Too damned funny. I didn't start this. I didn't invoke juvenile terms like "infantile" and "shit." But I guess I'm not allowed to take exception to such things. Too funny.
While you are right, and I could have been more polite and offered some suggestion - in which you aren't interested anyway - with my initial comment, you are also, I think, overreacting.
Look. It's done. Let's forget about it. I welcome a different perspective even if in the end I disagree. But I, too, can be sensitive to how it's expressed.
Really, guys? Is it that hard to be civil, and to express your opinions without being insulting? Listen to the wise words of Vinny. Let's keep the criticism constructive and not end up with another closed thread, and possibly warnings. Thanks!
I'm glad you are omitting the TMP torpedo tube placement. I wonder how you will decorate the top of the secondary hull, and how it leans over the deflector, blocking its emissions from the lower sensor dome (and vice versa) Makes sense. I can almost see a small observation post there, rather like the dome over the TOS shuttlebay. It would be quite a view on that prow... I look forward to seeing more.
^^ There will be fore an daft firing torpedo launchers. The aft launcher will be near the bottom of the fantail. The forward launcher will be either in line with the aft one (but facing forward of course) near the bottom of the secondary hull, or it could be in the lower part of the saucer. That cutout in the front lower part of the secondary hull will not be entirely comprised of the navigational deflector. The nav deflector will be much more compact than has usually been seen in previous Trek designs. Yes, although I hadn't really considered it your suggestion of a viewport near the front of the secondary hull would be a good idea. Presently I'm still working on the superstructure atop the saucer. I want to try two different ideas to see which looks better. The first is a more detailed version of what I originally drew. The alternative is something with a much lower profile that doesn't rise up as much over the top of the saucer.
^^ Okay, it's official. The first option for the superstructure atop the saucer, the one I initially envisioned, is out. It looks like hell in 3D. So I'm going for option #2 which is a much lower profile structure that also extends further back on the saucer. Although I like the tallish element of the design having a superstructure rising too high over the saucer looks, well...not so great in my eyes.
Okay, I worked up some general dimensions for this puppy. For the time being I consider these approximate maximum dimensions since I allowed for a bit extra room. I'm thinking that when I start to nail things down the measurements could shrink a bit but not too much. When I designed this initially I was thinking of a vessel roughly comparable in size to the TOS E with a saucer approximately 10 or 11 decks thinck. That could still happen or we might end up with a ship with a saucer 12-15 decks thick. Now these early measurements are based on the idea of a vessel with a saucer 15 decks thick and 8 ft. ceilings with a bit extra in some places. I still think the final design will be a bit less. L.O.A. = 1303.9 ft. (387.425m.) W.O.A. = 730.2 ft. (222.564m.) H.O.A. = 382.8 ft. (116.677m.)
I should have something to show tomorrow. The saucer A/B deck structure is a bit slow going because of its shape. Superficially it looks somewhat familiar with the one on the TOS E except that I've played with the shapes and proportions of the individual components there. I'm eager to get this part done so I can move on to the impulse drive section and then the nacelles and support pylons. One of the things I'll be considering is the use of lighting effects on this design. Like the TOS E I'll be somewhat restrained with the number of windows overall. I've also not been fond of the TNG style engine lighting effects of bright blue and red so nix to that. Neither will the impulse drive unit be lighted or at least not in the same way. The lighted nacelle caps lighted will be amber as was TOS' series production version of the ship. The saucer's upper and lower sensor arrays will be lighted, but in a different way than was done initially. There will definitely not be any Christmas Tree style effects (like TMP) where spotlights are used to illuminate the ship's name and registry--something I've thought looks silly even as I understand the reasoning behind it. As the original drawings suggests the hull will probably be coloured two or three subtly different shades of the same colour. Oh, and nothing resembling gridlines. That said there will be more hull detail than my original drawing shows.
Have you ever considered using glowing or self-illuminated lettering? It could even just be an outline, like a more advanced version of what aircraft carriers use today. Just a thought for consideration.
^^ I hadn't thought of that. Hmm, something to ponder. Here's a look at the saucer superstructure (which is still a work in progress). It is basically the same as the original design except flattened somewhat. The trubolift nub behind the upper dome has been enlarged significantly and made more prominent to the point where it's no longer the turbolift housing. That component along with the upper dome comprise the ship's upper space and planetary sensor array. Instead of a circular dome lighted whiute the lozenge shaped element on top of the housing will be lighted white. The bridge does not sit directly inside that dome. It is actually recessed lower into the larger structure. Taking a cue from the 1701D bridge there will be at least two access points on the bridge: one will be in a similar position as the TOS turbolift and the other will be opposite and lead to the main breifing room. At the aft end of the superstructure will be an observation lounger similar in idea as the one seen on the TMP refit. You can see two unfinished lines at the base of the structure where it meets the main hull. I'm in the process of adding a small concave radius that will make the structure looks like it merges into the saucer's upper hull rather than meeting in a hard line. I hope to do the same where the base of the dorsal meets the secondary hull.
