On the aft rim of each side of the saucer, there are larger windows for the two rec decks on this ship. Built the set for the refit Connie, but no reason why not to use it here.
Jayru (JSnaith's) 3D Trek
- Thread starter JSnaith
- Start date
Lots of bug fixes on the Excelsior model, which have now been sorted. Also refined the new study model a bit to get a feel for it:
It has been inspired by the Horizon Class in Star Trek Online. In-game it's ok, but I'm not a fan of what they did with the main sphere, so let's make a working TMP ship out of it, lol.
More soon.
PS: NO this is not a medical ship, it's the successor to the Deadulus Class, circa 2310. You guessed, a science ship!
It has been inspired by the Horizon Class in Star Trek Online. In-game it's ok, but I'm not a fan of what they did with the main sphere, so let's make a working TMP ship out of it, lol.
More soon.
PS: NO this is not a medical ship, it's the successor to the Deadulus Class, circa 2310. You guessed, a science ship!
Finished playing with the study model - I used to do 2D drawings, but these days I find it easy to work in 3D, so I can get a better feel for the shape and how it all fits together. I've reached a point with this particular study that I either start work on building it, or I put it on hold. For the record, I have hundreds of study models that never progress beyond this stage. Anywhoo, here is the finished study;
Thoughts welcome, more soon!
Thoughts welcome, more soon!
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Worship the orb, follow its demands...
3DS Project - Horizon Class
The Horizon Class Science Cruiser is an in-game creation used in Star Trek Online. My creation will be "an inspired" redesign that fits it into the TMP/Lost Era of Trek.
General, in-universe thoughts;
After the First Treaty of Khitomer was signed in 2295, Starfleet began a subtle reorganisation towards more science and exploration-based missions. Existing space frames, such as the Oberth, Constitution, Excelsior, Constellation and Miranda Classes, were all defined as multi-role designs, able to handle Starfleet's scientific brief, but with the exception of the Oberth, were not purpose-designed to be science-capable first. The Federation's need for defence and security had always meant that Starfleet ships had to be able to fill a military role first.
With the new Treaty signed and relationships with the Klingons somewhat tempered and peaceful, Starfleet Command decided it was time to invest in a proper Science Cruiser, one that had the range and reach of a Heavy Cruiser-type vessel, but whose primary goal would be scientific and exploration mission profiles.
Existing space frame designs leaned heavily toward "saucer" based ships, with secondary propulsion hulls, a design supported by current warp theory geometry. However, the brief for the new design called for a larger multi-level primary hull area. During the Federation's early years, the Dedalus Class Starship had been the primary cruiser used by Starfleet. Based on the then best understanding of warp field geometry, the primary hull had been spherical, and able to reflect and shape the warp field to allow for (at the time) top speeds of warp 5.
Although the Excelsior Project had generated a new style of Matter/Anti-Matter Reactor Core (MARC) that would redefine the warp scale, it was still a fuel-heavy design and ship. Ideal for short exploratory missions, but not able to carry out the longer missions proposed in the brief. An analysis of the warp field generated by the old Dedalus Class showed that the then-generated warp field was fuel efficient, something required in the much smaller ship designs.
Computer simulations of a larger ship design with a spherical primary hull, secondary propulsion hull and twin nacelles yielded interesting results. With design tweaks and several iterative changes, a new simulated space frame was shown to be able to sustain warp 9 (old scale) for extended periods with excellent fuel efficiency. Although the field was not 100% perfect. The field generated by a traditional saucer-shaped hull still yielded better results, but at a higher fuel cost. With some design changes, such as attaching the propulsion hull higher up and spacing the nacelles out, a good, balanced field was created and accepted.
However, other advantages of using a spherical hull were discussed, such as internal hull layout, crew facilities, sensor and dedicated lab areas, with the secondary hull playing host to primarily the engineering facilities and hangar equipment. As per the then Starfleet Directives, the design had to allow for a cargo area, and minimal offence and defence abilities.
Whilst the Excelsior was Class 10 on the Military Scale, the new ship would be Class 8, way above the Class 6 the brief originally called for. Whilst there was a lot of faith as to where the Treaty of Khitomer would go, practicalities called for all Starfleet vessels to be able to defend the Federation; this would now be a secondary function, however.
