I've decided to start posting some art I've been working on here. So far its mostly vector art of Starfleet ships, but I may post some of the other things as well. Currently I am working on the mysteries of perspective - how does it work? Especially with windows. So many windows on Starfleet ships. I am working with Inkscape mainly, with some FreeCAD as well for testing out component positioning. I'm slowly working my way toward actual 3D models.
First off is a four-nacelle ship. It is roughly Ambassador-ish in the timeline, certainly in the 'Lost Era'. USS Hornet The Hornet is a fast cruiser, designed so that it can cruise on just one set of nacelles or sprint on both. Essentially it acts as a rapid response ship. The primary hull is as large as that of the Ambassador - slightly larger, really, with the rear superstructure - and it has a pair of engineering hulls, each with a warp core. It has a fairly large crew and room to take on mission specialists as needed. There are a pair of big shuttle bays, and another pair of cargo bays below them that can be converted to additional shuttle or dropship bays. There's also a couple Constellation-style external turrets, in this case carrying tractor beams to haul derelicts or prefab base modules. The phasers are midway between movie-era ball turrets and Ambassador-era phaser strips, basically having multiple emitter segments on each bank. There are a pair of torpedo tubes at the bottom of the saucer, Constitution-style, plus two more at the rear. Length: 600 meters Beam: 340 meters Height: 174 meters Decks: 35 Cruise Speed: Warp 9 Maximum Speed: Warp 9.4 Emergency Speed: Warp 9.98 (24 hours) Armament: 10x Type-10 Twin Facet-Point Phaser Banks 20x Type-5 Phaser Defense Turrets (experimental upgrade) 4x Photon Torpedo Tubes / 3-round burst capacity Core Crew: 1,000 Mission Specialists / Passengers: 400 Emergency Maximum: 5000 Small Craft: 20x Shuttlecraft (Type-7 or Type-8) 2x Danube-class Runabouts Dropships (If Cargobays Converted): 6x Hoppers or Scoutships, or 12x Light Fighters Produced Vessels: USS Hornet USS Wasp USS Ranger USS Shangri-La
Perspective can be a tricky thing yes. What you'll mostly be using is two-point perspective: the moving of lines towards two points left and right. If you download SketchUp and get it to display rudimentary objects (discs, blocks, that kind of stuff) it might help you in drawing your ships, also because you can see how shadows behave on the shapes.
The Corona-class was a competing design for the deep-space explorer concept that eventually became the Galaxy-class. The design brief from Starfleet required ten-year self sustainability, advanced weaponry, and a separated flight mode. The Corona incorporated much of that, going so far as to include a Warp 4-capable stardrive for the saucer section. However, it could not quickly separate and reattach like the Galaxy could, and the design was in many ways more utilitarian. Its warp drive was also derided as being brute-force, as it lacked the elegant field-hugging curves of the Galaxy and the much shorter nacelles. While two prototypes made it to the initial construction phase, Starfleet chose to move forward with only the Galaxy for full-scale production. The design was later updated and the prototypes finished, ironically as a potential Galaxy successor. The basic concept was to create a ship that built on Galaxy technology but incorporating the latest developments in warp and potentially transwarp technology. The theory was that a larger, more powerful ship could break the transwarp barrier and then lay transwarp conduits for other ships to use. It was also a reaction to the size of the D'Deridex-class warbird. However, the transwarp developments continued to stall and Starfleet selected the much smaller and cheaper Sovereign prototype for mass production as a new fleet cruiser. The Corona prototypes were kept as a testbed for warp propulsion technologies, with an eye for full-scale production as a long-term deep space support ship compared to the relatively fast but shorter-duration Sovereign. Both ships saw service during the Dominion War as fast battlecruisers, able to outrun anything they couldn't outfight. Large cargo bays could be loaded with PT-class ground strike fighters, making them good for hit and run attacks against installations. The ships were also fitted out with experimental semi-autonomous close defensive turrets to ward off Jem'Hadar attack ships while leaving the main arrays free to target larger ships. The USS Corona is currently used as a testbed by the Cochrane-Fuchida Advanced Propulsion Laboratory. while the USS Adamant is assigned to the Anomaly Research Commission. Stats Length: 900 meters Beam: 340 meters Height: 120 meters Decks: 35 Cruise Speed: Warp 8 Maximum Speed: Warp 9.8 Emergency Speed: Warp 9.96 (12 hours) Armament: 6x Type-10 Phaser Arrays 4x Photon Torpedo Tubes / 6-round burst capacity 2x Short-Range Torpedo Tubes 12x Semi-Autonomous Defense Pods Crew: 2000 Passenger Suites: 200 Max Standard Capacity (Indefinite): 4000 Max Standard Capacity (Emergency): 12,000 Max Theoretical Capacity (Science and cargo spaces configured w/ life support and bunks): 40,000 Small Craft: Small Shuttles (Type-8, 9, 10): 30 Large Shuttles: (Type-11, Argo, Cargo, Aqua): 10 Runabouts: 8 Shuttle Pods / Work Bees: 30 Captain's Gig: 1 Galaxy Mk III (Warp-Rated) Additional Craft: Up to 24 additional shuttle or fighter-class ships if main cargo bay configured as hangar Design Notes: A much refined descendant of one of my first designs, which I haven't posted here yet. It takes elements from the early Probert concept painting and adds a bit of Kelvin-universe in the nacelle pylons and size. The nacelles are inspired by the single wrap-around grill of the Excelsior, but with TNG-era coloring. Many of the elements, such as the transporter emitters and escape pods, are shared with the Hornet design (or maybe vice versa, since I think I may have gotten those done on this one first). It has fewer windows than most TNG designs, as I tried to put them only in places where they wouldn't be skylights or on the floor. It actually isn't much bigger than the Galaxy-class, if it is at all - the saucer is much less wide and somewhat shorter, and the longer engineering section doesn't fully make up for that. Much of the length is in the nacelles. As for crew size, the Galaxy is famously undermanned, and I can promise there is a bed for every person on my WIP interior plans. A rough 3d mockup:
These guys are sweet! I totally miss seeing work like this... And seeing them develop is going to be cool
Thanks! Here's the last Starfleet one I currently am working on. Length: 320 meters Beam: 184 meters Depth: 61 meters Cruise Speed: Warp 6.5 Flank Speed: Warp 7 Emergency Speed: Warp 8 Armament: Phasers: 16x Type-VIII Single Mounts Torpedos: 2x Forward, 2x Aft Tractor Beams: 4 Crew: 500 Passengers: 20 Emergency Limit: 1100 Description The Wildcat-class is a Starfleet frontier frigate. Based on successful designs such as the NX explorer and Loknar-class heavy frigate, it is intended to be a general-purpose frontier starship. It has sufficient fuel capacity and self-sufficiency systems to spend long periods of time operating without the support of a major fleet base, along with the science labs to remain useful when not engaged in peacekeeping or humanitarian missions. Initial design work began in 2240 at the Cochrane-Fuchida Propulsion Lab in Schiaparelli City. While the team eschewed using existing hull frames, as was done with several of the other 'Class One' starships produced by the San Francisco Fleet Yards, existing internal parts were sourced wherever possible. To reduce hull stress and simplify construction, the ship was designed with a modified single-hull configuration, removing the separate engineering hull of most cruisers in favor of a split catamaran hull to house fuel and cargo space while extending the warp nacelles out to a high-efficiency position. Total hull volume was comparable to that of other similarly-sized ships such as the Constitution, Avenger, and Coronado classes. Warp power was provided by a horizontally-oriented reactor between the catamaran hulls, feeding two LN-series warp nacelles. Impulse power was provided by engines at the rear in two sets. Because of the positioning of the warp drive, the power conduits were routed past just forward of the impulse system. This allowed warp plasma to be routed up to the impulse field spine above the thrusters, tying the two power system together. This idea would later be more widely incorporated in other ships. For armament, the Wildcat has two forward and two aft photon torpedo tubes, with a total of two hundred and twenty ready missiles and the facilities to construct replacements. These are backed by sixteen phaser units, driven by eight generator banks. The phasers are spaced so that at least two can be brought to bear on any point around the ship, and in most directions more are visible. Any given pair can also channel the full power of the ship's reactors. The ship was also fitted with the same deflector shield system as the Constitution-class, with the compact shape giving it a stronger field perimeter. Battle simulations indicated it could generally match a pair of D-7 battlecruisers, although three posed a serious threat. Outside of combat, the traditional 'dish' style scanner/deflector was replaced with a phased-array system at the bow. In response to complaints about the limited hangar space of the Loknar-class, the Wildcat was fitted with an extended hangar superstructure with space for up to five Class F shuttles plus an additional cargo or aqua shuttle, as well as ten work bees. Two cargo bays were positioned in the catamaran hulls, with upward-opening bay doors. In order to save cargo space for mission purposes, the Wildcat was one of the earliest ships to use transporter-based fabricator-defabricator systems from day one. These systems, first outfitted to the Constitution-class exploration refit in , were able to work much faster than traditional nano-assemblers and machine shops, while also storing raw materials