Ah okay, got it. I was thinking earlier of what San Francisco would look like, like I had this image in my head of Kirk walking down a street in future San Francisco but not San Francisco of the later films or series. I think the only time we see future Earth is that fake Mojave from "The Cage." Maybe it'd look like that. Cheers!
Roddenberry had made a point of saying Star Trek would stay “out there” to avoid getting into what Earth of the future could look like and what the future society was like. It also could have gotten expensive. So we only got to see Earth of the 1930s and 1960s.
Pretty convenient since DesiLu bought RKO and the lot had movie sets already built, it was a treasure trove to produce a series like Star Trek there. The first season was a sight to see.
Makes sense and leaves future projecting outside of Earth. Colonies would not necessarily represent what Earth was actually like. Would you consider using Franz Josephs' ideas at all for Starfleet Command?
I took the communication with Admiral Fitzpatrick in “The Trouble With Tribbles” as possibly going back to Earth. Just by virtue of the importance of the project and Fitzpatrick’s rank. He was the only full admiral they ever showed. There was certainly a lot of talk about what it might have been, related to Phase II. Much more than what ended up in TMP. And very much in conflict with later depictions. Here is how Roddenberry describes it in his TMP novelization, should you choose to attempt it- “Whatever one prefers to call it—Starfleet Command, Fleet Headquarters, or the Admiralty—it is centered in a structure which thrusts itself magnificently spaceward out of the redwood forest of San Francisco’s old city peninsula. Although some museum cities have taller buildings preserved from the industrial past, Starfleet’s headquarters are still a distinctive landmark in this world where so much of the clutter of our lives has been placed underground. “Just under two hours ago, Kirk had taken the tube from Gibraltar to Los Angeles Island, where he had caught the first northbound airtram. Now, fifteen minutes later, the clear blue waters of San Francisco Bay were in full view. As always, the sight of Starfleet’s headquarters seemed to make Kirk’s heart beat a bit faster. Since his midshipman days, he had always admired the clean symmetry of the design and its dramatic combination of space and Earth materials. There was an almost storybook castle suggestion in the way its tritanium-blue superstructure rose up out of its gray-granite base. It had always been to Kirk a statement in architectural poetry about a very necessary relationship between the mud below and the stars above.” I did my interpretation of this for my unfinished 50th anniversary manual. I’d love to see your take.
We need more manuals… MeTV had an article on a fan build by Scott Brødeen. He might be a good resource.
I think the Phase II refit we saw in the New Voyages/Phase II fan film vignette "To Boldly Go" is the best realisation of the concept that got to screen. Its the one that keeps the most TOS elements, while adding the Phase 2 additions. So, @Warped9 , how are you doing, hopefully well? What are you working on for the thread?
Okay, I had to go back several pages to remind myself where I left off. I was contemplating what ships of the Earth/Romulan War era could look like, as seen through the lens of Matt Jefferies and/or Wah Chang envisioning something back in the day. I recall having one or two basic ideas to springboard from. I’ll have to get sketching.
Further elaboration. If I use my Valiant design as a strong indication of what mid to late 21st century Earth ships were like then there’s my springboard for what mid 22nd century Earth combat ships could be like. That said I don’t see period Earth combat ships being ringships. By this point I think rings have largely evolved into nacelles. A design I have from several years back could indicate how designs evolved—rings became multiple nacelles and cylindrical hulls sometimes became spherical in tandem with an engineering support cylinder hull aftward, and spheres evolved into saucers. For a combat vessel I think the ships would be largely cylindrical for simplicity of mass construction. Not long after this era the spherical hulls would disappear. Early to mid 22nd century Earth starship concept prior to and going into the Earth/Romulan War. In terms of large scale construction design would be simplified and perhaps more rudimentary and utilitarian. Pictured is a design for a deep space exploratory vessel.
I’ll let you in on a secret: it’s not a perfect sphere. It’s actually a slightly squashed sphere, by about 5-10 percent. A perfect sphere looked front heavy, awkward and…dorky. I had an impulse to compress the sphere slightly and it seem to magically make a huge difference in the whole overall look. So I went with it. In the future any spherical designs I attempt I will likely do the same thing again.
I think that makes sense. The sphere is something that I really struggle with that awkward look. I think it makes a big difference that small adjustment.
Keep squashing and you'll eventually get a saucer, as you speculated with Starship design advancement.