TOS Clipper ship -- Axeman version!

[Klaus]

On a lark, decided to take my "clipper ship" long-range scout concept [which you can see here] using parts from Axeman's cool prefab parts set instead of the Miranda-esque original.
I kinda like the look...

[Ian Keldon]

Intriguing design, but why does it look all beat-to-Heck?

[Klaus]

I tried out a different texture 'cause it looked like an older design...

[NebulaClassGuy]

Very interesting. I'm not big on the texture, but the design itself looks nice.

[Kaiser]

Looks cool despite being looked like it was in a Asteroid field and was hit with some

[The Axeman]

It does actually look quite interesting, not what I expected. It does look like a bit of a derelict, but that's cool too.

[Forbin]

My mind is already thinking of what model parts I can use to bash one together...

[Klaus]

Glad you like it, and since the texture seems to be distracting everyone here's a plain version for the moment lol...

[B.J.]

Cool design! Yeah, I agree that the old texture wasn't working. Not only did it look *too* beat up, but it was also very shiny.

[Santaman]

Nice one, I also think the textures were a bit too much.

[Wingsley]

Neat design!

Several months back, I had thought of a "ringship" design that would be dated post-Pheonix/ pre-ENT. My take on the concept was that the first Earth starships (such as the S.S. Valiant, and the CV-330 Enterprise and so on) were very crude and very utilitarian in their designs. A little bit like the DYellow submarines, and a little touch of the modularity of SPACE: 1999 as well.

My early ringship concept had only two crude warp nacelles mounted in the ring. The nacelles and an engine-room module would be evenly spaced, offset 120º. The rest of the ring would have docking ports so it would serve like a warptug. Mission modules would attach at these ports, and could be swapped out depending on the mission profile. These mission modules could be jettisoned at a destination-planet and used as either a space-station or as a large planetfall ship that could double as a permanent shelter for the mission personnel who would stay behind (presumably either colonists or mission teams who would await pickup by another ship).

This early ringship concept would probably be called "Star Ship Class" as a homage to TOS, but also as an indicator that early Earth warp vessels weren't distinguished as cruisers vs. destroyers vs. tugs. The basic concept of a utilitarian interstellar space vessel would be ancestral to the ships of ENT, TOS, TNG, etc., but much more like comparing a wagon train to a bullet train. The nose cone section would of course house the command module and other vital controls. But the bulk of the ship's personnel and equipment would be either embedded or "docked" on the rings.

That's where I was headed, anyway.

[Patrickivan]

I really like this as an old ship lost in time so to speak... Shields are gone and it's been locked in orbit for decades, bombarded by radiation and mirco particulate space debris scouring it constantly, almost like a peaceful summer misty shower... Almost to a shine. But dented here and there from larger debris/ ice/ whatever.

Structural integrity is only still intact thanks to the materials used in its construction. Hell, it could probably still "fly" if powered up.

Ya- I like her battered and beaten. A clean new version to see would be cool too- don't get me wrong. But this is what I thought when I saw her. It painted a picture for me instantly.

[TheLoneRedshirt]

^ I agree with Patrickvan - the original texture hearkens to a ship lost for many decades, perhaps found adrift but intact orbiting some forgotten world.

The 'clean' texture is nice as well and the design is great. But that first image said 'story' as soon as I saw it.

Nice work!

[NebulaClassGuy]

I love the plain view... the damaged texture obscured a lot of surface detail on the model, for instance the structures that house the sensor dishes. Again, nice work on the model.

[Klaus]

ty for the kind words, and here's a further mashup, still w/some of Axeman's parts and couple of things from a DAZ build-your-own space station set.