Building The Enterprise Refit

[DanGovier]

The internal framework is still heavily under construction, with additional lateral bracing now installed between the main radial beams. Additional lugs and brackets will soon be welded into place to allow for the installation of critical hardware, the first of which will be externally charged batteries and the field generators for the structural integrity field.

The various hull segments containing holes for windows and other features are now in place, but the transparent aluminium windows themselves will not be added until the internal rooms are under construction.

Here's a quick test of the iridescent hull plating, which is proving to be quite difficult to get looking right. You can also see the exposed framework for D Deck, which will contain three rings of crew quarters and a central computer/power distribution room.

 

[ashleytinger]

You are absolutely insane and I love you for it

 

[Mytran]

Great to have you back. Your renders are better than ever!

 

[137th Gebirg]

NASA should take note. With these designs, they may just be able to figure out a way to build this thing.

 

[DanGovier]

So, the things @BK613 pointed out regarding modern ship construction have really been bugging me, and it's prompted me to look into the subject a lot deeper. I've been watching a lot of things like this as a result :P

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Based on the principle of modular, block-based construction I've been putting together pieces like this...

...which, when stacked and welded together form larger structures like this:

I'm still experimenting so none of this has been transferred into Unreal Engine yet, but here's a sneak peek of what it should start looking like:

This is a fairly significant departure from the designs I had previously, but surprisingly this is actually both quicker to put together and generally easier to work with. I guess there's a good reason why modern ships are built this way!

 

[137th Gebirg]

Always remember, you’re working with theoretically super-advanced materials (Duranium? Tritanium?) that probably don’t need as much trussing as current architectural methods. Would they even be “welded” in the currently conventional sense or industrial-replicated already melded together at the molecular level? This is effectively two centuries into the future - think about how much ship design and materials have changed since 1820. They didn’t even have ironclads back then - all wood. I thought what you were doing initially was perfectly fine.

At the end of the day, this is your project and you be you. It looks amazing either way.

 

[BK613]

@DanGovier Amazing. Simply amazing.

 

[Mytran]

With the invention of the Transporter, I would imagine that "welding" would have a whole new meaning: Just run a transporter beam over the joint in question and set the re-materialisation sequence to render that section as a single, fused unit. If it can be done accidentally on people (as in TMP) it can certainly be done deliberately on less complex metal structures

 

[DanGovier]

Always remember, you’re working with theoretically super-advanced materials (Duranium? Tritanium?) that probably don’t need as much trussing as current architectural methods. Would they even be “welded” in the currently conventional sense or industrial-replicated already melded together at the molecular level? This is effectively two centuries into the future - think about how much ship design and materials have changed since 1820. They didn’t even have ironclads back then - all wood. I thought what you were doing initially was perfectly fine.

At the end of the day, this is your project and you be you. It looks amazing either way.

That's one of the really interesting and fun aspects of a project like this - taking what's currently possible and projecting it forward ~225 years. Or even less to be honest, the NX-01 should start being built in about 130 years from now

Given that we are already 3D printing orbital-class rocket engines, I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume that in 200 years we'll be printing/replicating practically everything. It's not hard to imagine an orbital construction yard churning out prefab starship pieces 24/7.

I'm keen to produce a design that is practical, plausible and consistent with what's seen on screen. I think a marriage of modular ship construction and a primary a Tritanium framework might just do the trick. I'm currently working on the principle that the Structural Integrity Field enhances the natural properties of Tritanium, significantly strengthening its molecular structure while active.

Another interesting point with modular construction is that it allows things like the Rec Deck to be built largely as a self contained block, which can be welded/bonded into place all at once. Also, the ceiling beams I put in the room modules just happen to line up pretty perfectly with the ceiling beams seen in Kirk's quarters, so that's a happy little accident

 

[BK613]

^^ I could see there being at least two types of orbital docks, one type for cranking out the sub-assemblies and marrying them into a hull, and the other for fitting out the hull once the sub-assembly process is done. The first would have all kinds of tractor beams and forcefields for accomplishing the construction while the second would be geared toward internal finishes (TMP could be featuring this second type.) Or the sub-assemblies happen on the ground, as per TMoST, an lifted via antigrav to the assembly dock.

 

[David cgc]

One of the other advantages of modular construction would be that, as a space ship, it'd be easier to make each compartment individually airtight and survivable if they were built individually and then plugged in to each other (even if they were attached permanently rather than with some sort of detachable clasp) than it would be if the ship was built entirely in-situ. That fits with what we saw in STB, both in the destruction sequence where it seemed that so long as an individual room wasn't breached, it was still reasonably safe (down to the turbolift cars being usable as escape pods, at least briefly), and what we saw in the construction sequence at the end of the movie.

