Why the Ralph McQuarrie-inspired USS Discovery is an incredible design

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

Here is the CGI someone did of Eaves original NX-01 design:

Just to look at the possibilities that were behind the most recent TV show prior to Discovery.

Preliminary McQuarrie sketches:

Saucer separation:

Also the canonical appearance of McQuarrie's more flat triangular design (similar to DSC):

And a better view of the other canonical appearance that can be retroactively linked to Discovery:

By GeekFilter (who did that one of Discovery with the shuttle):

 

[Mudd]

Preliminary McQuarrie sketches:

These are my favorite renderings - I'd rather Discovery used this engine design.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

These are my favorite renderings - I'd rather Discovery used this engine design.

Me, too. And, you're right about the saucer size, and the shuttle bay.

 

[C57D]

Love the design for Discovery. For me it looks just a little like the Baton Rouge class (which in SFC comes just in the right era). And if so all good!!

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/stexpanded/images/e/eb/Batonrouge_lightcruiser.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20071206033346&imgrefurl=http://stexpanded.wikia.com/wiki/Baton_Rouge_class&docid=rlm5OUkcX0EAPM&tbnid=zcIZPWaasxwAeM:&vet=1&w=515&h=281&client=ms-android-tmobile-gb&bih=559&biw=360&q=baton rouge starship&ved=0ahUKEwirlpe9j5_SAhVmBMAKHUSjAWIQMwgbKAAwAA&iact=mrc&uact=8

 

[Doford]

These are my favorite renderings - I'd rather Discovery used this engine design.

Curious, what's good about those designs. It's just a bit of form. A triangle and circle.

 

[mos6507]

It never ceases to amaze me how many fans keep saying 'it IS ugly'.

I think you'll find that while beauty is subjective, it tends to average out in sort of a bell-curve or scatter-plot. Of course, because of the nature of the internet, you'll often get a lopsided distribution of iconoclasts motivated to go against the grain. When people say "it IS ugly" they are rendering a final universal judgment based on the vast majority of opinions. It doesn't invalidate dissenters, but they're the minority. Sort of like people whose taste is so strange they actually like AMC Pacers and Gremlins.

Unless they radically redesign this turd, you simply will not see anywhere near the same reverence paid to this thing that has been shown for, let's say, the TOS or refit enterprise designs.

 

[Kor]

McQuarrie's concept art for the Enterprise was based on Ken Adam's design. Let's not forget to give credit where credit is due.

And I still don't really like the ship.

Kor

 

[pfontaine2]

I just want to clear up some misconceptions that have run throughout this thread. The design everyone is referring to as Ralph McQuarrie's really belongs to Ken Adams.

McQuarrie had finished his work on Star Wars (done throughout 1975 through 1976) when he was hired to work on Planet Of The Titans as a concept artist and production illustrator. McQuarrie's Enterprise illustrations are based on production designer Ken Adams' Enterprise design sketches shown above, directly below the heading "preliminary McQuarrie sketches".

To be clear, the black and white marker sketches shown above are Ken Adams' initial sketches as he worked to create a new Enterprise design. These sketches were supplied to Ralph McQuarrie who did the color renderings shown above.

It's possible that Adams arrived at this basic design on his own (considering the angular nature of his many set designs for James Bond, a triangular hull for the Enterprise does not seem out of place). Remember, Star Wars had not been released at the time that Planet Of The Titans was being designed. Planet Of The Titans was cancelled on May 8th, 1977.

It is also possible that McQuarrie had shown Adams some illustrations of the Star Destroyer but the Star Destroyer design was not McQuarrie's but with model-maker Grant McCune. McQuarrie would certainly have been aware of the Star Destroyer's triangular shape but it seems unethical to me that McQuarrie would have shared designs from the unreleased Star Wars with Ken Adams.

Due to a lack of script, McQuarrie had free reign to play with the design and place it in different environments. The Enterprise entering the asteroid is purely from McQuarrie's imagination and was not something from the script. McQuarrie liked the idea of a base built into an asteroid for many years and found the idea would work as a "blue sky" concept to present to the production staff.

BTW, this information was derived from various sources including The Art Of Ralph McQuarrie and The Art Of Ralph McQuarrie Archives, both published by Dreams and Vision Press.

 

[Mudd]

Love the design for Discovery. For me it looks just a little like the Baton Rouge class (which in SFC comes just in the right era). And if so all good!!

Love your screenname - that's like my second favorite spaceship.
https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/stexpanded/images/e/eb/Batonrouge_lightcruiser.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20071206033346&imgrefurl=http://stexpanded.wikia.com/wiki/Baton_Rouge_class&docid=rlm5OUkcX0EAPM&tbnid=zcIZPWaasxwAeM:&vet=1&w=515&h=281&client=ms-android-tmobile-gb&bih=559&biw=360&q=baton rouge starship&ved=0ahUKEwirlpe9j5_SAhVmBMAKHUSjAWIQMwgbKAAwAA&iact=mrc&uact=8

 

[Mudd]

Curious, what's good about those designs. It's just a bit of form. A triangle and circle.

Well, the Enterprise is a circle and three sticks. That's where design comes in.

 

[C57D]

Serveaux many thanks. I love Forbidden Planet and the C57D. And its legacy as (so obviously) an inspiration for TOS made it a natural choice.
The whole "PT boat in space" ethos was just amazing!!

 

[psCargile]

Another thing that bothers me is that a vast number of hobbyist have conceptualized better looking ships. I expect more from the professionals than what I, or anyone else could do.

 

[Kemaiku]

Yes, circles and sticks, notice how triangle isn't part of that.

For like 50.5 years.

 

[Mudd]

Yes, circles and sticks, notice how triangle isn't part of that.

For like 50.5 years.

So it's about goddamned time for something different.

"It's been this way in every version for fifty years" is not so much an argument as an indictment.

 

[Kemaiku]

So it's about goddamned time for something different..

I can't wait for a hexagon...

 

[Tomalak]

There have been a few ships with triangular features - Voyager, Equinox, Norway, Intrepid (I think, the one on Enterprise). I'm not sure why it's now a big deal.

 

[Kor]

Because it's a huge triangular secondary hull with a little round saucer.

Kor

 

[cylkoth]

I can't wait for a hexagon...

Make that a dodecahedron with round nacelles.

 

[Mudd]

This is cool. Period, full stop.



Discovery is not an Enterprise. There's no reason that it ought to look like something in that design lineage.

BTW, I fed one of the McQuarrie renderings into Google Image Search and it responded:

"Best guess for this image: star trek uss discovery"

 

[Kemaiku]

Make that a dodecahedron with round nacelles.

Don't be disgusting.