Alternate 2270 Enterprise/Connie Refit?

[CelticViking]

So let me start by saying I love the TMP - VI Era visuals of Star Trek, especially since I came to Trek not through the show or movies but via the FASA Roleplaying Game.

That said, with the advent of TNG and later stuff, I always felt that the Movie Era aesthetic stuck out like a sore thumb.

TOS -> Ent-C -> Ent D+ works, but the Ent A (for a simple portmanteau) design, uniforms, etc... not so much... well Oberths and Excelsiors aside. Hell I hate to say this, but I think the JJ Trek hews closer to TOS than Ent-A, no flame wars intended.

So I was wondering, are there any fan designs out there of an Ent-A that blends smoothly from the TOS to the Ent C and onwards?

Not looking to start a fight, just curious is all and you guys tend to be pretty good at all things Star Trek.

Cheers and thanks in advance!

 

[Kor]

Is it the lack of glowing dome-shaped bussard collectors that makes the ENT-A stick out to you?

Kor

 

[CelticViking]

Nope the hard angles, the squareness of her nacelles, the "harder" look she has and the less "swoop". Don't get me wrong Kor, I LOVE her, but I am looking to make something that requires that spot be fit by something more to the lineage.

 

[BillJ]

The only thing that sticks out to me as being out of place is the warp nacelles. Since they continue in service on the Miranda-variants and Constellation class, I just figured they didn't quite work on the heavy cruisers like the Constitutions and they changed them.

Not every element of every design is going to carry over. The Enterprise-B sticks out more to me as being out of place.

 

[MarsWeeps]

I always wondered why they angled the Warp nacelle struts towards the back of the ship on TMP Enterprise instead of having them come straight up like TOS Enterprise. I guess to make them wider/stronger due to the new nacelle design?

 

[Kor]

I always wondered why they angled the Warp nacelle struts towards the back of the ship on TMP Enterprise instead of having them come straight up like TOS Enterprise. I guess to make them wider/stronger due to the new nacelle design?

View attachment 1340

Some as-yet-unknown aspect of warp field mechanics probably necessitated it. In three hundred years, it will all make sense.

Kor

 

[f14peter]

respectfully disagree, refit Enterprise is my favorite design, followed closely by the TOS rendition (pre-fit?)

being a textbook left-brainer, my aesthetic sense has always leaned toward the linear vs the abstract/non-linear. Even though the three primary elements of TOS Enterprise (saucer, engineering hull, nacelles) are round in certain aspects, that their horizontal axis are all parallel give it, to me, a beauty unsurpassed. It also has, for lack of a better term, "balance" which looks good from any angle. Then the refit makes it even more angular, more linear and it takes on a much sleeker, sharper appearance.

None of the changes of the refit strike me as being out of place or an illogical (sorry) progression. New/different engines warrant a redesigned nacelle, which may require a redesigned strut. New warp core and photon torpedo package warrants a redesign of the engineering hull/neck, and any number of expanded capabilities/capacities could warrant structural changes to the saucer. Interesting (fascinating?) is that I'm sure we've all seen renditions of the Phase II Enterprise, which added similar angular nacelles and struts to a slightly modified engineering hull while keeping the saucer very much as it was.

This linearity appeals to me so much that the bloated, overly curvaceous JJPrise is one of the things about the reboot I dislike the most.

Thus, while I'm still a bit indifferent on Enterprise B/Excelsior, I find the D far less appealing with little balance of form, complex curves and rounded corners. However, the C which is more linear and strikes a decent balance of the non-linear and linear, to me is the more attractive of the three. Not surprising then that Enterprise E, which takes on a much more angular, streamlined even, appearance ranks fairly high in my book.

 

[Richard Baker]

I personally prefer the TOS-E to the Refit mostly because the warp nacelles look like powerful generators- the Refits seemed too art deco decorative to me. The support pylons also speak of incredible material advances, supporting such a huge mass on such a slender connection.
The Grissom/Excelsior/Refit also to me seem to be outside the established Federation engineering styles- the iconic bussard collectors are present on just about every ship in all series except for those ships. The Refit Excelsior (Enterprise B/Lakota) did add the collectors to the fronts again but it looked a bit tacked on.

