Yeah, that thin saucer just seems... odd... to me. Is that the "hobbits-only" portion of the ship? There must be some sort of explanation for what's in there... what mechanical function it serves. Did I miss that? If it's ONLY structure... I'd be inclined to make it into a "wheel with spokes" structure (which, really, might look rather cool, now that I think of it!)
I have a few comments... I like what you've done with the sensor/deflector beam, but I would PERSONALLY be happier with it if you built in a bit of additional structure (beams/trusses/etc) to support it. Yes, we can say that "treknology is magic" but if real science can support something, you don't need magic. I like the approach you've got, I'd just reinforce it a bit more. Of course, from a purely mechanical standpoint, there's no real reason not to put this at the front of the disk... but there's room for style there too, and if this is the style you want, by all means keep it! Also, I've notice you have a FLAT landing bay door(or since I'm guessing that's where the shuttle stored and maintained as well, should I say "hangar bay?"). If you're going to go flat, I wouldn't bother making it all shaped quite so "TOS-ish" otherwise. I really prefer the nesting-clamshell approach, which was used in TOS. The TMP doors are a bit less elegant, in theory, frankly, though they're fine. The ST-09 doors stink to high heaven, though, so I'd recommend you avoid them utterly. Whether you use "straight profile revolving clamshell doors (ala TMP) or curved profile revolving clamshell doors (ala TOS) is only based upon how much interior space you want to enclose. I'd go for the curved profile, personally. If you want flat doors (what I'll call "garage doors") like was used in TNG... you might want to consider the efficacy of the mechanism and the space you're putting them into. Having them lateral like that seems... well... goofy, really. At the front of the "inpulse domes" there's something that could easily be recognized as a TMP-era photon torpedo tube, but I get the impression that what they really are is "aft-thrust impulse exhausts" (aka "braking thrusters"). I'm curious... is my impression correct, or are they something else (ie, torpedo tubes). As a single-nacelle design, there should really be four sets of "warp stabilization coils" (or whatever you want to call them) inside that nacelle, so you can steer the ship at FTL. I'm going to presume that this is the case, right? The "grill" on the nacelle is supposed to be a radiator here, right? It's position is correct for that purpose. You could make it a bit larger, but otherwise, I have no suggestions re: that. Again, that thin saucer just feels "weird" to me. If it's purely unihabited mechanical space, there are things you can do (visually or physically) to make that seem more like what it is. I just keep thinking that the idea of it being a "spoked wheel" would really sell it better. But that's just me. So, main engineering is in the dorsal... or is your engineering facility actually inside of the nacelle? What's the intended crew complement of this ship? I get the impression that it's a VERY small crew... maybe 24 or so, total? Mainly a command crew and an engineering team, with normal operations with eight men on the job at a time (three on the bridge, five performing engineering duties) but a full bridge crew of nine and engineering detail of fifteen during red-alert status. Am I far off?
Jeez Cary, where were you with all the input at the beginning of the thread? Actually I do like the input, I don't necessarily agree with all of it but it does spur the mind on to ideas for other ships and other versions. Regarding the thin saucer, it is not an inhabited section of the ship. Instead, this space contains machinery for the phasers, sensors, life support, batteries, and storage tanks. Those systems can be reached for service internally via service crawl spaces (Jeffries tubes). Spokes would be fine if I didn't want to make use of the space that's enclosed by the saucer. I don't think spokes would work for this era though. To my mind, spokes seem like something I would expect to see built now, the whole do more with less approach. Every time I think I'm done with the deflector dish, you pull me back in... I think the deflector dish looks sufficiently supported without having to resort to magic. If you mean it needs more detail, well I won't argue with that, but it's never seemed to me that TOS era ships have a lot of exposed structure, at least not that I recall. That's probably why I started making them lol. I have a dozen different star destroyers and a battlestar to greeble yet, chances of me finishing those within this decade are slim. Fractalsponge I am not lol... The hangar contains a single shuttle, it can be used for rescue or boarding operations and I'm working on a shuttle variant with those specific jobs in mind. I had originally thought of having two shuttles, but that really doesn't work in the space allotted. I also toyed with the idea of a storage bay to allow for two shuttles but I think if I decide to go with two shuttles, I'll just extend the bay. With regard to the hangar doors, I like the hangar doors as built for this design. I think the doors for the TOS and TMP Enterprises worked for their respective designs, but I think the flat doors work for this ship. I don't want to abandon the TOS look, that would be in direct opposition to everything I've been trying to do make this blend with the era. If I do make an extended bay version, then I might consider the clam shell approach to allow for the additional enclosed space. The top domes contain the high powered tractor beams with additional generators within the dome. The overpowered impulse engines work in conjunction with the tractors to stop or redirect whatever they've tractored onto. I don't claim to know how they do it, but I thought I had heard Kirk order the impulse engines reversed before. If that's not the case, then the turreted tractor beams will allow the ship to keep a tractor hold while it maneuvers however necessary to use the impulse engines to slow or stop or drag whatever they're tractoring. No torpedo tubes on this ship though, just phasers. What you said about the warp engine works for me if it works for you. I won't pretend I've ever given much thought to what was in there. I assumed it was a turbine of some sort powered by a large rodent running on the inside of a wheel that was decorated with mutli-colored LED's. Engineering in the dorsal works fine for me, I don't think there would be room in the nacelle, what with all those warp stabilization coils and all... The ships crew is small, since these ships aren't meant for exploration, there aren't any labs, botanical gardens, cargo bays etc. that you'd expect to find on a Constitution class. They also don't have a hospital wing sized sickbay, I figure a single room sickbay for something like this, maybe not even a doctor on board, just a medic. And a little more work on the texturing...