After a third pass at a simulated design, and with Starfleet approval, the design was passed to the Federation's Oversight Board, who, with some minor changes, passed it for construction.
The initial ship was registered as Navel Experiment 2700 (NX-2700), and the project was handed over to the newly opened Utopia Planitia Ship Yards in orbit around Mars. The provisional name Horizon was given to the new class, although a legislative change meant the first ship built was actually the USS Frontier NX-2700, with the new Horizon eventually being built and given the Naval Construction Code of 2706.
The USS Frontier started construction on 3rd April 2306, with a small ceremony held for the keel laying. The Frontier would undergo revisions during its two-year build, delaying the launch by six months. However, when complete, the USS Frontier NX-2700 was launched on 10th September 2308, with again a small ceremony, where she underwent space trials and a full shakedown cruise, before returning to Utopia Planitia for systems analysis and systems revisions. Warp trial tests had been on par with the simulations, giving the new class a sustained warp capability of warp 9.3 (old scale). Geometry tweaks failed to improve speed, but did improve fuel efficiency by 0.9%.
Moderately armed with phaser banks and photon torpedo launchers (fore and aft), the ship did well during war games. The high-capacity shields were able to withstand a pounding that other cruisers could not - but this was by design, as the new ship would have to be able to traverse hazardous regions.
Modest crew facilities were welcomed by new and seasoned personnel, especially given the projected mission lengths. The new sensor and analysis systems were an improvement over anything else the fleet had, paving the way for the Horizon Class to become the new lead science cruiser within the fleet.
Known Ships:
Frontier NX-2700 (later NCC-2700)
Searcher NCC-2701
Discovery NCC-2702
Seeker NCC-2703
Voyager NCC-2704
Pioneer NCC-2705
Horizon NCC-2706
Mariner NCC-2707
Magellan NCC-2708
Galileo NCC-2709
Beagle NCC-2710
Hope NCC-2711 (Medical Ship)
Nobel NCC-2712
Thirty-two more ships in the class were built, the last being USS McCoy NCC-2744 (Medical Ship) in 2327. The class was officially retired in 2392, with the last ship in service (Mariner) being sold for scrap. The Horizon Class was succeeded by the Olympic Class whose primary function was as dedicated medical ships.
No examples of the Horizon Class were added to the Starfleet Orbital Museum, although one can be toured using a dedicated holodeck simulation.
General, real-world thoughts;
The Horizon Class starship has existed in Star Trek Online since it was launched. The ship received a major facelift to be a TMP era ship a few years back. Whilst the general premise of the ship is sound, I am not a fan of the in-game design of the main hull. I would have preferred something with windows and details. Although the geometric triangles that are in use can be pretty in certain light schemes.
I didn't name the class or create the shape. I acknowledge that here. What I intend to build is "an inspired" design that should fit with the TMP ethos, and with some changes that are logical to me. The idea that this is a dedicated science ship suits me fine. It is a bit of a tank in-game, and can certainly hold its own (I'm rocking a gear maxed out T6 version in-game, TMP themed, of course). It's not a fighting giant, and I won't treat it as such. Compared with the Excelsior, it's not a giant ship - I'd estimate the crew size at no more than 350. I can't - yet - make any comments about weapons as I have yet to build them. The same goes for shield grids and how I'll handle that. I can say that if I can pull this off, the bottom of the sphere is going to be a giant sensor dome, which will put to shame the science abilities of other ships.
And the rest - we shall see as it's being built. No plans, no drawings. I'm not using the game model to guide me. Inspiration and imagination are the primary drivers here.
Yes, I know I've named a ship USS Horizon before, NCC-3176. Maybe the NCC-2706 came to an early sticky end? Or maybe we can ignore the 3176, because that was built years ago, and a guy can change his mind, you know, lol.
The study model built has been locked and tagged as being at the jump-off stage, I can build from. The few major design things I need to work out (should I keep the nacelles, or do new ones? TMP bridge, or the new style I did for the Excelsior build?) I will sort out as I build this new ship.
