TAS made real....
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
Still more work to do, but here is an initial render.
It's interesting what small differences can make. This is essentially the same interpretation I first did with this design several years ago, but here I stretched it only 5 percent, rounded off edges more, and lengthened and tapered the nacelles. There were some other small tweaks, most notably tapering the ship gently toward the bow. Small changes and yet it looks quite different from my first effort.
I'm still playing with colours and still wish to add more detail, but the end is in sight.
It's interesting what small differences can make. This is essentially the same interpretation I first did with this design several years ago, but here I stretched it only 5 percent, rounded off edges more, and lengthened and tapered the nacelles. There were some other small tweaks, most notably tapering the ship gently toward the bow. Small changes and yet it looks quite different from my first effort.
I'm still playing with colours and still wish to add more detail, but the end is in sight.
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Great take on the TAS shuttle while maintaining its main design concepts. Very nice. Possible added little detail: I wonder if these shuttles got individual names? If so, it's name would be painted on the hull someplace.
I have wondered if this was something left more to individual ships or bases. Starship crews might name their shuttlecraft (for whatever reason) and given they would carry only a handful or fewer onboard. A starbase might have dozens or more on hand almost to the point of being disposable so maybe they might not. Military aircraft crews have been known to name their planes even if that wasn’t officially recognized. It might simply be left to choice.
A few spots where a name could be added: the big empty space on the upper surface of the bow, above the Starfleet pennant and just below the viewport or above the tail end of the pennant, or just below the leading end of the pennant.
I have decided to go with Henoch’s suggestion and give this shuttlecraft a name.
Here is my reasoning. In the episode “Slaver Weapon” the shuttlecraft is identified as the Copernicus. Now if this episode had been filmed live-action it’s safe to assume TOS would have just reused the already familiar Class F shuttlecraft since they already had a filming miniature as well as fullsize exterior and interior mockups. Still, if by some remote chance they opted to use a new design then it could still be referred to as the Copernicus.
We know this new larger design could not be accommodated as standard complement aboard an Enterprise type starship. So it could be rationalized as a starbase based shuttlecraft loaned out to the Enterprise for a specific mission.
We know that ship based shuttlecraft can indeed be named (presumably by the ship’s crew) beyond being identified as Shuttlecraft 1, Shuttlecraft 2, Shuttlecraft 7 and so on. We don’t know if that is an official practice or a permitted optional practice.
We also don’t know if the naming practice extends to starbase based auxiliary craft as well. While it was produced thirty years later DS9 adopted the practice of naming outpost based runabouts. This might not apply to TOS because it could be seen as retconning and a runabout looks to be a larger and somewhat more substantial ship than a shuttlecraft.
Still to stay faithful to what was established in TAS’ episode I’ve decided to name this shuttlecraft Copernicus. I’m going to put the name above the Starfleet pennant below the forward viewport.
Here is my reasoning. In the episode “Slaver Weapon” the shuttlecraft is identified as the Copernicus. Now if this episode had been filmed live-action it’s safe to assume TOS would have just reused the already familiar Class F shuttlecraft since they already had a filming miniature as well as fullsize exterior and interior mockups. Still, if by some remote chance they opted to use a new design then it could still be referred to as the Copernicus.
We know this new larger design could not be accommodated as standard complement aboard an Enterprise type starship. So it could be rationalized as a starbase based shuttlecraft loaned out to the Enterprise for a specific mission.
We know that ship based shuttlecraft can indeed be named (presumably by the ship’s crew) beyond being identified as Shuttlecraft 1, Shuttlecraft 2, Shuttlecraft 7 and so on. We don’t know if that is an official practice or a permitted optional practice.
We also don’t know if the naming practice extends to starbase based auxiliary craft as well. While it was produced thirty years later DS9 adopted the practice of naming outpost based runabouts. This might not apply to TOS because it could be seen as retconning and a runabout looks to be a larger and somewhat more substantial ship than a shuttlecraft.
Still to stay faithful to what was established in TAS’ episode I’ve decided to name this shuttlecraft Copernicus. I’m going to put the name above the Starfleet pennant below the forward viewport.
Very nice.Tweaking the hull markings.
These new markings match the style of the Class F shuttlecraft. I still think you could have gotten away with the 10% stretched version, but the raised nacelles match the style of the original animated version more, compared to your original, still excellent, versions!
So you've already sorted out your solution, but looking at the original drawings, I would have extended the back of the ship past the doors, sort of like the Type 9 on Voyager.
Presently I’m considering whether to colour that triangular recess on the bow’s underside. Presently it is just a slightly darker shade of the ship’s light grey. On the TAS version it’s shown as just an elongated delta shape coloured red. I rationalized it as a physical detail. But I think there is already plenty of red on the ship without adding more. I’ve been thinking of colouring it white or maybe a similar copper as the Enterprise’s navigational deflector.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Try copper, seeing this version doesn't have the dish on the nose that the animated version did, suggesting the wedges have sensor/navigation deflector capabilities?
EDIT: If the whole wedge looks too obtrusive in copper, maybe just the little cone shapes at the rear could be copper, and the wedges gives line of sight for the deflector beams? Maybe make the wedges just a slightly darker light gray compared to the main hull, like the rectangle at the rear of the nacelles?
EDIT: If the whole wedge looks too obtrusive in copper, maybe just the little cone shapes at the rear could be copper, and the wedges gives line of sight for the deflector beams? Maybe make the wedges just a slightly darker light gray compared to the main hull, like the rectangle at the rear of the nacelles?
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I think you should do it and if possible, Christian the design with a name, please?
If you're gonna design improvements on the design, I was thinking each new improvement could get its own name. Anyway, the designs are looking fantastic and your instincts of revisions are top notch.
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This might sound convoluted.
It is supposed to be the shuttlecraft seen in “Slaver Weapon” if the episode had been done as live-action. But since it is too big to be accommodated as standard complement of Enterprise shuttlecraft I’m rationalizing it as a vehicle loaned out to the Enterprise for a specific mission. In this case the rationalization is Enterprise personnel (Spock, Uhura and Sulu) have to go greatly out of the way to retrieve a discovered Slaver stasis box while the Enterprise is urgently needed somewhere else. So nearby Starbase 25 loans out a high-speed scout class shuttlecraft to the Enterprise to retrieve the stasis box wherein it will eventually be brought to Starbase 25.
I was going to ask about impulse engine placement like the Class F has, around the new door design on this version.
But I was comparing images on those original threads you provided for me on page 37, and saw you didn't see how to do it, and it might have anti-grav type propulsion, ala TMP shuttles.
That makes sense, if you consider TAS as the last two years of the five year mission, so this design is newer than the venerable Class F, so it might have more advanced tech, even with the older TOS design style.
Whatever tech anyone rationises, this is looking very nice indeed. It's cool to see your evolution from your original take, to this one.
Kudos, Sir!
But I was comparing images on those original threads you provided for me on page 37, and saw you didn't see how to do it, and it might have anti-grav type propulsion, ala TMP shuttles.
That makes sense, if you consider TAS as the last two years of the five year mission, so this design is newer than the venerable Class F, so it might have more advanced tech, even with the older TOS design style.
Whatever tech anyone rationises, this is looking very nice indeed. It's cool to see your evolution from your original take, to this one.
Kudos, Sir!
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