in a more compact form. This greatly expanded the ship's self-sufficiency. First Run Class Members: USS Wildcat NCC-1820 USS Dauntless NCC-1821 USS Corsair NCC-1822 USS Avenger NCC-1823 USS Vindicator NCC-1824 USS Liberator NCC-1825 USS Catalina NCC-1826 USS Hellcat NCC-1827 USS Devastator NCC-1828 USS Seafire NCC-1829 Mission Adaptable Mass A variant of the Wildcat-class was redesigned for greater mission adaptability. The structural frame was reinforced where the warp nacelle pylons met the catamaran hulls, making an hardpoint where a lower set of pylons could be added or removed as needed. These pylons met at a standardized transport-tug attachment plate. In theory, this lower pylon could be easily swapped at a starbase in less than thirty-six hours. In practice, this was rarely done and ships would retain the pylon for long periods between maintenance stops. The main benefit of the plate was the ability to carry a large variety of external pods already in service. While a small number of photon torpedo and sensor packages were constructed, the majority of the time this meant a standard 100- or 200-meter transport cylinder. These could be anything from a cargo container or fuel tanker to an orbital lab or starbase component to a self-contained impulse-capable battalion dropship. Naturally, adding such a large amount of mission-adaptable mass came with drawbacks. Even empty, pylon degraded warp efficiency and obstructed the lower-aft phasers dead astern. A full container reduced speed and range even further. However, this was an acceptable tradeoff in areas where even a Class 1 transport/tug could not adequately defend itself, such as some frontier areas and hot drop zones. The ability to detach the pod on arrival and regain almost full combat capability proved very useful, both in police actions and in quickly establishing a permanent presence over valuable planets. Nacelle Upgrade Another variant of the Wildcat came as Starfleet experimented with upgraded nacelles, which would eventually lead to those used by the refit Constitution and Miranda classes. Based in part on the Klingon Graf-2 nacelles, the traditional circular warp coils were replaced with a flatter version, although this model retained the large forward space-sink and rampscoop coils. Design Notes The working title was "I Can't Believe It's Not A Loknar". I wanted a TOS-era ship that was distinct from most of the usual suspect and I always liked that design in principle, but there were some things I wanted to tweak about nacelle positioning and the lack of a proper shuttlebay. The hanging deflector was silly too. The phaser layout is not the two-weapon banks seen with the TMP design and backwards-ported on so many fan various of the Connie. It actually has the same number of actual weapons but they are spaced in a way that it could do the classic two-beam shot. Torpedoes got moved up to the front of the saucer, though, because even with a very small tube and an expanded hull there simply isn't much space to stick them on the lower saucer, like I did with the Hornet, and I didn't want to Franz Joseph them up to the top under the bridge because there's not much space there either. All windows line up with my preliminary deck plans, to be posted later.
Wildcat Master Systems Display and Deck Plans I'm not going to post all ten decks on here, but they are on my DeviantArt page. This is the first set of deck plans that I've decided are finished enough to post, although I have some mostly done for the Hornet and Corona, plus some slightly-dubious ones of the Ambassador that I'm tweaking. These are not meant to be the super-detailed ones some other (more skilled) people have posted over the years. I didn't put in every door, for example, and there is definitely more 'wasted' space between compartments than I would have done with more professional drafting software. Think of it as being a more symbolic representation than an engineering diagram. The shapes of the equipment, in particular, is basically me vaguely looking at things like the Sternbach, Whitefire, and Refit plans and then doing something similar. No doubt the real things are rather more complicated. Deck spacing is 3.5 meters, which is higher than that assumed by most plans of the Constitution refit, but in line with that of the NX and the Enterprise-D. (Voyager and the Enterprise-E seem to be 4 meters.) I went with 3.5 because TOS seems to have pretty high ceilings, although not as much going on between decks as the crawlspace-obsessed TNG ships. This ship also operates on a "get out and walk" principle as far as turbolifts go. There is a central pair of shafts for the entire ship, a second shaft covering most of the decks aft, and a pair of really short ones forward. There are also parallel stairwells and a couple ladderways in more places. Trying to figure out horizontal lift runs that don't render decks into a maze is a pain in the rear even with ships large enough to justify them, let alone one this small. (The TOS Connie is a nightmare in that regard thanks to the undercut.)