If you have thoughts, ideas, etc - share them! I may not act on them, but you never know :-)
Information only:
So, there you go. Enough waffle to keep you wandering if I am indeed sane (nope), and to satiate my own creative impulses. As you may have guessed, I'm away from the big rig at the moment. Mum-in-law has moved in, and with her dementia getting worse, I am spending more time looking after her. It's hard, my partner is sharing the load, but some things are falling by the wayside as a result; my 3D stuff is less important at the moment.
Still no news on my heart surgery. It's going to happen soon as well (how we'll manage that is going to be interesting). And as you may have noticed from the gaps between posts, when not looking after Mum-in-law, I've actually been in hospital because the truth is I'm not doing so well *sigh*.
No violins, no tissues, no sympathy. I am alive, and intend to stay that way. This bit of the waffle was for information only, not discussion (please).
Any thoughts, comments and the like re the little bit of history I have knocked up for the new project and the general project build, are welcome ;-)
More soon.
The Horizon Class Science Cruiser is an in-game creation used in Star Trek Online. My creation will be "an inspired" redesign that fits it into the TMP/Lost Era of Trek.
General, in-universe thoughts;
After the First Treaty of Khitomer was signed in 2295, Starfleet began a subtle reorganisation towards more science and exploration-based missions. Existing space frames, such as the Oberth, Constitution, Excelsior, Constellation and Miranda Classes, were all defined as multi-role designs, able to handle Starfleet's scientific brief, but with the exception of the Oberth, were not purpose-designed to be science-capable first. The Federation's need for defence and security had always meant that Starfleet ships had to be able to fill a military role first.
With the new Treaty signed and relationships with the Klingons somewhat tempered and peaceful, Starfleet Command decided it was time to invest in a proper Science Cruiser, one that had the range and reach of a Heavy Cruiser-type vessel, but whose primary goal would be scientific and exploration mission profiles.
Existing space frame designs leaned heavily toward "saucer" based ships, with secondary propulsion hulls, a design supported by current warp theory geometry. However, the brief for the new design called for a larger multi-level primary hull area. During the Federation's early years, the Dedalus Class Starship had been the primary cruiser used by Starfleet. Based on the then best understanding of warp field geometry, the primary hull had been spherical, and able to reflect and shape the warp field to allow for (at the time) top speeds of warp 5.
Although the Excelsior Project had generated a new style of Matter/Anti-Matter Reactor Core (MARC) that would redefine the warp scale, it was still a fuel-heavy design and ship. Ideal for short exploratory missions, but not able to carry out the longer missions proposed in the brief. An analysis of the warp field generated by the old Dedalus Class showed that the then-generated warp field was fuel efficient, something required in the much smaller ship designs.
Computer simulations of a larger ship design with a spherical primary hull, secondary propulsion hull and twin nacelles yielded interesting results. With design tweaks and several iterative changes, a new simulated space frame was shown to be able to sustain warp 9 (old scale) for extended periods with excellent fuel efficiency. Although the field was not 100% perfect. The field generated by a traditional saucer-shaped hull still yielded better results, but at a higher fuel cost. With some design changes, such as attaching the propulsion hull higher up and spacing the nacelles out, a good, balanced field was created and accepted.
However, other advantages of using a spherical hull were discussed, such as internal hull layout, crew facilities, sensor and dedicated lab areas, with the secondary hull playing host to primarily the engineering facilities and hangar equipment. As per the then Starfleet Directives, the design had to allow for a cargo area, and minimal offence and defence abilities.
Whilst the Excelsior was Class 10 on the Military Scale, the new ship would be Class 8, way above the Class 6 the brief originally called for. Whilst there was a lot of faith as to where the Treaty of Khitomer would go, practicalities called for all Starfleet vessels to be able to defend the Federation; this would now be a secondary function, however.
After a third pass at a simulated design, and with Starfleet approval, the design was passed to the Federation's Oversight Board, who, with some minor changes, passed it for construction.
The initial ship was registered as Navel Experiment 2700 (NX-2700), and the project was handed over to the newly opened Utopia Planitia Ship Yards in orbit around Mars. The provisional name Horizon was given to the new class, although a legislative change meant the first ship built was actually the USS Frontier NX-2700, with the new Horizon eventually being built and given the Naval Construction Code of 2706.
