A good point. It would be possible to simply widen the aft access hatch. It's presently a tick over 3'-8" wide. A pallet is usually about 4 ft. or so across, sometimes square and sometimes not.
The emerging interior. The chair is based off an aircraft seat and I played with the design a bit. The crewman in the bottom image is 5'-10". I opted to go with four seats and the two optional "plug-in" consoles to go with the two extra seats in the forward section. What remains to be added is the inner aft access hatch.
I'm also starting to think about the hangar deck. I'm envisioning a small antechamber where craft enter and exit. It would mean a much smaller area to depressurize and repressurize. The craft then enters the much larger flight deck where the four shuttlecraft are stored. If there is sufficient room I'm thinking of two shuttlecraft stored on each side of the bay. There could also be a turntable/elevator where craft could be lowered to a service/repair area, for more extensive servicing than what could be done where the craft are usually stored. Adjacent to the flight deck would be an area storing perhaps some additional small craft such as a couple of workpods. Such pods could be used for occasional exterior inspections and repairs as well as hands-on close-up inspections of objects outside of the ship or even other ships (such as derelicts).
I've done some quick measurements and there looks to be enough room to park two shuttlecraft aside each side of the flight deck. And the craft will be parked crossways to the ship's longitudinal centreline with their bows facing inboard. That's good because it means the overall hangar doesn't have to protrude very far into the secondary hull. Note that and the size of the secondary hull should preclude the hangar area interfering with the support pylons attaching to the secondary hull. I've copied the shell of the secondary hull and hangar section from my ship model and enlarged it to the same scale as my shuttlecraft model. From that I'll try to build the hangar right into shell. Again, like the shuttlecraft interior, the detail will be limited since the goal is to establish overall concept and consistency.
Here is the beginning of how this might play out. I copied the shuttlecraft model to give me a better idea of size and placement. The craft sitting within the clamshell is where the landing bay will be--a smaller isolated chamber with (mostly) transparent walls. That's where the pressurization and depressurization happens, leaving the main flight deck pressurized at all times. The landing bay will be large enough to occasionally accommodate other vehicles somewhat larger than the standard shuttlecraft. There is sufficient room between the bows of the parked shuttlecraft for another one to be rotated between them when necessary. There will be a turntable/elevator between the two sets of parked craft that leads down into the shuttlecraft maintenance area. The small areas on each side of the landing bay and beside the parked shuttlecraft could be where workpods are berthed. With this layout the hangar bay is about 170 ft. wide. I haven't determined the approximate length yet but visually you can see that it won't be much longer the the shuttlecraft parked furthest going forward into the secondary hull. I'm estimating the overall bay length will be about the same as the width. A good thing I have no intention of depressurizing that large an area. I am giving some thought to how shuttlecraft are moved within the area. Of course, one could resort to the idea of an overhead tractor beam. Or maybe a sort of anti-grav carriage could be used to move the vehicles. It's placed under a vehicle and then operated remotely. A third possibility is that the craft's own antigrav system could be utilized and operated remotely to move the craft about.
I have the observation deck in place, but still need to add the windows. Another detail I'm thinking of adding are the ladders/stairways that access the observation deck and control towers. I'm also considering the hangar's overhead detail as well as how to light the area. Finally I'm also giving some thought to something we never got to see on TOS: what lies underneath the hangar deck and where does that turntable/elevator go down to? The shuttlecraft service bay could be where more extensive repairs and service are performed so as not to clutter up the flight deck. Even though the main part of the flight deck is not depressurized it still doesn't strike me as the place where you might dismantle a shuttlecraft even partially. To that end, though, I don't see the service bay having as large a footprint as the main hangar area. The elevator would lower a craft down to the service bay wherein the craft is is moved off the lift and moved aftward into the servicing area. Perhaps the service bay could hold two shuttlecraft if necessary. The elevator then rises back up into its default position given it's actually part of the flight deck floor. The service bay would have more extensive tools ad facilities available than what could be available above. Down below is also where certain refitting parts could be stored for reconfiguring the craft for specific missions.
