The conning tower or sail reappears on the Botany Bay which lends the impression of a submarine in space. However, the Botany Bay’s main hull is definitely not a submarine hull, but rather a simple six sided boom like structure with a coned forward end reminiscent of a blunted pencil. Wouldn’t that be crazy if MJ’s inspiration had actually been a pencil? I had considered a submarine like hull such as the Skipjack or Nautilus (both known naval craft of the era) for the Antares, but such a form isn’t much different than a cylindrical form of a rocket booster. It’s the added bits that help make it distinctive. The interesting thing about the “radar dome” idea for the deflector is that it isn’t bad in the right application even though MJ abandoned it. I guess he reasoned the deflector dish was more visually interesting. And yet the TMP refit would sort of ditch the antenna dish by losing the spike and integrating the dish into the secondary hull. But for a vehicle meant to land and therefore meant to operate within an atmosphere then a dome or cowling would make more aerodynamic sense, at least visually. Thats why I always found it odd to see some of the TAS shuttlecraft designs with deflector dishes—it looked stupid for a vehicle meant to enter an atmosphere as opposed to a ship meant to operate solely in the vacuum of space. My vague idea of the F4 Phantom as inspiration—besides it being one of my favourite looking fighter jets—is how the engine housings run parallel to the main fuselage yet below the fuselage’s centreline. Of course, something has to finish off the forward end and nacelles have to come into play somewhere. I have to start sketching this for my ideas to crystallize.
A crude early concept. The cockpit became an upper saucer component extending rearward with the tail section lopped off. The saucer replaced the Phantom's conocal nose. The engines' exhaust become the impulse drive.
I stand corrected--yes, it is 8 sided. Thanks! In size I guesstimate it to be about the size of the Enterprise's secondaty hull. How is your model coming along?
Another idea is trying to evoke the idea of a WW2 submarine—something small and relatively cramped compared to the Enterprise.
Not quite. It certainly served as the inspiration, but they stated that the model would have to be modified in some respects to truly represent I.N.S.S. MacArthur. They didn't go into details, but I would assume one major change would be to feature a more cylindrical profile. The flattened bottle shape is not an efficient use of space for a vessel that spins to simulate gravity when not under thrust.
The Megaforce Stratofortress toy—and the Megaforce Backlash would look great with the Leif. I could see Viper engines on a U-Boat, but that’s too silly here. Now at Starshipmodeler many years ago—a person omitted the conning tower, and laid both starboard and port halves of a U-Boat flat on a piece of styrene. The two bows met to form the curved nose of this flat aircraft, with the saddle tanks looking like top mounted fuel bladders now. You couldn’t tell it was a sub. Combine this with the Mars Defense/Soliton wave rider and you might have something. F-4 was muscular, and so was the U-Boat. A combination?
I have been laying awake thinking about this U-boat idea. It isn’t really taking the parts of a sub and rearranging them so much as crafting a shape that sort of suggests it. Just as the Valiant design wasn’t a kitbashed rocket booster, but a shape that suggested it if you looked at it a certain way (and I still am thinking of exploring an alternative or modification to that design). The U-boat idea could also be helped along by changing proportions of elements and adding the right bits. I like the idea of this concept because it distances itself from the familiar saucer component. An added benefit of these different concepts means the rejected ideas might be suitable for something else down the road.
OOOOOOOH. She looks like she’s flying at warp factor eight just standing still! If you were aiming towards sleek, compact, and deadly-looking, for my credits you’re already hit the target.
I like the U-boat inspired concept. I think it conveys the idea of the Antares better and looks less derivative than my saucer concept.
Yep, I think this is the direction I’m going to explore. I like its more rudimentary look and it doesn’t look like a riff on the Enterprise.
Knowing that you are trying to design something that woukd have been done in 1966-69, without future series references, your rough sketch above was still reminding me of something. Then I remembered what it was, from the series "Enterprise". https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/SS_Conestoga Still want to see what you come up with. Plus, your F-4 inspired idea could be a starting point for the Aurora style design used by Mudd and in "The Way to Eden"?
^^ Ah, I see a similarity, although I’m pretty sure I wasn’t thinking of that. I did indeed start with U-boat images and went from there. I didn’t even look up some of Jefferies’ original sketches.
Ever thought of using the SS Huron as a jumping off point? Only without some of the silly bits (like the "whiskers".) I just think freighter-y and no-nonsense when it come to the Antares.