The USS Frontier started construction on 3rd April 2306, with a small ceremony held for the keel laying. The Frontier would undergo revisions during its two-year build, delaying the launch by six months. However, when complete, the USS Frontier NX-2700 was launched on 10th September 2308, with again a small ceremony, where she underwent space trials and a full shakedown cruise, before returning to Utopia Planitia for systems analysis and systems revisions. Warp trial tests had been on par with the simulations, giving the new class a sustained warp capability of warp 9.3 (old scale). Geometry tweaks failed to improve speed, but did improve fuel efficiency by 0.9%.
Moderately armed with phaser banks and photon torpedo launchers (fore and aft), the ship did well during war games. The high-capacity shields were able to withstand a pounding that other cruisers could not - but this was by design, as the new ship would have to be able to traverse hazardous regions.
Modest crew facilities were welcomed by new and seasoned personnel, especially given the projected mission lengths. The new sensor and analysis systems were an improvement over anything else the fleet had, paving the way for the Horizon Class to become the new lead science cruiser within the fleet.
Known Ships:
Frontier NX-2700 (later NCC-2700)
Searcher NCC-2701
Discovery NCC-2702
Seeker NCC-2703
Voyager NCC-2704
Pioneer NCC-2705
Horizon NCC-2706
Mariner NCC-2707
Magellan NCC-2708
Galileo NCC-2709
Beagle NCC-2710
Hope NCC-2711 (Medical Ship)
Nobel NCC-2712
Thirty-two more ships in the class were built, the last being USS McCoy NCC-2744 (Medical Ship) in 2327. The class was officially retired in 2392, with the last ship in service (Mariner) being sold for scrap. The Horizon Class was succeeded by the Olympic Class whose primary function was as dedicated medical ships.
No examples of the Horizon Class were added to the Starfleet Orbital Museum, although one can be toured using a dedicated holodeck simulation.
General, real-world thoughts;
The Horizon Class starship has existed in Star Trek Online since it was launched. The ship received a major facelift to be a TMP era ship a few years back. Whilst the general premise of the ship is sound, I am not a fan of the in-game design of the main hull. I would have preferred something with windows and details. Although the geometric triangles that are in use can be pretty in certain light schemes.
I didn't name the class or create the shape. I acknowledge that here. What I intend to build is "an inspired" design that should fit with the TMP ethos, and with some changes that are logical to me. The idea that this is a dedicated science ship suits me fine. It is a bit of a tank in-game, and can certainly hold its own (I'm rocking a gear maxed out T6 version in-game, TMP themed, of course). It's not a fighting giant, and I won't treat it as such. Compared with the Excelsior, it's not a giant ship - I'd estimate the crew size at no more than 350. I can't - yet - make any comments about weapons as I have yet to build them. The same goes for shield grids and how I'll handle that. I can say that if I can pull this off, the bottom of the sphere is going to be a giant sensor dome, which will put to shame the science abilities of other ships.
And the rest - we shall see as it's being built. No plans, no drawings. I'm not using the game model to guide me. Inspiration and imagination are the primary drivers here.
Yes, I know I've named a ship USS Horizon before, NCC-3176. Maybe the NCC-2706 came to an early sticky end? Or maybe we can ignore the 3176, because that was built years ago, and a guy can change his mind, you know, lol.
The study model built has been locked and tagged as being at the jump-off stage, I can build from. The few major design things I need to work out (should I keep the nacelles, or do new ones? TMP bridge, or the new style I did for the Excelsior build?) I will sort out as I build this new ship.
If you have thoughts, ideas, etc - share them! I may not act on them, but you never know :-)
Information only:
So, there you go. Enough waffle to keep you wandering if I am indeed sane (nope), and to satiate my own creative impulses. As you may have guessed, I'm away from the big rig at the moment. Mum-in-law has moved in, and with her dementia getting worse, I am spending more time looking after her. It's hard, my partner is sharing the load, but some things are falling by the wayside as a result; my 3D stuff is less important at the moment.
Still no news on my heart surgery. It's going to happen soon as well (how we'll manage that is going to be interesting). And as you may have noticed from the gaps between posts, when not looking after Mum-in-law, I've actually been in hospital because the truth is I'm not doing so well *sigh*.
