1701-A Dimensions

[DanGovier]

Hey

As I've mentioned on here before, I am building the 1701-A in Minecraft. Here's where I am with that so far:

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/591378-uss-enterprise-1701-a-11-scale/

Now, the problem I am having is that there's no way I can fit 21 decks into a structure that's only 72m high. The Minecraft blocks are all 1m square, so I am scaling it like:

- 1m outer hull thickness.
- 1m between decks.
- 3m high rooms/corridors.

In order to fit 10 decks (including the bridge) into the saucer while keeping the model the correct shape, I need to make the ship nearly 450m long That's an extra 30m in overall height.

Do you think 10 decks in the saucer section is truly feasible? By comparison the Intrepid class is nearly the same vertical height as the 1701-A and only has 15 decks in total.

The solution I have settled upon for the time being is to keep the ship 305m long, but then only have 7 decks in the saucer.

It troubles me because when I make the ship 450m long everything fits in perfectly. Even the nastyness of the dorsal section goes away, because there's then room enough to have a turboshaft go around the vertical intermix core.

I'm going to develop terminal OCD if I keep at this project :P

 

[Boris Skrbic]

The images below show Andrew Probert's intended layout:

• Saucer
• Stardrive

Of course, it can be adjusted in any areas that are impossible to reconcile with the canon.

 

[sojourner]

^Those images show nothing regarding deck layouts for the OP's issue.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

Dan is wondering how many decks would fit into the saucer. Probert's image shows what he had in mind (eight decks, perhaps nine if there is a deck in the lower dome).

 

[sojourner]

^Ah, missed those lines external to the ship.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The sets require a bigger ship than the official dimensions.

Not the same Enterprise, but Doug Drexler inflated the TOS Enterprise to 150% to fit all the sets comfortably on 23 decks in his cutaway.

 

[DanGovier]

That's the 450m design. Everything is fitting nicely, though in actual fact I still can't fit the dorsal turboshaft between the intermix and the outer hull.

I don't mind the dorsal lift going down alongside the intermix, but when you get to the torpedo deck it looks terrible. Maybe I can run it around the outer ring and then underneath the Impulse Engineering section... hmm...

 

[Boris Skrbic]

Dan, the redesigned Constitution class isn't a ship where we can play with alternate deck layouts. Probert's intent is very clear on the exterior and some of the interior, but there are a number of discrepancies with onscreen interior sets, so I suggest researching what Probert had in mind and reconciling it with onscreen evidence. You may have been influenced by Shane Johnson's cross-section, which shows more decks in the saucer.

 

[DanGovier]

Dan, the redesigned Constitution class isn't a ship where we can play with alternate deck layouts. Probert's intent is very clear on the exterior and some of the interior, but there are a number of discrepancies with onscreen interior sets, so I suggest researching what Probert had in mind and reconciling it with onscreen evidence. You may have been influenced by Shane Johnson's cross-section, which shows more decks in the saucer.

It's surprising just how many variations there are out there. Here's what I found in just 10 minutes of searching:

8 Decks - http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/LCARS24user/EntA-LC.png
8 Decks - http://dassel.home.xs4all.nl/wall/schematicsncc1701a.jpg
9 Decks - http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcar...d-constitution-ncc-1700-rebuild-sheet-7-s.jpg
10 Decks - http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/gilso/cutaway-ent-a.jpg
10 Decks - http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/enterprise-deck-plans-sheet-4.jpg
11 Decks - http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/enterprise-phase-2-refit-program-sheet-11.jpg

Out of interest, which of the above would you consider to be the best fit? I've personally been using the Strategic Design blueprints as my guide.

Actually if anyone has high resolution versions of the newer Strategic Design blueprints that I could have I'd be immensely grateful. I'm gutted they have shut down their shop because I would gladly pay for the prints.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

Cutaways have been drawn up since the 1980s, but to my knowledge, Probert's own sketches have been available roughly since the 2000s. You really need to go back to the source, since I've yet to see a definitive layout based on exhaustive research. Aside from Probert's drawings, you can look at David Kimble's classic cutaway, the 'red alert' cross-section from the TMP trailer and TWOK, dialogue references, turbolift maps and deck labels seen onscreen.

 

[sojourner]

^That might be overkill for a minecraft model.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

Now, the problem I am having is that there's no way I can fit 21 decks into a structure that's only 72m high.

...

Do you think 10 decks in the saucer section is truly feasible? By comparison the Intrepid class is nearly the same vertical height as the 1701-A and only has 15 decks in total.

...

The solution I have settled upon for the time being is to keep the ship 305m long, but then only have 7 decks in the saucer.

It troubles me because when I make the ship 450m long everything fits in perfectly. Even the nastyness of the dorsal section goes away, because there's then room enough to have a turboshaft go around the vertical intermix core.

Well, I think 450m is too big, but that's just a gut feeling. I'm a big fan of "make thing so that they fit properly and so that they look like they look on-screen. I've never allowed the restrictions of a tool to limit me, but I get where you're coming from.

In the case of my own TOS 1701, I found that the ship was very, very tough (from my position, frankly, IMPOSSIBLE) to make work at the 947' length widely accepted. I just played with scale until I got it all to work, and then measured the ship, and my final length was 1067'... about 12.7% increase, overall.

Key to this was fitting the corridor sets from TOS in so that the windows would align to the decklines. Also key was fitting in the bridge, the hangar deck, and main engineering, without some bizarre flailings (like sinking the bridge down to what would ordinarily be deck two instead of having it in the bridge dome... or having the landing bay underneath the pylons... and so forth).

Now, to go from 305m to 450m is a much, much greater change... a 47.5% increase. That's a HUGE change. And that conflicts with certain things seen on-screen (docking hatches, for example). However, OTHER things (the interior cargo/shuttle facility, the rec deck, torpedo bays) will not work at any scale remotely like what we're told is the "real scale."

Make it fit... don't even bother to measure til afterwards. That's my advice.