I think the missing bussards was intended to show advancements in technology from the TOS days. When TNG premiered they returned to having them, perhaps (in universe) it was a technological avenue which was eventually deemed to be not as successful as hoped.

 

[trynda1701]

Although it's not the TMP Enterprise, of all the cool Phase 2 inspired variants I've seen artists render over the years, I think that the one that New Voyages finally went with in their "Going Boldly" vignette, done by The Light Works(?) just nails a perfect balance and look between the TOS and TMP styles.

 

[Longinus]

I agree that lack of red bussard collectors on movie era ships is odd, considering that the later ships have them again. However, I think the mistake is that they reinstated them in TNG. TNG era ships would have looked better without them, just with blue glowy bits.

And yes, the Connie refit is not just best looking starship in Star Trek, it is the best looking ship in in any sci-fi franchise.

 

[Captain Rob]

Maybe in-Universe the Bussard Collectors where always there. Just covered up by those black grills. That's what I always thought about the refit-E.

 

[Longinus]

Maybe in-Universe the Bussard Collectors where always there. Just covered up by those black grills. That's what I always thought about the refit-E.

Oh certainly.

 

[CelticViking]

Did everyone miss the part where I said;

So let me start by saying I love the TMP - VI Era visuals of Star Trek, especially since I came to Trek not through the show or movies but via the FASA Roleplaying Game.

While I appreciate the folks who actually gave me suggestions, for the rest of you please, I am NOT in anyway shape or form bashing the Connie Refit. I LOVE her... from ANY angle she is beautiful! I swear it's true!

Hell the USS Reliant is my all-time #1 fav Star Trek ship!

Just for the project I am working on, I need to remove that aesthetic from the design linneage and replace with with something that follows TOS and leads to TNG that ISN'T the bloody Enterprise C.

Sorry if that confused, or insulted anyone, but as I said;

Don't get me wrong Kor, I LOVE her...

IDIC and all that.

Cheers!

P.S. Also I think this might get the job done nicely!

http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/challenger.128328/

 

[Avro Arrow]

^ I admit I'm not entirely clear on what it is you're specifically looking for, but perhaps MadMan1701A's Defiant-A might also be an option?

USS Defiant, NCC-1764-A

 

[CelticViking]

^ I admit I'm not entirely clear on what it is you're specifically looking for, but perhaps MadMan1701A's Defiant-A might also be an option?

As I said yesterday, I think this is the winner for me;

http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/challenger.128328/

Though that Defiant A is well done! Also, LOVE, L-O-V-E your profile pic!

 

[publiusr]

That is nice.

I like The Grey Lady with torpedo blisters along the top of the secondary hull.

 

[PhaserLightShow]

I think that the Constitution class was simply more advanced in the Alternate Reality (though I hate to say this, I do not like the AR). I think Starfleet may have been more advanced in the AR. In the 2250s (Prime Universe), they didn't have a Dreadnaught (they had only just got the Federation-Class by the 2260s), they didn't have Pulse Phasers. Pulse Phasers (like those on Reliant in ST: 2) weren't developed until the 2270s or 2280s in the Prime Universe. They had Pulse Phasers since the 2260s and 2250s in the Alternate Reality. I don't think they needed a refit. I made a custom Star Trek combat game, and I reflected the Pulse Phasers in it (and the AR being more advanced than the PR). Here is my evidence if anyone cares to disagree, I'm right here in cyberspace (metaphorically).

 

[Avro Arrow]

they didn't have Pulse Phasers. Pulse Phasers (like those on Reliant in ST: 2) weren't developed until the 2270s or 2280s in the Prime Universe. They had Pulse Phasers since the 2260s and 2250s in the Alternate Reality.

The TOS Enterprise seemed to use some form of pulse phaser or phaser bolt or whatever in "Balance of Terror".

 

[uniderth]

Did the HMS Enterprize design blend smoothly with the USS Enterprise Aircraft carrier? Did the Apollo spacecraft blend smoothly with the space shuttle?

I don't think the ship designs have to blend smoothly. We're talking about spacecraft that share a common name, not a model of car that progresses from year to year.

 

[Richard Baker]

The TOS Enterprise seemed to use some form of pulse phaser or phaser bolt or whatever in "Balance of Terror".

I think that was more of an SFX mistake- they used the photo torpedo effect instead of the phaser effect.