It might be hard to see what is different but there are changes. The upper half of the back (or forward) wall, the domed part, has been angled in about fifteen degrees. You can see the extensions of the observation deck on three sides that allow for an easier view into the hangar bay proper. You can also see some of the detail of corridor and archways I've added. I've still yet to odd the observation windows. You can also see the control rooms with access doors from the observation deck. At the back of each control room will be another door that accesses a gangway down to the flight deck wherein you will enter the bay through a door in the side of the berthing alcove (not yet added). Another small change not immediately noticeable is that I've shortened the flight deck three feet and I've narrowed it about six feet. I felt I had originally allowed a bit more room than I really need in the shuttlecraft berthing alcoves. To give you some sense of scale the ceilings of the observation deck are eight feet while the doorways are six and a half feet. I have yet to add the airlook adjacent to the main bay doors where the only depressurization occors. The side walls and ceiling of the airlock will be transparant and the end of the airlock on the flight deck will be a solid ring like structure that also visually denotes where the forcefield engages separating the airlock from the rest of the bay, somewhat similar to what was seen on TNG. When a shuttlecraft departs it is moved into the airlock whereupon the airlock's forcefield is engaged. The airlock is depressurizrd then the bay doors open allowing the craft to exit. After the craft is clear the bay doors close and the airlock forcefield is disengaged. For an arriving craft the procedure is simply reversed. Despite the safety record and reliability of the airlock forcefield as a final safety measure it is standard procedure that the entire flight deck is vacated during vehicle arrivals and departures. The bay doors are not accordion style as they are on the TOS E, but rather simply two large curved panels that retract into each side of the clamshell hull.
The beauty of all this is that it's all measured out. When I'm finished the entire facility, both flight deck and lower service bay, will fit right into the ship where it's supposed to go and without any fudging. I've already taken into account the thicjness of the ship's outer hull as well as the thickness of the bay doors. While building this I was also taking into account the thickness of walls and bulkheads. Note the doorways and archways--there is a thickness to them allowing for framing menbers and an operating door when needed. When I construct the service bay its ceiling will be two feet under the floor of the flight deck. Note, too, that the width of the entire hangar facility does not extend to the outer hull of the secondary hull, and it is also well below where the pylon supports attach to the secondary hull.
Here is some idea of what this looks like from the inside. They're shown here raw because I haven't added any internal lighting sources yet so any renderings would just come out in total blackness.
I really like how this shuttle turned out. Very sleek, but still retains some of the classic look. What font did you use for the shuttle names? Or was it a custom job?
The font is the original Airborne from TOS' first pilot and I tweaked it by rounding off the corners to create a smoother Eurostyle like look. The font for the vehicle names is called Sofachrome.
I'm in the process of adding overhead lighting panels. What I have left to add is the lighting for the control rooms and the main flight deck. I'm not sure how I want to light the flight deck yet--what shape it will take. I will play with different intensity of lighting for the observation level as opposed to the flight deck and berthing alcoves. I'm debating whether I should add some other fixtures such as control panels, alert lights and storage compartments.
I completely agree with B.J. The shuttles take the general shape of the original, but have also turned into something sleeker and stylish.
Here is my first pass at rendering the hangar deck. I could try turning the lights up a bit more. But it does give a decent idea of what it could look like. Mind you, too, that it isn't quite as detailed as a full up hangar filming set would be because this is meant simply to establish a general layout. There does look to be some extra space for the standard shuttlecraft, but this is also being mindful that other craft of different shapes and sizes (within reason) could conceivably be accommodated. In that event two of the shuttlecraft could be moved temporaily and stored below in the shuttlecraft service bay. The red lines on the deck indicate the borders of where a shuttlecraft can be parked. So there are four red outlines for the parked shuttlecraft as well as marking where the craft must land or conversely from where it departs near the hangar bay doors. The green lines on the deck mark the limits of where the craft can move and hence the green rectangle marked within the red circle indicating the turntable/elevator. That red circle marks the border of which anything on the turntable must remain within when the turntable/elevator is in operstion. When a standard shuttlecraft (or smaller craft) is within the green rectangle there is easily sufficient room to avoid hitting anything outside the red circle when the turntable is in operation. When a craft is lowered into the service bay below it is promptly removed so the turntable can return to the flight deck since it is effectively part of the hangar's deck.
As I said upthread this is my first pass at rendering this interior model and so I haven't brightened the emitters more yet. I could also increase the reflectivity of the walls and floor a bit to help scatter the light more.
Here I've upped the brightness of the lights as well as increased the reflectivity of the walls and floor a bit to brighten everything up more.