Okay, so I haven't given any C or C here yet, so here I go: Overall, I'm probably going to treat this Enterprise as a while different animal, and not place too much emphasis on what came before. In many ways, this is a reboot, plain and simple: an alternate universe, and you shouldn't be afraid to test out new ideas, because of this. I don't like the rather short engineering hull. I prefer longer engineering hulls, such as on the original, or on the E-E, but that is okay, because this is your baby, not mine. The engineering hull however as some nice curves, such as the tail end of the sides of the fantail's landing pad, and the cut-out for the nav deflector, which seems to recall the shape a little of the Excelsior class, Probert's Ambassador class, and the Galaxy class, but the curve from top to bottom is much longer, not as long as the Sovereign class, and not the same, but long in a different kind of fashion. And about the forward torpedo tubes: You could go with both options, and give the Enterprise a torpedo tube ratio of 2/1, with 2 forward for each aft torpedo tube. I've always liked the idea of treating the torpedo launchers like the main guns on a warship, and the Enterprise's torpedo tubes could be similar to the number of main guns that Heavy Cruisers have carried in the past, if you want to go there. If you just want to go with an even number fore/aft, then I think you should just go with putting them in the same area as the original: in the ventral raised area. If you want to go complex, I've had this idea of the torpedo tubes being in what is essentially a turret, and the part of the raised area they are in rotating to track targets better.
I have been considering having two forward torpedo launchers. And, no, I'm not keen on having a launcher in the dorsal. There's other stuff going on it there and it doesn't strike me as a place to put a weapon system. I don't think I'll get a real good idea of this in 3D until I get the nacelles and support pylons in place. The saucer is also missing the impulse section. When those are in place then I can start adding the other details, but at that point I'll have a better idea of how it all fits together. You're right that this is starting with a clean sheet. I'm taking the stance of looking back over forty years of Trek and saying, "This I'll keep and that I'll change." There would be lots of familiar things yet they would look somewhat different because it's not connected to what came before in terms of continuity. It's like an alternate universe. Granted this is essentially a reinterpretation of TOS primarily, but there are aspects of TMP and TNG that I think I'd like to incorporate as well. I will be one of the first to say aspects of this design can be jarring largely because they aren't consistent with what came before. That was deliberate. I played with shapes until I got something I thought looked interesting in its own right. While no design can be universally accepted as appealing I tried for something that looked integrated unto itself. I wanted something recognizable and yet...
Making some progress. There's still a lot of work to be done, but I wanted to get a sense of this with some of the elements in place (save for the not yet done support pylons). If I may say so I think it looks kida funky.
Looking at it now in 3D I can see two slight changes I could make. One is relatively easy to do while the other not so much. The first is the rise of the upper saucer bulge--it could be just a bit lower and the curvature tweaked just a bit. That change I should be able to do with relative ease. The second change isn't so easy. The secondary hull could extend further back just a bit more. That change would be a lot more involved because it would involve remalking the entire secondary hull. That's not something I'm willing to do now, but down the road if I revisit this design then I could it.
I'm not talking about 50% more. I mean maybe about 10-20%. But as I said earlier that would involve rebuilding the entire secondary hull and the shuttlecraft bay and fantail. Not this time around considering how much work it was to make it such as it is. Presently I'm working on the support pylons. Hopefully I'll get those done today. When completed then all the major components will be done and the process of detailing will begin.
I put these two components together to share a preliminary look at the nacelle and pylon assembly. Normally I keep the componensts separate as I detail them and then put them together when they're finished. In case anyone is curious the pylons are at 55.2 degrees from the vertical or 34.8 degrees from the horizontal. If we assume the nacelle caps were to be lighted I wonder what kind of effect there could be. The TOS E had spinning lights and I suppose something like that could be done here. Besides that maybe something like a pulsing or strobing effect could work. Of coure there's the old standby of a simple constant light. The only certainty I have at this point is the nacelle caps to be amber. I never cared for the red lighting that became conventional. In similar vein I never really cared for the red lighting of impulse engines either. To that end my "impulse" drive will actually be an anti gravity or negative gravity system looking decidely more mechanical rather than a couple of red lighted exhaust ports.