NX-01 Deck Plans, Version 2.0

Hello, all. It is me, the Ghost of Enterprise Past. Like Dr. Frankenstein I have come to resurrect this old, dead zombie project thread with some new life (with permission of course). I have brand new updates!

For the 2010 Ships of the Line Calendar, Doug Drexler decided to refit his Enterprise NX-01 with a new secondary hull. To be honest I didn’t particularly like the additions when I first saw them and had no intention of EVER doing anything with it. But over the last four years I have grown to like the secondary hull. After a lot of requests I have relented and decided to create deck plans for it. (Actually I missed working on the project too.) I am here to show you kids the beginning stages of my work. You know what they say, never say never, and I should have kept my mouth shut.

To start this new series I began with the key piece of hardware for the new section: the warp core. When he introduced the refit on his blog Mr. Drexler had made it very clear that the new hull contained an experimental secondary warp core. This core would supplement the primary core still housed in the saucer but would represent the next evolutionary stage in warp technology. The purpose of the refit hull was to act as a “test bed” for Starfleet’s latest technology.

You would think designing a brand new core would be exciting and fun but it has been rather stressful. Nothing is more daunting than a blank piece of paper. After six months of designing, redesigning, screaming, scratching, paper fires, sobbing, hysterics, and panic attacks, I finally came up with an idea that I liked. I wanted to create something that looked similar but was different while bridging the gap between Enterprise and TOS. I was also driven to incorporate a better flow with some of the technology. The most pressing issue for me was to make this warp core BIGGER. I always felt the core we saw on the show was not big enough to generate the power the ship needed. Needless to say there were a lot of variables to keep a handle on… and to drive me insane.

But enough chatter… here is what I have.

To get us started (and to refresh everyone’s memory) this is a copy of the plan that Doug Drexler put together to build the refit computer model.




This is the new warp core. This view is from the forward section of the engine room looking aft at the front of the core. The core is about fifteen feet tall and twice the width of the original engine. If you look closely you will see that there is an upper level “walkway” that runs through the middle of the core. (The floor plan will describe this better.) The two “lobes” on each side are the deuterium injectors while the rectangular “box” under the gantry is the antimatter injector. The front of the antimatter injector pops open and slides out to allow access to the injectors themselves.




This is the same view but with the forward ceiling removed to reveal the aft cathedral. This area houses the plasma conduits that feed into the warp nacelles. Notice how it looks very similar to a certain set from TOS?




This is the side view of the warp core from the starboard side looking to port. Forward is to the right and aft is to the left. From this angle you can see the front of the core (or the injectors) connect into a larger reaction chamber located in the aft section of the engine room. Notice I have included a lift, additional work stations, and a large control console away from the core. I always thought it was silly to have Trip hanging off the front of the old core while it threatened to explode during a crisis. Can we say OSHA violation, boys and girls? But the most noticeable thing in this view is the cathedral over the reaction chamber. We have six plasma conduits (three on each side) that feed from the reaction chamber into buffers/modulators on the port and starboard walls of the chamber and then to a large transfer chamber above the core.




This is the same side view as before but with the closer deuterium injector removed. You can see how the gangway goes into the middle of the core and how the inside face of the deuterium injector looks. There is a small secondary control console and ladders attached to the reaction chamber that can be accessed by the gangway. I see dramatic shots of engineers running across the bridge to the control console during a crisis.




This is again the same view as before but with the warp core removed. You can see the entire side wall. I have included two alcoves on each side of the plasma cathedral for accessing all of the areas. The blue “tubes” that run along the wall are deuterium conditioners that chill and process the deuterium before it is fed into the injectors.




This is the aft section with the core removed.




This is the forward section. From this angle you can get a good look at the main control console. I have placed the engineer’s work area to the right of the lift on the second level.




This is the floor plan for the first level. This should give you a better idea of how all of the details from the images above work together.




This is the floor plan for the second level. From this view you can see how the gangway runs between the injectors. You can also get a better idea of how all the gangways and access doors flow together.




Finally, this is an overlay of the engine room over the refit hull to show its location. The CG model sports access doors on the dorsal side of the refit hull just above the engine room. These doors can be opened to easily access the experimental core for either hardware swap-outs or to install a completely different core in the future.




So what are your thoughts on the new refit engine room? Chew me up and spit me out. I need some feedback in a desperate way. I have working in a bubble to long for me to know if it is any good or not.

Please note: This is still a work in progress so nothing has been uploaded to the project website yet.

If anyone is new to The Enterprise Project feel free to go back through the older posts in this thread and get caught up. (That is why I resurrected it.) I would be happy to answer any and all questions, new and old! Visit The Enterprise Project to see all of it in full resolution.

 

Welcome Back Astro Smurf

 

Thanks! I never really left though. I just lurk now. Been lurking since before The Great Crash of 2001. (It's hard to believe I have been here, in some incarnation, for the last fourteen years.)

 

He's back! And with new plans!

Honestly, I wouldn't know where to start with this. It looks absolutely beautiful to me. I might be able to do a general overview plan myself, but your attention to detail is astounding, not to mention filling in all those blank spaces with fiddly-bits. (And those canisters on the port/starboard side in the plan view look suspiciously like Nomad!) You not only can come up with something believable, but you make it look GOOD.

