The appendix did have the number of crew per ship. The Achilles actually has something like 561 people on board.
The Achilles is a manufacturing ship, isn't it? Production facilities and stores for fleet repairs and the like. The majority of its crew might be engineers and technicians.
Sorry, I must have missed that part. I'll keep a closer eye on it in the future. My apologies. OT: Is it me, or is the Merian class a true Miranda-class of the 24th century?
Mage: I designed the Merian to be a replacement class for the aging Miranda. Less crew, newer technology same diversity. Planck and Hawking will look reasonable the same, the Curie is a variant. The platform is very easy to construct and modular. Christopher: The Merian was indeed named after Maria Sibillya Merian and her father, a carthographer/publisher. (it also had a bit/slight bit of a Miranda ring to it.) I started yesterday with the Demeter. This ship is going to be a bit different, I think the head of the design department for this project was an Andorian, at least the ship is going into a more "Andorian" direction. I hope to have an update on this ship soon. U.S.S. Planck went off the public radar somewhere last year as it's prepped for SOTL2012 (keep an eye on Doug's blog) The Demeter (I'm aiming for 400 meters) and Achilles (twice Demeter's length) will be somewhat similar in shape, but the Achilles will have more of a ultility look. With all the features of the Achilles it gives me an "uber" feeling. I will however do my best to keep it balanced. Hope to have some first "work in progress" shots of the Demeter tonight.
I was surprised to learn of the classes when I got the book on thursday myself. Wasn't suspecting that at all.
Can you please clarify what is the situation with your development of the fleet? Is this something you're doing on your own or something Pocket commissioned from you? If it's the latter, was there an announcement of some kind? Because I did not hear of this until recently and I believe I've seen others say they were not aware of this as well. Just curious is all.
Those images of the Merian class look a lot like how I pictured the Galen, which I seem to remember being described as a mixture of a Nova and Miranda class.
Be sure to come back to us here on this thread, as well as put up a few links in Trek Tech, to keep us appraised on updates as new renderings/schematics develop. Did you develop specs (length/height/width/tonnage) on these ships, or are they to be left fairly fluid ("about 400m", etc) to give wriggle room for writers?
This was initiated by me, I enjoyed reading Unworthy and Full Circle. When I noticed that the fleet also had 2 Vesta class ships in it, I just knew I had to create the other ships as well. The Merian class has been checked and approved by CBS. When I finish another ship, I hope to get that checked and approved as well. I had contact with Pocket about this in the past, but with all the editorial shifts going on I decided to give them a rest. After all it's a trivial part of the entire scheme. (some fictional ships that are described in books.) But as long as I enjoy creating them, I will. Yes! however the Galen will be somewhat smaller and will be more organic (more Nova) in design. It's not as "run of the mill" as the Merian, so it's components and hull design can be a bit less utility. They start out fluid, and get more concrete over time. When a ship is finished, the exact dimensions can be measured. (The ships are created in a real world scale, so 1 meter in reality will be 1 meter on the ship too.) I will update here if I can! Hope to work the next 2 days on Demeter. After I noticed the crew was only 43 I had to revise my plans. This is going to be a cool ship, but also most unconventional, always a risc in Trek.
This one kept me thinking all day, how to make the warpfield of a sleek (almost Vulcan) ship more effecient without going to a ringdrive system. (As those would require heavy maintenance and, by the looks of it, have over 300 coils in them.) Below is a possible solution to the problem. It also gives a first glimp of the sideshape. (heavy subject to change) http://www.ewe-squad.com/demeter/demfield.jpg
Thanks for the background on your project Clawhammer. I think I'm looking forward to seeing the Demeter and Achilles the most. I'd think they'd be bulkier, more utilitarian. If I may, seeing your silhouette of the Demeter, I would hope for something other than a down swept nacelle design. If the Merians are going to be new Mirandas and the Galen is an apparent Mirandized Nova, I hope there is some more variety with the last two designs. Also, was it said in the earlier books that Voyager had undergone major changes? I saw some of your early shots of a refit Voyager.
Thanks! Voyager had to be refitted for quantum slipstream, and repaired after the events in Destiny. I think it's logical that the refit plans where there for a couple of years already, also newly designed parts would have been pre-constructed, (deflector, nacelles, new bridge module etc.) They just needed a window to go ahead with the refit. This was done from mid February up to the end of May just before launch of the fleet. A short period of time, but still possible. If there is going to a be new book, I hope to get my refitted version on the cover. Would be cool.
Any idea when the final image selections for the calendar will be made? BTW Mark, have absolutely loved your renderings and original designs. You are a very talented designer.
Thank you! You can skip the "might be" (I should have used this smiley: ) By now the calendar is probably already under print. Our deadlines are roughly 1 year before calendar's year. Lets say I create something for SOTL2013. In August 2011 I would start on that work, around February 2012 I would have to hand in my final. That gives them enough time to edit the layout of the calendar, do a couple of proof prints, and then print and distribute it later in 2012.