The Return of MSPaint...

[Belisarius]

Well, if you rotate it and stand it on its nacelles, it does evoke the 1950s-era rocketships like the one in Destination Moon. Perhaps that is what is pinging on your consciousness?

Like it BTW.

Glad you like it.

I hadn't thought about it resembling "atomic" era rocketships. A friend said if you stand it up it also sort of looks like the Starfleet delta. Total coincidence.

I'm definitely drawing inspiration from the Naboo Royal Starship in Star Wars: Episode I, as well as the SR-71 Blackbird, Normandy from Mass Effect, and Prometheus and Dauntless-class starships.


~Belisarius

 

[JES]

The basic profile does sort of resemble the Courageous class.

 

[Belisarius]

The basic profile does sort of resemble the Courageous class.

I'm not familiar with that class. Is it canon or a fan design?

A minor update:



I'm not sold on the dorsal shuttlebay placement, or the impulse engines. Might change them if I think of something better.


~Belisarius

 

[Belisarius]

Small update. Added very basic lateral perspective and changed a few hull details. Shifted the dorsal shuttlebay farther aft.

Please excuse the red drafting marks.




~Belisarius

 

[Belisarius]

And another small update. Getting into that phase where (aside from real life commitments) progress is slow as I need to maintain consistency between various perspectives. With this software, that's more of a challenge.

Click on image to view larger version.




~Belisarius

 

[JES]

The Courgeous class is a fanon design that was made for Bridge Commander, but also included in Legacy as well.

I would suggest splitting up the main phaser arrays into two, so you have one one the port and starboard, on both the dorsal and ventral sides, not unlike how the primary forward phaser arrays are on the Courageous class.

It just looks odd to make them single phaser arrays on a hull that thin and pointy. Do you get what I'm saying?

 

[Belisarius]

The Courgeous class is a fanon design that was made for Bridge Commander, but also included in Legacy as well.

I would suggest splitting up the main phaser arrays into two, so you have one one the port and starboard, on both the dorsal and ventral sides, not unlike how the primary forward phaser arrays are on the Courageous class.

It just looks odd to make them single phaser arrays on a hull that thin and pointy. Do you get what I'm saying?

I can't quite visualize it at the moment, but I'll take a look at the Courageous-class arrays and see if I can apply your suggestion in the next update.

New layout for the addition of forward/aft views:

Click on image to view larger version.




~Belisarius

 

[erifah]

The way I feel about MSPaint is very simple: it's like crayons in the hands of a small child.

I mean that in a good way. There's nothing quite like the way a child's artwork - BEFORE the child is regimented into the ways art is *supposed* to be done - is free and loose and offers insights into their minds.

 

[IreneAdler]

I'm coming in super late, but it reminds me of Amidala's starship in the Wars Prequels. I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing, though, it's a very eye-catching, aerodynamic design.

Nice concept, nonetheless :-D

 

[Belisarius]

The way I feel about MSPaint is very simple: it's like crayons in the hands of a small child.

I mean that in a good way. There's nothing quite like the way a child's artwork - BEFORE the child is regimented into the ways art is *supposed* to be done - is free and loose and offers insights into their minds.

Only in this case it's crayons in the hands of a big kid.

I could easily use other software, I simply choose not to.

I'm coming in super late, but it reminds me of Amidala's starship in the Wars Prequels. I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing, though, it's a very eye-catching, aerodynamic design.

Nice concept, nonetheless :-D

Totally. It's definitely inspired by the Naboo royal starship from Episode I, the SR-71 Blackbird, the Normandy from Mass Effect, as well as other "pointy" Federation designs (like Prometheus and Dauntless), and even the NSEA Protector from Galaxy Quest.

And thanks, I'm fond of it, m'self. Was just on vacation for a week, so no progress to share (yet).

Going to see if I can figure out a way to move this one over to 3D at some point, after the 2D design is complete.


~Belisarius

 

[Belisarius]

Minor update. Well, I guess it's not terribly minor, as I added considerable detail to the aft view and changed the warp engine field grill design. Discovered after some sketching that the original configuration doesn't work well in three dimensions.

We'll see if this new design sticks. Not sure yet. The contour of the nacelle makes it difficult to represent the appearance of the field grill accurately in 2D.

Also added an aft-dorsal torpedo launcher. That brings the grand total to five. Two dorsal (fore/aft), two ventral (fore/aft), and one mounted longitudinally on the stern. That one might go away. Haven't decided.