There is just one thing bothering me, and that's the engineer's work area. It seems a bit exposed and in the way, and I'm not sure I'd want to work right next to the lift. Any way it could be tucked into a corner a bit more?

 

That is some pretty awesome work right there. Looking forward to more.

And I had to go look after B.J.'s comment...yup, definitely see Nomad. LOL I like it...it amuses me. ;-)

 

Finally someone saw it! I posted all of this on my TEP Facebook page yesterday and no one noticed. Yes, that is Nomad... well Nomad if it had been compressed. I wanted an interesting shape and this gave me a way of putting in a little inside joke. (Those are the deuterium pumps, by the way.) But this new design is full of little homages to The Original Series. You can't see it in these tiny pictures but all the plasma conduits for the reactor core are labeled with the same codes the pipes in the TOS engineering were.

And to answer your question B.J., the engineer's work area is in the same place it was in the original engineering set. I just moved it up a level and turned it to face the core. I didn't think anything about it being close to the lift.

I also wanted to let everyone know that I am already in the process of making changes to this. Doug Drexler made some suggestions, suggestions that I agree with. This thing is going to change so I will be back with more soon. We are thinking that the core needs to be a bit longer and I want to add a protective window in front of the the main control console.

 

Last week my computer died so it took awhile to get to this point. But the new computer is up and running and I was able to finish the revisions. Basically we have a longer warp core. No fanfare or me rattling on for a half a page. Just check it out and discuss.

Sideview


Wall Sideview


Second Level


Bottom Level



And for the record, the latest Photoshop is nothing but beautiful. I bought the latest version to go with the new computer.

 

Very nice! I see you have a few strategically placed Nomads/TanRu's in there. Well done!

 

^ Thanks! I managed to sneak in several nods to TOS in there. It only felt right.

I admit I am a bit perplexed. I expected some derision about some of my choices and the design of the warp core. I also expected A LOT more discussion. Maybe my work on this black-sheep of a starship is just not something folks are interested in anymore? Whatever the reason I will keep posting. I only point it out because I think it is fascinating from a marketing standpoint.

 

^Well the NX-01 is not my favorite E and DD's modded E even less so but there is no doubting your mad skillz in rendering it effectively. Good job.

(On a side note, what the licensing like on the new PS? Are you limited on the number of installs, is it lifetime, etc. etc...)

 

^ So far I am loving the way Adobe is selling their programs now. Everything is subscription based. I pay a flat fee each month for access to ALL of their programs. (I use Photoshop, Lightbox, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and InDesign but I now have access to AfterEffects, FlashPro, and several more. I intend to play with all of it as soon as I find the time. I also have access to thousands of fonts now.) The subscription is also customizable to a certain degree. If you need more license you just sign up for more. If you need only one program you can sign up for just the one. As for downloads, that isn't really an issue anymore. Everything updates automatically so I always have the newest version of everything. If you need to upgrade your system you just transfer your subscription to a new computer and the system automatically disables it on the old computer during the next scheduled download. It is all very neat and tidy while saving me A LOT of money in the long run. I am sure there are some drawbacks but I haven't found them yet.

 

Thanks for the info. And keep up the good work.

 

:sniff sniff:

What's that smell? Oh, it's the Kool-Aid you've been drinking! ;-)

Man, but you've really fallen for it haven't you?

I DETEST the way Adobe forces you to subscribe. And if you stop payment? You've got a computer full of files that you can't open.

Count me out. Let me buy what I want. How I want. As much as I hate Office, at least MS is (at the moment) allowing users to buy it instead of just renting it.

 

I was never a huge fan of the NX-01 but your excellent work has certainly given me a better appreciation for it. It's refreshing to see how well 2-D plans can stack up against the far more prevalent 3-D images out there these days.

As for the refit - well, maybe part of the problem (regarding lack of feedback) is there's nothing really to compare it to, as the design never actually made it to the small screen. With limited exposure comes limited emotional response, I guess?

FWIW, the reactor and engine room look to me like a logical extrapolation of what we saw in Enterprise. But I certainly do appreciate the little nods to TOS here and there though, so any more of those you can squeeze in would be no bad thing!

 

Astrosmurf,
I'm late to the party but just wanted to say that "The Enterprise Project" is about the coolest thing I've seen (Star Trek wise). Incredible job...truly. You've inspired me so I started making sketches of the Neptune Class (Warp Delta?) ship's interior. I'm fascinated with this ship and I haven't discovered any deck plans for it yet. I just downloaded my first 3D modeling program so hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to convert it into a professional looking pictures like you have.

Thanks for the inspiration.

 

Just curious if you're still working on this or not! I love the idea of continuing the project for the refit.

 

I am still working on then when I can but things are currently stalled. Unfortunately I do not have access to renders of the refit hull that are large enough for me to properly draw the outer hull outlines.

 

http://www.modelermagic.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/KG_DREX_NX-01_REFIT_002.jpg

 

I hope this doesn't count as resurrecting a thread, but I'm happy to see you started work on a Columbia-class version of your deck plans. I think your original work was absolutely outstanding and am hopeful you're continuing with this. I'm writing/developing a fanfiction set on one of these refits and those engineering pics will be a big help!
Fingers crossed you'll keep up the amazing work!