No violins, no tissues, no sympathy. I am alive, and intend to stay that way. This bit of the waffle was for information only, not discussion (please).
Any thoughts, comments and the like re the little bit of history I have knocked up for the new project and the general project build, are welcome ;-)
More soon.
Cool! That front view really throws things off in my head, which got me curious. I did a real quick-and-dirty volume analysis on the Horizon's sphere vs the Excelsior's saucer, and the Horizon is ~1.5 times the volume of the Excelsior! (Not counting secondary hull or nacelles of course.)
Oh, I know she's got volume - but she also has lots of things inside the sphere (labs, a tall computer core, crew quarters, rec facilities, medical bays/labs/etc, transporter rooms...). I'm still going with the smaller crew number, though. But I can be persuaded otherwise.
And just a sneak peek at what's next...
A rationalised (to my way of thinking) Constellation Class.
Anyway, more soon!
Back in July 2024, I used some of the compensation I was awarded (long story that has no place here) and treated myself to a new Corsair One i500 (C1i500) desktop PC. I’m not posting this as a brag, but more as a tale of caution.
The C1i500 came installed with an Intel i9-14900K processor, the last generation of Intel desktop processors before they created the Core Ultra series. On paper, it’s a damn good bit of silicon, and added to what else the C1i500 – on paper – can do, it’s a damn good machine.
Well, the first one I had developed a fault, the cooling system failed, and the unit had to be sent back for a replacement. No problem, a replacement was sent and… And that, I thought, would be it as far as problems go.
But this is not the case.
The Intel i9-14900K processor has a few design flaws, and sadly, so does the C1i500 as well.
Inadequate cooling of the processor, which always runs very hot, causes damage to it. Permanent damage that builds up over time to the point that a system will become unstable and eventually stop working altogether.
The very design of the Intel i9-14900K means that a cascade failure is inevitable; at normal voltage levels, it simply will melt. And the C1i500 cooling system, which is inadequate for the processor, cannot be swapped out for something better.
Mitigation is possible, but the cumulative effect will build up over time, and poof.
Corsair became aware of this issue and withdrew the C1i500 as a result. They did not issue a recall or offer a refund. In fact, beyond withdrawing the C1i500, they refuse to acknowledge an issue with the design.
Corsair have moved on and is using the latest AMD and Intel Core Ultras now.
But the problem is, I still have a C1i500, a faulty one that has stability issues. For the last six months, I have been trying to figure out what the problem is: a faulty OS installation? Degradation of the SSDs? Issues with the installed memory?
And then yesterday I stumbled across the articles (multiple various sources) about the Intel i9-14900K. Every single issue my PC is having is on par with a screwed processor. The stress on the processor has damaged the graphics card and the SSDs. The machine is usable at the moment, if I limit what I do on it and how I use it.
It’s dying, however, and I don’t know how long it has left.
I am, quite naturally, livid.
I can’t get a refund from Corsair; they have advised me to buy one of the newer Corsair Ones. They blame Intel for the issue. Intel have replied to me and said this is a Corsair issue. Basically, I’m going to end up going in circles until I accept that the money spent on it has been wasted.
I hate waste, with a passion. The thing I dislike the most is time being wasted, and this is going to cost me time (and energy, and money in the end).
I still have a fair portion of my compensation left. I can, and will, replace my system with something that is stable and works. But until that happens, I have to slow down on what I am doing to preserve what I have.
Why this is a tale of caution –
I still have my laptop, which is fine, but unable to run 3D packages – so no matter what, I will not suddenly drop off the radar.
I will find a way ahead.
For now, I shall continue at a much slower pace.
More soon.
The C1i500 came installed with an Intel i9-14900K processor, the last generation of Intel desktop processors before they created the Core Ultra series. On paper, it’s a damn good bit of silicon, and added to what else the C1i500 – on paper – can do, it’s a damn good machine.
Well, the first one I had developed a fault, the cooling system failed, and the unit had to be sent back for a replacement. No problem, a replacement was sent and… And that, I thought, would be it as far as problems go.
But this is not the case.
The Intel i9-14900K processor has a few design flaws, and sadly, so does the C1i500 as well.
