Star Ship Polaris

[SonicRanger]

Is there a way to make those bright white letters painted onto the same panels that make the gray paint looks several different shades? The bright white letters are really ruining the overall effect for a gorgeous ship.

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Mysterion wrote:

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The "galaxy" logo still looks like the old Screen Gems logo (http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/Screen_Gems_Television).

That's one of the less disturbing comparisons that's been made with it.

[B.J.]

Mysterion wrote:

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The "galaxy" logo still looks like the old Screen Gems logo (http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/Screen_Gems_Television).

There's a wiki just for logos?!?

[Mysterion]

B.J. wrote:

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There's a wiki just for logos?!?

Suprised me as well, but there it is.

Gods bless the interwebs!

[Vektor]

Into the final detailing stages now...




I've been mulling over several different ways to add visual interest to those big, blank areas on the upper and lower surfaces of the main engine housings, and I think this is the version I like best. Basically, these are massive heat sinks tied directly into the engine coolant loops. In addition to having a plausible function, I love the way they add a bit of mechanical flair to the overall look.

I have also added the hexagonal thermal tiles to the bottom of the lander module, hull plate texturing to the registry number, warning icons for the maneuvering thrusters, and various other little things here and there.

Opinions?

[Gep Malakai]

As a fan of Art Deco, I approve of this. Or, to put it another way: Va-va-voom!

[Herkimer Jitty]

Hmm, it would make a good hood ornament.

[Maurice]

It's more Streamline or Moderne than Deco.

[Gep Malakai]

If we trust Wikpedia, Streamline Moderne was a form of Art Deco.

[CorporalCaptain]

Love the hex tiles on the lander. Now it's like Apollo + Space Shuttle.

The orange markings are really working out well. It does give it a unique character, which as I understand is what was intended.

Can we see a detail of the warning icons at the thrusters?

Here is some thinking out loud on the warning icons. On one hand, I would think that the military retro-fitters who worked on the ship would have frowned or disapproved of the icons, since they point to places worth targeting. On the other hand, I would expect a targeting computer in the future to recognize the thruster emplacements anyway. So, there's a cost-benefit analysis. What's their purpose? Who is being reminded where the thrusters are and why? What accidents are trying to be avoided? Another option might be to go with a subtler approach, and give the thruster emplacements a slightly different color. That could still achieve a warning effect, without the neon sign saying, "place IED here".

No net opinion here, just throwing out some thoughts.

[ZStar]

Vecktor, this is a magnificent job. I love the way the added details are providing scale and character to the original design. One idea that occurred to me is this... Since the ship has be hastily modified for combat duties, should the modifications have a more bolted on, patchwork, bare metal appearance to indicate aesthetics and matching the original paint scheme were not a priority during the refit?

As for the warning markings, go for it. Some red outlining like you have around the lander wouldn't hurt. As far as I'm concerned only in PC Star Trek do combatants have the luxury of targeting specific systems like engines or weapons. In real combat you are just aiming for center-mass end of story. If an enemy can read the markings you have added so far, they are too close already.

Those are my two credits worth.

[CorporalCaptain]

ZStar wrote:

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As for the warning markings, go for it. Some red outlining like you have around the lander wouldn't hurt. As far as I'm concerned only in PC Star Trek do combatants have the luxury of targeting specific systems like engines or weapons. In real combat you are just aiming for center-mass end of story. If an enemy can read the markings you have added so far, they are too close already.

These are the kinds of arguments that make it work.

[Vektor]

CorporalCaptain wrote:

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Can we see a detail of the warning icons at the thrusters?

Here is some thinking out loud on the warning icons... What's their purpose? Who is being reminded where the thrusters are and why? What accidents are trying to be avoided? Another option might be to go with a subtler approach, and give the thruster emplacements a slightly different color. That could still achieve a warning effect, without the neon sign saying, "place IED here".

I figure the warning icons are mostly for the benefit of people working outside in EVA suits. The ship would have to be held at station-keeping, meaning the thrusters could be active. You wouldn't want someone wandering in front of one just as it fired.

Sure, you could paint the thrusters themselves bright orange or something, but then you're calling attention to them at least as much as a warning icon would. The way I figure it, an enemy isn't going to waste their time trying to take out maneuvering thrusters anyway. Assuming they have some goal other than to obliterate the ship outright, they would more likely target the main engines, drive spheres, weapons pylons, something like that.

Another thing to consider is that the primary offensive weapons in this universe are missiles, probably with fairly high-yield warheads. Aiming one of those at something as small as a maneuvering thruster would probably be rather pointless because it's going to take out half the rest of the ship anyway.

While we're on the subject of maneuvering thrusters, I do have a slight quandary I need to resolve. It occurs to me that the thrusters just outboard of the cargo bay doors are going to be blocked by those doors when they are in their open positions. That could present problems when the ship is trying to maintain station-keeping during cargo transfer operations. I think I'm going to have to relocate those thrusters, maybe use two instead of one with them positioned on either side of where the open doors would be. That would make more sense anyway because it would take a fair amount of thrust to spin this ship on its axis.

ZStar wrote:

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Since the ship has be hastily modified for combat duties, should the modifications have a more bolted on, patchwork, bare metal appearance to indicate aesthetics and matching the original paint scheme were not a priority during the refit?

Well, the primary modifications were weapons enhancements. The pylons on either side of the forward fuselage were originally intended to mount scientific equipment, scanners, sensor probes, etc. They might have had some smaller beam weapons, maybe even a missile or two, as well as the point-defense turrets. The refit replaced nearly all the scientific instruments with missile racks and swapped out the fixed beam cannons for much larger and more powerful versions. In fact, if you go back through this thread, you'll see WIP images of the 3D model showing how the new cannons were so much larger that they had to cut holes in the backs of the pylons to mount them. Probably they also upgraded the ship's tactical systems, added crew berths, expanded medical facilities, that sort of stuff.

I'm still toying with the idea that they may have also added some armor plating to a few areas like the main engines, weapons pylons, fuel tanks, etc, but at this point that would be a little like welding steel plates to a classic car. Not that aesthetics carry much weight when it comes to battle preparedness, but after putting so much work into the ship's style and appearance, I hate to obscure it behind a bunch of armor plating.

I don't know. We'll see what shakes out after the basic design is complete.

[sojourner]

I am curious, would it be possible to see a "paper napkin" sketch of what a real warship would look like in this setting?

[Vektor]

There's a post on my blog showing some ideas for other ships in this setting, not necessarily front-line warships. I've also done some sketches of the main Transhuman Authority (the bad guys) vessel in the film, but I don't know if Dennis wants me showing that one around just yet.