'm guessing this would be hilarious if I knew the whole story... is this a ref to some other, possibly long-standing, on-board (ahem) DISAGREEMENT? Possibly from some "bowling alley" thread I gave up trying to follow ages ago?
This is part of why I like it as a fwd scanner. We've seen that before... on the refit Enterprise among others. Theres an active scanner array just above the lower sensor dome on that ship, with four "spotlights" facing fore, aft, port, and starboard. Visually, the forward one of these is much brighter and is more like a spotlight... what I've described as the "big spotlight ahead, showing the way for our intrepid crew" (or some variation on that theme). The Excelsior also has this, but with six scanner emitters. I actually was taking this concept and carrying it to an extreme when I laid out my ship's primary hull... the "nose" that people complained about so much when I first presented it was based, more than anything else, on the refit Enterprise's scanner package (though taking cues from the Defiant, Intrepid, and NX classes as well). I wanted to (1) make it bigger (implying much more power and range than the conventional ones we've seen before) and (2) give it an unrestricted field of view (instead of having its field of view partially restricted by the hull). Then again, my ship is supposed to be a deep-range explorer/scout... basically, it's purpose is to be a "forward observer" type of ship rather than a main-line combat, science, or diplomatic vessel. Clearly, most ships (like Grandeur) are more multi-purpose, and you wouldn't expect the same almost dedicated focus on sensor and probe operations I built into mine. I'm not sure that you shouldn't have both. If this "nose-let" gets treated as a scanner, maybe you can also have the old deflector where it was before? I have to admit that I've never quite gotten the need for a secondary deflector beam. Generally speaking, the forward shields are used for micrometeorite protection and the deflector beam is used to sweep away the big stuff that the shields wouldn't cover, right? Many "canon" ships don't even have a deflector beam (or at least nothing we can see as one). I get the impression that you only need a deflector beam if you're operating at reasonably high warp speeds... a separated hull element doesn't REALLY need it's own deflector beam at all, unless that section is going to be travelling at warp itself, I'd have to say. But visually, I'm thinking that having a "secondary deflector" like the first revision of this ship (perhaps slightly smaller?) had would LOOK pretty cool, in combination with the detail that's been added here. Just my 2cents
I liked the first version, but I have to say that your new Primary Hull kicks ass, it really looks great. One thing I would say is don't change the warp engines, they rock! Keep it going.
It looks totally fantastic, really sweet design you have going on there, it's going to be a beauty once it's finished. What 3d program did you use btw?
Looking great... I notice the deflector on the top now (did I miss that before, or have you updated the picture?) Also... is that a hangar facility at the back, or just general superstructure?
The deflector is from a previous design from a few months back. We liked it so well that he generously added it to this version. That is the hanger-bay for Grandeur-A's scout-fighter, USS Blackfoot. "A COOL RIDE!"
Okay, decision time. I've got two different versions of the auxiliary deflector and three different versions of the name and registry. Everybody sound off on which you like best. OPTION #1 OPTION #2A OPTION #2B
#1, by far, is my preference... simply because the deflector seems much more a part of the "nose" elements of the hull in this case. On the other hand, I like the slightly smaller deflector you used in the other version (or at least it LOOKS smaller... is that an optical trick?). If it were me, I'd stick with #1 but make the deflector slightly smaller, more like the one you used in #2,#3. But it's your baby... and the baby of the people in this particular "club" of course!