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Ark Royal Stuff

Konundrum

Lieutenant Commander
Red Shirt
Ark Royal Stuff - Misc. Illustrations

An IRC/Chat-style RPG ship named the USS Ark Royal (Akira-class) over at Star Trek: Echoes recently launched with me as CO.

I'm a real stickler for trying to jam more detail into the Trek world so I started designing things to enhance the environment. Not necessarily changing major things, but extrapolating based on what was already shown and adding in additional detail I think should've been there all along.

Development Patch - I tried to create this in the style shown in the Defiant/Danube era. I figure the Akira came out of the same Borgbuster program, so it fits in nicely.



Uniform Patch - This is the uniform shoulder patch (the official symbol is this shield, backed by a crossed sword and scepter and crowned by a knightly helmet). It's worn on a variety of uniforms. Not the normal "Class-B's" we'd normally seen, but on a host of others, including enlisted uniforms, working uniforms, tactical uniforms, security uniforms, etc.



Service Uniforms - *INCOMPLETE* - Here are some of the uniforms in use aboard the Ark Royal. In addition to the ordinary duty and dress uniforms we know, there are extrapolated variants/additions to those uniforms, and other classes of uniforms for other situations.



Tricorders - *INCOMPLETE* - It's been a while now since Nemesis and a long while since the 'flip-phone' tricorder came into being, so I reasoned that Ark Royal would now be using the new 'PADDcorder'. While this can be used on or off the ship, I figure it's most effective on the ship where it functions like a padd and has access to the ship's computer as well. So if you scan a damaged piece of equipment, for instance, it would also bring up the maintenance details on the part, whether there are replacements in stock, etc. I do intend to draw a flip-corder for more rugged field use as well, probably using elements from the more recent variants shown in like the Voyager finale and so forth.



Small Arms - The range of weapons shown in Trek seems ridiculously mundane, so I expanded on the list based on what I think they should have, things that have been shown but not repeated, and so forth. I think this is a decent cross-section of infantry weapons to be found aboard a frontline combat ship like an Akira.



Tactical Weapons - *INCOMPLETE* - Here's a list of torpedoes in use aboard the Ark Royal (not counting the different types of torpedoes/missiles her fighters carry). They're obviously interpretations of ones we know to exist, plus a customized decoy that I designed. I have planned (but not yet drawn), a multi-warhead one designed for overloading shield grids.



Probes - This is a full assortment of probes. I redrew, embellished designs of probes I was told a long time ago came from the TNG tech manual. I don't own the TNGTM so I can't verify that. I added Voyager's multi-spacial probe to the list as well to round it out to an even ten. I'm thinking about designing a relay or distress beacon and tossing that in as well.



I have no doubt that I'll end up doing more stuff in the future. I really enjoy creating extrapolative detail in the Trek verse, so I'll probably add more things to this list in the future.

I hope you all enjoy the illustrations, and find them interesting. I'm all for C&C so feel free to discuss anything you see here.

- Kurt
 
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Re: Ark Royal Stuff - Misc. Illustrations

Fantastic work!

My only question - would they name a ship "Ark Royal" in the Federation's socialist utopian future? Is the British monarchy still in existance in the One-World society Trek postulates?
 
Re: Ark Royal Stuff - Misc. Illustrations

i like the dolphin uniform, what rank does it get?
I think Ark Royal may be a homage to the British ships of that name, just as Enterprise is (I mean, the definition of Enterprise goes against the socialist utopian value system of the federation as well).
 
Re: Ark Royal Stuff - Misc. Illustrations

Forbin: I don't care much for the 'socialist utopian future Trek postulates' so I don't have a problem with it, hehe. I also believe nations would still exist. They can't not exist. Humans are made to form exclusionary communities. Plus the name is just kickass :)

Brannigan: The young delphine there is an Ensign. You can see his rank on the 'collar' there, hehe.
 
Re: Ark Royal Stuff - Misc. Illustrations

This is all great stuff. The slogan for the Akira is just awesome too.

Regarding the name "Ark Royal," I agree with the Konundrum that Starfleet is likely to name their ships after old Earth vessels of various traditions, and has a history of doing so in the past with ships like Yamato, Hood, and Lakota.

I have to say that you and I are kindred spirits, Konundrum, I love this kind of detail and wish that Trek had a lot more of it. It definitely goes against the intent of Starfleet to extrapolate it into a more traditional military institution, but with all the great pre-existing designs to riff on it's a temptation too hard to ignore.