Inadequate cooling of the processor, which always runs very hot, causes damage to it. Permanent damage that builds up over time to the point that a system will become unstable and eventually stop working altogether.
The very design of the Intel i9-14900K means that a cascade failure is inevitable; at normal voltage levels, it simply will melt. And the C1i500 cooling system, which is inadequate for the processor, cannot be swapped out for something better.
Mitigation is possible, but the cumulative effect will build up over time, and poof.
Corsair became aware of this issue and withdrew the C1i500 as a result. They did not issue a recall or offer a refund. In fact, beyond withdrawing the C1i500, they refuse to acknowledge an issue with the design.
Corsair have moved on and is using the latest AMD and Intel Core Ultras now.
But the problem is, I still have a C1i500, a faulty one that has stability issues. For the last six months, I have been trying to figure out what the problem is: a faulty OS installation? Degradation of the SSDs? Issues with the installed memory?
And then yesterday I stumbled across the articles (multiple various sources) about the Intel i9-14900K. Every single issue my PC is having is on par with a screwed processor. The stress on the processor has damaged the graphics card and the SSDs. The machine is usable at the moment, if I limit what I do on it and how I use it.
It’s dying, however, and I don’t know how long it has left.
I am, quite naturally, livid.
I can’t get a refund from Corsair; they have advised me to buy one of the newer Corsair Ones. They blame Intel for the issue. Intel have replied to me and said this is a Corsair issue. Basically, I’m going to end up going in circles until I accept that the money spent on it has been wasted.
I hate waste, with a passion. The thing I dislike the most is time being wasted, and this is going to cost me time (and energy, and money in the end).
I still have a fair portion of my compensation left. I can, and will, replace my system with something that is stable and works. But until that happens, I have to slow down on what I am doing to preserve what I have.
Why this is a tale of caution –
- Never assume that new, untested tech is better.
- There will always be other people who leap first and/or review units that are tested by others.
- Reviews matter, find them, listen and learn.
- Any part of a desktop can fail, make sure you keep an eye open to any news re your tech about that.
- Corporations will find every way possible to avoid refunding you.
I still have my laptop, which is fine, but unable to run 3D packages – so no matter what, I will not suddenly drop off the radar.
I will find a way ahead.
For now, I shall continue at a much slower pace.
More soon.
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Damn that sucks. Software has similar issues out of the gate, too. I never get anything (especially if the software has a price tag attached to it) with a version dot-zero on it because it's the first release of a brand new code base, sure to be replete with bugs. At the end of the day, though, software is easier to patch than a hardware design flaw of the magnitude you describe. The whole system seems to be completely broken. I feel for you on that one, and I see your dilemma. Not sure what can be done at this point.
This is not even the first iteration of the Corsair One; it's a line that's been going on for a while. They've already superseded the i500 a few times over. That wasn't an issue for me; the melting CPU is, however.
A replacement has been sourced, but won't arrive until April. In the meantime, we have lowered the voltage on the CPU via the BIOS and upped the ramp on the coolant system. Stopped a lot of background processes as well. Seems to be keeping the CPU at 80 degrees, but I'm taking a performance hit. It sucks. But I can wait for the new system. As I said, my other half is an IT bod, and I have left it to them to source something for me. I don't trust my judgement at the mo on tech. Corsair have surprised me today, and offered a partial refund. It's not ok, but it will have to do.
In the meantime -
More soon.
It's porportions are correct, tweaked a little to fit decks, but it's no thicker than an OG Constellation ;-)
Thought about making the saucer a deck or two thinner? I reckon that'd look better, even if less accurate.
I get what you are seeing, but... the current thickness works for the ship. It will be better once the details are built in.
Well, the class ship was the USS Constellation NCC-1975, so she sits between the Miranda and Excelsior Classes. I think this was a post "phase II" design, like the Excelsior. I'm sure I have seen a TOS version somewhere, though.
Speaking of design; 7 cargo/shuttle bays? 7? I built all 7 in and mapped the internal space. Where the heck was everything else supposed to go? My rationalised take has restricted it to three bays, with proper era-style hangar bay doors. I think that may be a little OTT, but... I'll make the best of it.
More soon.
