I like those impulse engines (Oh, those TrekXI-style name/registration-lights do make a bit more sense than the usual single large spotlight, right?)
They do! But electro-luminescent materials in the paint itself makes even more sense. I'm thinking a thing white line around the black text that glows softly such that it doesn't appear emissive in direct sunlight, but is still visible in the dark. But it doesn't look Trekkish at all.
If I recall, Deg (if it was someone else, please forgive me) did a test with glowing letters and it ended up looking a bit daft.
Well, as I said, it doesn't look Trekkish, but it does make more sense than throwing a spotlight on paint. I do remember Deg's experiments in this regard, but I don't think they were exhaustive. Futuristic signage might also take the form of simply lighting the area as though it was a display surface. But, again, this moves farther away from a Star Trek look. At some point, I want to dig into this more, but I want to make a nice model first.
Now I'm gonna get really wonky. Let's assume it's some sort of luminescent electrophoretic technology. Something like a 23rd century version of the display used in e-book readers. It could animate. U.S.S. GRANDEUR [scroll] NCC-90125-A [scroll] UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS [scroll] STARDATE 50368.2:33 [scroll] -270° CELSIUS [scroll] SPECIAL ON TRIBBLES [scroll] U.S.S. GRANDEUR
Very nice. I like the base colors you have laid down and as always eagerly await your next update. Hey who knows you could finish this project up before my eldest graduates from High School this year.
Heh. I'm not convinced he'll finish it before MY oldest finishes High School... in 2027! Just joshin'. I know the only reason you're not done is because you're always trying to make it better.
As promised, here's a whole big batch of new WIPs. Lots of detailing added to the auxilliary deflector dish and the bridge deck and surrounding areas. More notes on specific features at the bottom of this post. The colors used around the aux deflector are not final. The rust brown panels follow established precedent but I'm not convinced that they really fit with the rest of the color scheme or what they will look like when the dish lights up. The name and registry light has finally been revealed. Sorry to dash the hopes of those of you who were expecting a shuttle bay or something more exotic. The back half of B-deck is still pretty plain but you will undoubtedly notice the "sword" laid out behind the bridge-deck rear windows. One of the design goals for this ship is to integrate a number of unique features related to its Arthurian inspiration and this is one of them. It is actually intended to be functional, not just aesthetic, though I have no idea at the moment what that function might be. The end result should be a bit more subtle once the rest of the detailing is added. Finally, the grills that wrap around the back half of the bridge-deck are not vents or exhaust ports or anything like that. Eventually those pits will be filled with some heavy greebling and a few point lights to suggest sensor arrays or something similarly techy. By the way, for those who are interested, current face count is running about 450,000, though that is actually down a bit as I have begun freezing and optimizing some of the Sub-D objects. I'm hoping to keep the final model under the half a million mark, but we'll see.
This is really turning out to be fantastic. I especially like those huge windows to the rear of the bridge. Can't wait to see it finished...
I did some experiments of my own along those lines but ultimately came back to the traditional approach. If you wanted to get really futuristic, you would probably just holographically project the signage like glowing neon over the ship's hull, but the original purpose of the self-illumination was not just to light up the name and registry and other markings but also to light the ship itself in the darkness of space. The effect in TMP was very striking and has never been equalled, IMHO. Well, that's certainly part of it, but another big factor is that 3D modeling and starship design are really just a hobby that I get relatively little time to indulge. I just happen to be in a mode right now where I am motivated to complete a lot of unfinished projects in various aspects of my life. Hopefully this one is finally in the home stretch.
I like the light right below the bridge (sensor I presume. ) something similar under a wider Refit hull--just above the lower sensor dome--might be modified to be a nice torp tube, flanked just below two megaphaser turrets in place of the usual phaser banks on the front bottom of the saucer...
Everything looks great, but those two wagon-wheel greeblies right behind the dome seem very out of place and distracting.
^I assume those are supposed to be the tops of the turbolift shafts. Though, yeah, they could maybe be less detailed.