This is kind of a tangent, but I'd be interested in a Trek alternate universe that's just a shade or two darker than canon Trek and has Starfleet more like a proper "navy." I think that can be done while maintaining the basic message about the maturation of humankind as a race and might tackle that subject in an interesting way by showing the "work in progress" rather than the mostly-perfect paragons of humanistic virtue we got in TNG.
 
Re: Ark Royal Stuff - Misc. Illustrations

This is kind of a tangent, but I'd be interested in a Trek alternate universe that's just a shade or two darker than canon Trek and has Starfleet more like a proper "navy." I think that can be done while maintaining the basic message about the maturation of humankind as a race and might tackle that subject in an interesting way by showing the "work in progress" rather than the mostly-perfect paragons of humanistic virtue we got in TNG.

Ditto. I'd like to see more of that too. The OP's work is great! Especially like the uniform chart, and the inclusion thereof of the tursiops ensign! Keep it coming!
 
Re: Ark Royal Stuff - Misc. Illustrations

This is all great stuff. The slogan for the Akira is just awesome too.

Glad you like it, Thomas. :) I got a bit of flak for it because some people think it's too aggressive, but I think it's in the same vein as the 'Assimilate THIS!" on the Defiant patch.

I have to say that you and I are kindred spirits, Konundrum, I love this kind of detail and wish that Trek had a lot more of it. It definitely goes against the intent of Starfleet to extrapolate it into a more traditional military institution, but with all the great pre-existing designs to riff on it's a temptation too hard to ignore.

There are a great many gaps waiting to be filled :)

This is kind of a tangent, but I'd be interested in a Trek alternate universe that's just a shade or two darker than canon Trek and has Starfleet more like a proper "navy." I think that can be done while maintaining the basic message about the maturation of humankind as a race and might tackle that subject in an interesting way by showing the "work in progress" rather than the mostly-perfect paragons of humanistic virtue we got in TNG.

Well I'm not much of a believer in the 'perfected humanity' tripe from TNG so it's easier for me to just dismiss those aspects. I suppose in a way I am trying to create the world you describe. That's how I see it in my head. The 'trappings' of Trek developed with a sense of realism and then extrapolated logically from there.

Ditto. I'd like to see more of that too. The OP's work is great! Especially like the uniform chart, and the inclusion thereof of the tursiops ensign! Keep it coming!

Glad you like it, Mysterion. That uniform was more of a 'what-if' than any of the others. :)
 
Nice work. When I was younger I knew someone who served on the HMS Ark Royal. I really like the uniforms, by the way.
 
I'm glad you like the uniforms. I'm quite happy with them myself. I like the idea of visual diversity instead of everyone wearing the same pajamas. :)

I'm happy we can keep the Ark Royal's tradition going into the 24th Century :)
 
Although usually I am not that big a fan of the 'militaristic' interpretation of Starfleet (and the "15 torpedotube Akira" specifically), but this all just looks so nice ;)

It does remind me of the interpretations of the Perimeter Action fleet of the Movie era fandom, especially the less formal Class C uniforms that I can definitely see being worn on the frontiers on smaller defense craft. And of course it works for the Akira if you're assuming that class started life as an anti-Borg platform. So.. good job, I guess I wanted to say ;)

Hmm.. did we ever actually see a skirt/skant variant of the FC uniforms? It looks very nice. The Light Combat uniform is a version of the gear we saw in DS9?
 
I'm glad you were able to see past your discomfort to the cool factor, Harry. :)

I'm a fan of the more militaristic side of Trek, so much of what I drew there is really what I would expect to see as part of the general variety of task-specific clothing in use. If you're sitting a duty shift on the bridge, you'd be in your Class-Bs. But if you're supervising/assisting in the stripping down of an air handling unit, you'd be wearing the less formal and more durable Class-Cs.

There's no doubt in my mind that Starfleet has combat-specific ships. As far as Canon goes, outside of the Defiant, the Akira is the most undeniably combat-oriented of ships so that's how I treat her development.

To my knowledge no skirt/skant variant of the FC uniforms was shown, but it seemed like a logical extrapolation.

The LCU is a response to the fact that Starfleet seems to be criminally idiotic to keep sending people into harm's way unprotected. I just scaled down a more fully protected combat suit I'd designed some time ago.

 
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Working on Ark Royal's 'superauxiliary' ship now. I guess the Akira's version of a Captain's yacht, but without the luxury. A combination runabout/dropship heavy craft. Something nice and tough to match her mothership.

She's not done, but I hope you guys like the Britannic. I like the way the E-E's shuttles seem to match her look and feel, and so does Voyager's. I wanted this ship to be the same way, hence echoing the catamaran shape.

akiragigv3dq0.png
 
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