Greetings, Earthlings... Vektor mentioned this thread, saying it was gone (I believe the word "pruned" was used). I managed to find it and hopefully wake it up from its 16 month coma...
Well, son of a gun. It eluded my best efforts to track it down. Unfortunately, now I have to decide which thread to update. No sense keeping them both open.
Ask and ye shall receive. Ptrope has helpfully merged the thread I started into the original thread from a year and a half ago. All future updates will be posted here.
So, after the latest round of coordination with Dennis, the "sails" have been restored to the design for the Polaris. I had a backup plan in case he decided to go that way and I have to say I'm glad he did. I liked the version without the sails but I like this even better. I decided to try to have the best of both worlds by making the sails transformational. Ordinarily, they are folded back in a standby position like you see above, but they can also rotate forward into a "deployed" position, probably when the ship is about to jump into hyperspace. The Starship Polaris script refers to "hyperspace sails" and a "drive grid." This is my interpretation of those concepts, with the "drive grid" being the glowing blue arrays on the inside surfaces of the sails. Other refinements to these latest sketches include some changes to the main engines. Again, per Dennis' request, I eliminated the bullet-shaped front ends of the engine housings and created more of an integrated, backswept "shoulder" profile similar to a version he preferred in one of the earlier sketches. Dennis is reviewing these as I type, so we'll see whether this turns out to be the final version or if I have some more tinkering to do. I'm having so much fun with it that I'm cool either way.
for what it's worth ... me likey very much. Only critique -- probably coming from the Trekkie in me -- is it seems the leading edge of the engines need something to "enhance" the "shoulders." If not Madonna-esque bullet bra contraptions, maybe a little grill work or a half glowey globe or something. Technical terminology, don'tcha know. But, you get the idea: just something -- even a greebly -- to help add back some sense of forward motion, even when it's standing still, as you had in the previous iteration. Just a thought. But, overall, I love this rendering. And I really like the deployable "sails". Best of both worlds.
I'm not as fond of the sails--it makes it feel a like small fighter rather than a larger capital ship.
How do those sails work? I don't see the small "forward" sails doing much at all except looking cool (nothing wrong with that, though).
We need something of a scale reference. I'm still getting too much of a Spock's jellyfish ship vibe. Maybe a comparison shot with the Enterprise or Serenity, whichever it's closest to in size.
Is that cross section in the first post still somewhat accurate? If so, that should be a real good size reference.
I think I like this more than the last version. I'm not sure about that spherical bulge amidships (it looks a little cumbersome or bulgey) and I don't know about the return of that broken aft ring. But generally I think the sails you've added restore some of the hot, "swept back" look I liked in some earlier versions.
I'm more concerned about the sails myself. The look and idea is great, but I'd be interested in having them unfold "horizontally" as well as vertically, if that makes any sense.
Dennis prefers the rounded-off, backswept version and so do I. With the slot or vent on the leading edge of engine housing, it ties in well with the way the grooved edges of the saucer curve back into the tail fins, especially with the sails folded. I may make some adjustments to the panel lines and other small details but I think the overall shape of the engines is just about finalized. Well, first of all, the term “sails” may be a bit of a misnomer. They are not actually sails in the sense of solar sails or anything else that catches some kind of “wind” and propels the ship forward. I called them sails because that’s what they were inspired by. Dennis and I are still working out the operational details but the general idea is that the sails are a component of the ship’s FTL stardrive, which is based on the concept of wormhole travel through hyperspace. The sails generate a negative energy field that forces the wormhole open wide enough for the ship to pass through. I should mention that this is an adaptation of the original concept by Aridas Sofia for what he called an “erebon inductor.” I’ve simply moved it out of the ship’s mid-section and into the sails. In accordance with certain script requirements, the sails may also have something to do with steering the ship through hyperspace. As for the smaller forward sails, I added those mainly so the blue glow would show through from front viewing angles as well as from the back. Basically, they are there to look cool. I’m sure there are a multitude of ways to rationalize their function. Yes, and my thinking is that there is a particular technological reason for why they are oriented that way. I’m assuming the ship has a form of inertial control, probably generated by the ring at the aft end, which is integral to its sublight propulsion system and also provides a constant 1 gee of artificial gravity. This works even when the ship is coasting or in orbit, but only along the axis of the generator ring, hence the deck orientation. I will be adding some windows to the main fuselage, which should help convey a visual sense of scale. As Dennis pointed out, this is a decent sized ship, about 350 feet long fore to aft, though I don’t think that dimension includes the sails in their closed configuration. The central sphere may be a little larger than I intended in these sketches, but there is an additional reason for its size that I haven’t revealed yet, not even to Dennis. Look for that in another concept sketch in the near future. Ironically, the aft ring is something I had previously advised you and Dennis to get rid of in some of our email correspondence because I didn’t think it integrated well with the other shapes. In this case, however, I think it does work because of the addition of the… well, “cowling,” for lack of a better term, around the saucer’s outer edge. I think it allows those shapes to fit together in a way they just didn’t before. Having said that, I have thought about shortening the arcs a little so they form less of an obvious ring. I think I know what you mean and I was just discussing something similar with a friend and fellow artist I work with. I thought about splitting each sail down the middle and having them hinge out to the sides as well as rotate forward so they would form an X shape when viewed from directly ahead or behind. I haven’t taken that idea totally off the table yet but I’m afraid it would overcomplicate the design visually and I’m already pushing the boundaries of simplicity I originally sought to maintain.