Design the Next Enterprise

[Ihlecreations]

Posted a new pic on twitter. http://twitpic.com/52ljcc

[Herkimer Jitty]

I like how the tiny fins come out of the body work of the back end of the nacelle, and I like the cut of that nose cone. Not to sure about the blue glowy grill bit, but I'm personally none too fond of the way it was done on the Ent-E, so defer to other opinions.

[Ihlecreations]

Well I was trying to keep the design element of the E here and there. I have a few ideas on other ways of the grills look.

[Titan Designer]

Looks great to me

[Ihlecreations]

New pics http://twitpic.com/52o8it
http://twitpic.com/52o96u

[Dac]

http://twitpic.com/52o8it

If that one is made just a little bit thinner, its got my vote.

[JES]

I don't know quite what to think of that one. A part of me likes it, the way that the warp grill looks, but another part of me doesn't want a thick nacelle. Aagh! Now I'm confused!

I like this one: http://twitpic.com/52ljcc
It seems to draw a bit of inspiration from John Eaves, and I like how the tail end looks like a small airfoil.

I also like the warp grill on this one: http://twitpic.com/52o96u

What about trying to combine the two?

[DFScott]

Personally, I like the blatantly mechanical approach implied by http://twitpic.com/52ljcc and carried forward in http://twitpic.com/52o96u. Some designers take the approach of building starships like sports cars (my own sketches keep implanting Mustang-like side scoops), but there's a point where they need to reveal themselves as big business devices (like carriers and destroyers) and not so much passenger vehicles.

But. . . My fear is that the grace and ambiance of the front section could be spoiled altogether if the engines become too angular and mechanical. I think these engines would be perfect for a ship cast as a battle-axe or workhorse. But your Enterprise-F is three times the lady from the front, that bolts and hinges in the back might look like varicose veins.

I like some of the ideas you introduce in http://twitpic.com/52o8it, although they do appear to hang outside of the seams a little bit, so I'll officially dub that design the "Kirstie Alley." Rather than bore you with a lot more metaphors and semaphores, I hope you don't find it too intrusive if I sketched an idea or two based on what you've done thus far, including your other concept from earlier in the week:



Do forgive that it's just a rough sketch, but I wanted to get the main ideas down:

1. I liked the "matchstick" metaphor your original design employed. Putting it into a shape is the tough part, but I think you should stick with the bulb-in-front, tapered-in-back approach.
2. I like the notching you give to the front end in your later drawings, but I think for Trek-tech sake that the Bussard cap should extend to the front as well. So that it doesn't look like a big red Target logo, I had the idea that the cap should extend only to the top half rather than the bottom as you have it. For the underside in my sketch, I left it open -- I filled it with the suggestion of a row of bright LEDs, but you could put sensors, torpedoes, or something else here.
3. Carrying forth your beautiful design aesthetic of a protective ring around the ship, my sketch suggests here a similar protective "wrist," if you will, around the bulb part of your matchsticks.
4. The tail end is always a bitch. I threw in something here that evokes some shapes from the 1701 TMP refit, which I've always thought was the most elegant way to handle this otherwise awkward part of the ship.

Maybe this might give you some ideas. I think you're making the right experiments with your shapes, but there's something to be said for Probert's self-contained, streamlined approach, which suggests that everything is nicely kept inside the ship rather than tacked onto the outside.

DF "Hoping My Nacelle Cap Doesn't Look Too Much Like 'Gypsy' From MST3K" Scott

[Dac]

Hmm. I knocked together a quick mesh of your original nacelle design, and while I think it looks better in 3 Dimensions, the instant you put it on your E-F (or at least my poor rendition of your E-F) It starts looking off.





Looks alright here don't it? Well, when its on the Enterprise....







I think it just looks weird. Maybe I have the scale way off and they should be tiny, but that giant bulbous front just don't work imo.

[sojourner]

The split nose caps also look too much like a bird's beak in that rendition.

[Ihlecreations]

Dac, it's all your fault the more I see the oval saucer the more I like it better than a round one. But I am still gonna work on it and hope to give you something to work off of because you have done an amazing job.

[Ihlecreations]

One thing I will say is the secondary hull is too round it needs to be flatter on top and more oval than round, and the curved nacelle pylons are too close to Vektors Grandeur. I am going to use your lower angle beauty shot as a basis for my next sketch, so you can see what I mean.

[Dac]

Wait - so the saucer has always been a circle?! I thought it was an oval.

[Ihlecreations]

OK this is REALLLY ROUGH but it is more in line with where I am heading with the look of this sucker.

[Rat Boy]

Sign me up!