I like the idea of the ship being heavily armed aft, to facilitate slashing attacks...making use of her speed. Hammer the target on the approach with forward weapons, then continue to fire projectiles aft while evading return fire. Still not sure the fifth launcher will stay...might just be overkill.

Changed phaser arrays (based on a suggestion from JES) from contiguous format to "split" format, and I think it resolves several discrepancies between array consistency and hull contour. As of right now, the ship has ten total arrays. Two dorsal, three ventral, one forward (edge), two aft (edge), and two lateral (one on each nacelle).

And for some strange reason my file size jumped from 94kb to 13mb, with very few actual changes. Big mystery...

Click to view larger version.



~Belisarius

 

[JES]

Yeah, just as I imagined! Pointy hulls always look better with split arrays.

 

[Belisarius]

Yeah, just as I imagined! Pointy hulls always look better with split arrays.

It was a great suggestion. Not only did it solve some hull geometry problems in 3D, I think I prefer the way it looks...in terms of aesthetics.

I may still need to play with the array termination points...try to achieve more consistency in terms of scale and positioning. Honestly, the fine details like this are most challenging in MSPaint, but that's part of the fun.

I'm still trying to nail down the ship's overall dimensions. Nothing final, but I'm thinking she's probably somewhere between 390 and 470 meters in length. The absolute maximum I could imagine would be 500m, but that's pretty extreme. She's not exactly a "small" ship, but neither is she a behemoth like the Galaxy-class.


~Belisarius

 

[JES]

Well, I'm extremely happy that my suggestion helped.

 

[Belisarius]

The return of the Return of MS Paint! (Again!)

Howdy, folks. I circle back to this hobby every few years, resurrecting an absurd, enjoyable, and humorous blend of what is now considered "retro" digital art and starship design. Yes, I know there is better software available. Yes, I have tested various alternatives. I choose to work in MS Paint because I've developed a workflow I enjoy and a particular aesthetic.

As always, all shared content should be considered WIP and heavily influenced by the thousands of excellent canon and fan designs that have boldly gone before...

This time around I'm fiddling with a Victory-class long-range explorer concept. The class name is still very much a WIP, and I realize that there are probably a handful of existing ship designs bearing the name...nothing new under the sun and all that. For now, it will suffice, and it's a lot better than [placeholder]. For your consideration:

At the moment I'm just knocking together the hull geometry and making sure the 2D ortho concept works in three dimensions.

 

[MisterD]

The return of the Return of MS Paint! (Again!)

Howdy, folks. I circle back to this hobby every few years, resurrecting an absurd, enjoyable, and humorous blend of what is now considered "retro" digital art and starship design. Yes, I know there is better software available. Yes, I have tested various alternatives. I choose to work in MS Paint because I've developed a workflow I enjoy and a particular aesthetic.

As always, all shared content should be considered WIP and heavily influenced by the thousands of excellent canon and fan designs that have boldly gone before...

This time around I'm fiddling with a Victory-class long-range explorer concept. The class name is still very much a WIP, and I realize that there are probably a handful of existing ship designs bearing the name...nothing new under the sun and all that. For now, it will suffice, and it's a lot better than [placeholder]. For your consideration:

At the moment I'm just knocking together the hull geometry and making sure the 2D ortho concept works in three dimensions.

Looks great. An artist should use whatever tool he can express himself the best with. You did not clinge to the classical configuration with nacelles but its instantly recognizable as a federation vessel. This looks more in universe and has better proportions then many professional works like in STO for example.

Also you hit all the right angles and curves to make it esthetically pleasing. Please keep em coming. (too bad some of your older works can not be seen anymore because the links dont work...I like your design language)

 

[Kaiser]

Looks good

 

[Belisarius]

Small update. Testing a new warp engine field grill configuration. Starting to correct hull geometry to align the orthographic views, and adjusting for perspective. Still working out nacelle placement and scaling in the forward view. Lore update: heavy Vulcan influence on this ship class, to include a direct collaboration with Vulcan shipwrights during the design phase.

 

[shapeshifter]

Hi. I missed this thread originally but caught up with it now. Amazing concepts!

A couple things I wanted to comment on along the way...

As promised, erifah...an alternate (traditional) nacelle configuration.

I still like 'em down.

Me too. Up isn't terrible, it just destroys this design's unique flow.

HA! A certain other ship could learn a thing or two.

 

[Cyfa]

Hi. I missed this thread originally but caught up with it now. Amazing concepts!

- Me too - and I'm very happy to have found it!

@Belisarius, your Paint-Fu is remarkable! As are your starship ideas - I love this latest concept with the semi-ring nacelle