Mayday, mayday... this the Free Trader Beowulf... we are under attack... Type-A Free Trader This is a set of deck plans for a classic Type-A Free Trader, adapted a bit to more a "Star Wars" style for a possible campaign. It mostly follows the original lines and layout, modified a bit to reflect the less 'hard' setting. After-market additions include a pair of pop-out repeating blasters and a concealed drop-down missile bay, supplementing the dorsal and ventral twin heavy cannons. The ship carries 6-10 crew, depending on whether or not the crew cabins are fitted with single or double bunks, plus more could fit in if the captain and first mate also share their cabins. Six to twelve passengers, or less if the upper deck staterooms are combined to give someone more room. The design is of course from Travellers. The internal layout is mostly my own, but I consulted several different plans found around the web to double-check reasonableness. I added in a set of stairs rather than rely on just the ladders and iris hatches, so that passengers don't have to climb. Ditto for the small lift for droids, people in wheelchairs, or species that can't use stairs. Stats Model: Type-A Trader (Modified) Crew: 6-10 (2 minimum) Passengers: 6-12 (standard configuration) Hyperdrive: Class-1 Armament (official): 2 Twin Heavy Lasers, 2 Ion Cannons Armament (concealed): 2 Rapid-Fire Lasers, 3 Missile bays w/ 6 missiles or 4 torpedos each Equipment: Machine Shop, Fuel Scoops, Sickbay w/ 2 autodocs Cargo Capacity: 3 Standard Intermodal Containers + 4-6 Half Containers, or various loose cargo (500 tons max)
A small bridge mockup for a friend's fanfic, set on a free trader / retrofitted Bird-of-Prey. Size and general layout based on the STIV floorplan.
Here's a WIP quad-nacelle design inspired by the Discovery's shape but with a more TOS-style saucer. Bigger than the Constitution, but I felt compelled by a desire to have a larger crew and more lab space without sacrificing crew comfort below that seen on the show and TOS tech manual. (The Connie is an elegant design but volume-efficient it is not.) The saucer is smaller that of the Kelvin in diameter although it is not as thin. Deck spacing is 3.5 meters, with an extra meter of thickness anywhere the ceiling or floor reaches the hull. I'm experimenting with the width and length of the rear hull. This variant, code-named "Mercury" aka Fat-Bottomed Girl, has a rear hull long enough to house two reasonably-large shuttlebays, plus a pair of TMP-size cargo bays. Reactors are probably located out in the small engineering pods.
Some small changes, most of them cosmetic or 'beneath the surface' so to speak. I may do some final tweaks once we get a clear shot of Discovery. Also some screenshots of the 3d prototype, but no renders. Bridge coming up next. Class: Mercury Prototype: USS Mercury, NCC-1660 (Launched 2252) Length: 420 meters Beam: 240 meters Cruise Speed: Warp 6.5 Flank Speed: Warp 8 Emergency Speed: Warp 8.5 Armament: Phasers: 18x Type-VIII Banks Torpedos: 2x Forward, 2x Aft Tractor Beams: 4 Crew: 1000 Passengers: 100 Design Limit: 3,000 Size comparison: Bigger than the Connie, slightly smaller saucer radius and overall length than the Kelvin (but probably bigger in volume a bit), maybe comparable with Discovery based on the apparent three-deck saucer rim.
And here's the bridge. Layout done using FreeCAD and then imported to Sketchup so I could throw in some furniture. The rear door leads to a foyer with the lifts and stairs, with the side doors leading to the ready room and briefing room. I gave the XO and mission specialist full consoles like on the Kelvin, although they might work better as some kind of flip-out version.
Bridge for the Corona. It was part of the experimenting with layouts that gave me the one above too, only in this case it's a bit more TNG with a central area for the captain and advisors, plus the rear station behind them. In this case helm and tactical are at the front with the Prometheus-like station, with ops behind the captain and sometimes sharing with science. The side stations are additional ops, science, and engineering stations.
Thank you! I am slowly learning to make things more detailed, although next I'm going to have to figure out some texturing. I'm also trying to use Sketchup to make the interiors more detailed, with subdivisions on the console and the like.
Hey... Can you give use a shot of the Corona bridge with Show Hidden Geometry enabled? I'm curious as to how many segments there are in that curve...