I've been, slowly, working on this TOS inspired tank style combat vehicle and finally got it to a somewhat presentable state. The idea behind it is it can shoot ships in orbit from a surface, or it can fight surface to surface like a modern tank. It can also be dropped from orbit to land on its own like a shuttle, which is why the hull is shaped partially like a lifting body aircraft and why there is a bottom sensor dome. If it has to it can fly around like a shuttle and fight air to air, but it is not really meant for that. The intention is this is strictly impulse but has a stronger power supply than the Class F shuttle, meaning it can fly between planets in an emergency but not star systems. The hull color is based on the Smithsonian Constitution-class restoration. I'm kind of into the weird off green color especially because it stands apart from the shuttles. Besides, on worlds with greenery it blends in better than white. Maybe. I have a few more details in mind for the hull, and will hopefully get to a front view, and maybe a top view.
Thanks Here's the tank with a bit more detail. The top view is next just to show a long range sensor dish and photon mortars. The test fire simulation went well and firing beyond 90 degrees elevation should work without any issues.
Thank you. The lighter color is from me just eyeballing the the Smithsonian restoration of the Enterprise, while the latter color is based on the recommended paint chip with a little tweaking. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/revealing-colors-star-trek-enterprise Benjamin Moore “Heather Gray” # 2139-40 I like the darker grey green because it reminds me of WWII US tanks, but the lighter color is more pleasant and reminds me more of how it looks on TV. I might make a few color variants to see what works. Here's the newest one with the old color. It definitely looks good this way. I forgot to change the deflector boxes but they look good with the darker color.
A little more progress. Beyond the obvious stuff I added a 4X4 array of photon mortars, but may change their arrangement or design because they don't have the flexibility I want for an over the horizon anti-personnel -vehicle weapon. Maye keep them as photon missile launchers. The orange disk is a long range sensor pointing up because it mostly shoots targets in orbit and monitors the solar system.
@Atolm I wasn't completely sure of the making it a saucer since the TOS directive was to avoid rockets and flying saucers for the Enterprise. A saucer for this makes sense to me though and it means a lot to me that you like it since i like your work so much. @Kirk1980 I feel like Data mixing and matching things he likes to make something new. @Albertese The top view really changes it for me too. The tank feels kind of done even though I would like to add more detail, but I can't think of more things which would work well. Also any more might clutter it. The small black circles are diionic smoke grenade launchers, the large ones are missile tubes. On the left the larger hatch is for an automatic photon grenade launcher, below that is the phaser mantlet, and below that is the phaser Type 3 hatch. I worked the deflector boxes into the top view around the turret. The RV of RV-1916 stands for Recreational Vehicle and 1916 is the year of the first battle to use tanks, and it's a nice number for a tank pool. It may or may not carry a cloaking device. US tanks carry silly names created by their crews so the name an homage to that.
First off, Thank you. Thank you, for being a fan of my stuff. It really means a lot to me. Now to work: This is turning out AMAZING! I adore this project, and I love how you have proceeded. The Saucer makes the most sense to me as a shape not only for Trek but a true shape for a futuristic sci-fi tank. There is something subconscious about saucers and domes that project an air of futurism and awe. This hover tank is brilliant not only in it's simplicity of that the saucer brings to the design, but also uses an inverted dome-shape smartly. So much so, that it looks like it is hovering already. Excellent.
I'm working on an infantry shuttle, which is a straight forward-ish re-hash of the Type F. It puts the engine stuff in and under the nose so there can be a ramp hatch like TNG shuttles or real life IFV or APC. The nose is blunt so it can handle reentry without force fields if it takes fire. I'm sticking it here since it kind of belongs with the tank. I might remove the dome and weapons if I can't get them to my liking and just decorate it Type F style. I'm coloring it light green like the tank for the armor and since it looks good.