As a fan-fic writer rather than graphic designer, i've given a lot of thought to the mission parameters for a border cutter. My series, "Tales of the USS Bluefin," takes place on a small cutter. IMHO you have hit on the main requirements for a Border Patrol vessel - towing capacity (heavy duty tractor beams), small size (speed/maneuverability) and small-craft capability (hangar deck). You've done a great job of creating a Trek-era counter-part to a contemporary coastal patrol vessel/medium endurance cutter used by the USCG. These ships are used for search-and-rescue, interdiction and maintaining navigational aides. I think your ship is designed well for such missions. In my series, I call the auxiliary craft Star Stallions - basically heavy-duty shuttles designed for rescue and boarding operations (universal docking collar/transporter). They look like a scaled-down runabout. For the size cutter/corvette you have designed, one is probably enough. You might want to consider an armory and brig in addition to a small sick-bay. Also, your hangar might need to be large enough to deal with navigational buoys/subspace relays, etc. Of course, another ship (a tender) might be better suited. Just some thoughts running through my head. I've only seen a few designs on this board that would work well for a border cutter/corvette. Yours is probably the best I've seen.
I like that Coast Guard inspired pennant! Though I'd be tempted to bring it all the way up to the top of the ship.
@TheLoneRedshirt - I hadn't even thought of buoys and relays but it makes sense. Star Stallions, nice... BTW, just started reading your Bluefin stories, nice work on that! @BJ - Yeah, I thought about that too but I didn't like the look of the sketches so I didn't carry it over to the model. I've rebuilt the impulse engines and separated the tractor beams and added two more to the underside. Someone on another board had mentioned that the tractor beams only track along a single plane, but the barrel elevates to 80 degrees, anything more than that and the ship just has to move. I also reworked the textures and that's still in progress too. Added some dust collection, since these are meant to be work horses. Pics...
This has to be one of the best looking Trek ships I've seen in a while. The smoothness, the details, and your markings are great. Yet another ship that I want a model kit of. Oh well. Anyway, great work LordSarvain.
A few thing, I assume those impulse engines are directly connected to engine rooms. How do the duty shift crews get back and forth from the main hull section? Crawlways? After you figure the thickness of the upper and lower hulls, how much "headroom" is there inside the thin disc anyway? Also, how about a couple of docking ports some where (port and starboard)? And outboard of one of the impulse engine rooms a gangway hatch. For boarding actions and such. I love this design.
Thanks for the comments! @T'Girl - Regarding the impulse engines and engine rooms, I'm thinking there's a fair amount of automation with this class, so the impulse engines would be monitored from the engine room and crewmen would use the jeffries tubes when necessary. Gangway hatches are going in on the dorsal but just for crew access at starbase, I don't think the ship itself will dock with other vessels for boarding. Transporters and the ship's shuttle will be used for that. Some small updates to the textures and I've started work on the boarding shuttle. I'm going to borrow the name Star Stallion for the shuttle. Got it from TheLoneRedshirt's Tales of the USS Bluefin stories (assuming you don't mind). More updates at irregular intervals...
The shuttle is to die for. It has some of that agressive Ekranoplan-syling. You have made a small ship look big.
Something about it makes me think of the amphibious assault boats that hit up Normandy in '44. Cool. --Alex
@publiusr - especially if you mount the engines on top of those winglets lol... which is why they are slung below... @Albertese - it does have a landing boat look about it doesn't it lol... Some more work on the boarding shuttle...
I certainly don't mind. This is a great design for the Star Stallion! I really like the aggressive yet functional look to her. You've even got a docking port on her ventral surface - what's not to like? I look forward to how you detail it.
I am really liking the shuttle design. Following along classic lines with some really nice upgrades. I looks to me that the cockpit area looks like it was somewhat inspired by the TOS Cylon raider - and I don't mean that in a bad way, either...
<Bump> Lord Sarvain, just wondering if you were going to continue with the development of the shuttle/Stallion. It's a great design. Also was wondering if you had developed specs for the corvette? Length? Numbers of decks? Crew complement? etc.
Yes I am still working on this and the Star Stallion shuttle. As with all of my projects, my attention wanders, but eventually I go back to them. Anyway, I was reading the boards the other day and there was someone mentioned Inkscape for line drawing, so since it was free I decided to give it a shot and make some deck plans for the Bold Fury. I don't know if I'll end up doing a complete set or not but I spent a couple of hours learning the program and working up a cutaway of the ship. So far I really like it, the program that is. As far as specs for the ship, I can definitively say there are six decks. More updates as I figure them out lol...