Thousands of, in effect, tiny little space pods hanging together off of the frame of the ship as a whole seems like the most reasonable approach to me.

 

[Atolm]

This Thread is so killer...I am amazed.

 

[DanGovier]

I've been looking at how the internal rooms of the ship fit into its physical structure, because in many ways one defines the other, and they have to compliment one another. To that end I've been playing around with the central core of the saucer, keeping with the block-based methodology of modern shipbuilding

So what we're looking at here is 3 core blocks stacked and bonded together. These blocks will form the core systems room on each deck, housing a segment of the main computer core and the EPS distribution hardware.

We then add in the floor plating, the wall panels and the ceiling structure containing the lighting panels. The door is of the reinforced security door type, as this is a sensitive and restricted area of the ship. This is also a pressure door, as these rooms are exposed to vacuum during computer core insertion or removal.

The computer core itself isn't in yet, but it will be secured into the central cavity and the openings in the girder structure will be used to route the various cables. I'm also planning on scattering around a few of those tall wedge shaped computer terminals you see in main engineering.

I'm think I'm quite happy with how the internal room pieces attach to the ship structure, so the next job is getting the blocks containing corridor pieces to line up properly. I'm keen for everything to 'work' properly without any cheating, so for example the door opens up into a proper recess and doesn't overlap any geometry. Still need to figure out the utility routing, like air ducts and water pipes.... one thing at a time :P

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Since you're using modern shipbuilding as a guide, have you also seen this documentary on the construction of an USN navy aircraft carrier?

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[DanGovier]

Since you're using modern shipbuilding as a guide, have you also seen this documentary on the construction of an USN navy aircraft carrier?

Ooh no, I'll watch that, thanks

 

[Henoch]

I love this thread. Question: Shouldn't you be building the TOS (circa 2245) Enterprise, then just refitting it to the TMP ship? I would love for this build be for a TOS ship, anyway.

 

[Firebird]

I love this thread. Question: Shouldn't you be building the TOS (circa 2245) Enterprise, then just refitting it to the TMP ship? I would love for this build be for a TOS ship, anyway.

I can't tell if this is a compliment or not.

 

[DanGovier]

I love this thread. Question: Shouldn't you be building the TOS (circa 2245) Enterprise, then just refitting it to the TMP ship? I would love for this build be for a TOS ship, anyway.

Well, funnily enough I'm absolutely planning a video for YouTube to do just that - take the stripped down skeleton of the TOS Enterprise and perform the Refit in realtime. Before I can go back and do that though, I need to get the Refit itself completely planned out and finished. Then I can easily dismantle it and do a TOS Refit properly.

I'm envisioning a timelapse style video like the one we see at the end of ST:Beyond (I geeked out so hard over this);

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Starting with a simple external mesh of the TOS Enterprise parked in the TMP Spacedock, the camera will slowly pan around while the nacelles, engineering hull and dorsal fin are sliced off and dragged away by workbees. The same is then done to the bridge dome and teardrop section, before the outer hull is stripped away to reveal the remaining basic structure of the saucer. Any area that is a different shape to the Refit is also sliced off and dragged away, until we are left with pretty much only the central core of the saucer and some surrounding decks remaining. Essentially the keel or 'backbone' of the original TOS saucer is still there, so it's arguably still the same ship.

The camera now glides through the gutted saucer structure as pipes and machinery appear all around, with workbees zipping about and things being beamed into place. We see the computer core being inserted vertically into the centre of the saucer, followed by the lounge teardrop being sealed into place. The pre-assembled bridge dome is then flown in by workbees, before being positioned on top of the teardrop and secured. We see a similar process for the intermix core and impulse deflection crystal etc.

I think something like that would be really cool to make, and I'm also really interested in doing some form of engineering study on the ship's systems and how they all work. Something like a first person VR tour, walking around engineering and the lower decks. I honestly have too many plans, so I need to try and keep myself focused on one thing :P

So, for now I just need to get the Refit itself built and fleshed out, because getting that done makes everything else possible

 

[Henoch]

I'm envisioning a timelapse style video like the one we see at the end of ST:Beyond (I geeked out so hard over this);

Me, too. I've watched it several times frame by frame. Thanks for the great work.

 

[BK613]

Me, too. I've watched it several times frame by frame. Thanks for the great work.

Though it is visually stunning, it also annoys the heck out of me. Especially the parts where the nacelle struts grow in length like vines and the saucer is built counter-clockwise from the dorsal.