Poll Does the Discovery look good?

[eyeresist]

Some "improvements" people are suggestion are basically changes in proportions to make it look more like a traditional Enterprise, and while they may succeed in making the ship look more familiar, I don't think they make it much better.
Better to try to make the ship work on its own terms, rather than try to change it into something more generic and less interesting.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

It's interesting in the schematics you all are making how much Discovery looks like the Ent-D from the side.

 

[Mountie1988]

I hope it shares the same fate as the Canterbury did in episode one in The Expanse. The rest of the season they can figure out who blew it up...
Man, there are controversial designs like Voyager, Defiant, Sovereign, NX, Galaxy, alternate Constitution, basically everything that is new and doesn't look exactly like the 60's Enterprise. Has there ever been a design so collaterally rejected by so many, not just by a loud minority of Admirals?

 

[Michael]

Nice work.

Nice work

Thanks guys!

I think the bridge is more sunken in though.

Yeah, I played around with the dome for quite some time. It doesn't look all that high in the close-ups, but the frontal silhouette from the beginning of the teaser makes it look quite elevated.

Looks 10x better than my attempt:

Ha, both of us seemed to have the same idea. It's nice to see that you seem to have interpreted a lot of what's seen the same way I did. I would love to know how exactly the bottom of those nacelles is modeled. Looks like an interesting shape.

Incidentally I noticed that in their Enterprise-E cutaway poster the guys from SciPubTech also put three globe thingies inside the nacelles.

It's not as beautiful as the Sovereign or Akira classes, but it's not as ugly as the Olympic or Oberth classes, nor even the Fatbassador class.

Ha, I must be the only one who loves the Olympic class. But then again, I love the Deadalus design, too.

 

[The Mighty Monkey of Mim]

Ha, I must be the only one who loves the Olympic class. But then again, I love the Deadalus design, too.

I've always loved both of those, too!

 

[Mudd]

Some "improvements" people are suggestion are basically changes in proportions to make it look more like a traditional Enterprise, and while they may succeed in making the ship look more familiar, I don't think they make it much better.
Better to try to make the ship work on its own terms, rather than try to change it into something more generic and less interesting.

Exactly so.

Just like folks dub music that's more familiar to them over this and other studio promotional pieces - remember all the "re-scoring" of the first STB trailer? People make it comfortable and declare it "better."

 

[-SS-]

I've always loved both of those, too!

Ditto. I would have loved to see the Discovery be a Daedalus class, it's a design that's always fascinated me. It's been hinted at and seen in fleeting glimpses, but one has never be shown in its full glory on screen.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I would be so happy if the interior of the USS Discovery was based on the Planet of the Titans concept art as well.

No, no, no, no. Please no.

 

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

Really love the schematics!

Great work - this is what I expect from my fellow Trekkies

 

[El Maestro]

What is the "fatbassador" class? The only Ambassador class I know if is from TNG, the E-C, so maybe I missed a tie-in or something?

 

[aloha62]

After giving it a few days to settle I still consider it a truly awful design.

A few fan edits have made it look better but when your starting point is the design equivalent of 'congratulations you have syphilis' then there is only so much that tweaking can fix.

 

[Salinga]

Fun fact: Probert (1701 refit + 1701-D) actually wanted to work on the new show:

What he said about this one: "No. This Design, obviously based (poorly) on McQuarrie's Phase II Enterprise Concept and definitely does NOT suggest a time period subsequent to TNG. My guess is that someone created this video, just for fun, to see what they could do by starting with Ralph's ideas."

He commented on this video about the new ship:

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[Starkers]

Have been spending some time today doing these schematics. Obviously they'll be full of mistakes, all I had were the various angles from the teaser. There are many things I had to guess, like the exact form of the nacelles. But I think this is a good approximation of what the Discovery looks like in the teaser.

And what can I say, occupying myself with the Discovery for a day made me actually more appreciative of the design. I still think it needs a lot of work – especially the nacelles, which need to be higher, and the much too angular secondary hull – but I love the somewhat retro design of the saucer and some of the details are really nice.

The side view is very reminiscent of the Galaxy class, I think. Especially with that curved neck. The front view still looks very weird to me, though.

By the way, do we know, who designed/is designing the Discovery?

Really good work, especially given what you had to go on!

Looking at the schematics like that the thing that most sticks out as something that seems wrong is the nacelle struts and the nacelles sitting along such a straight line. I agree that lifting the nacelles would help, but actually I'd be half tempted to lower them--though I guess this would make the ship look even more like a D7, I do think it'd look better though.

 

[Salinga]

Someone made a 3D model you can examine in your browser:

https://sketchfab.com/models/a4731d96aa9d48849f4f7085965be9bf

I think, from this angle it looks awesome:

 

[Mountie1988]

Someone made a 3D model you can examine in your browser:

https://sketchfab.com/models/a4731d96aa9d48849f4f7085965be9bf

I think, from this angle it looks awesome:

You mean if you can't see it, don't you?

 

[eyeresist]

I addressed this in a different thread:

First, it has to be borne in mind that the hero shot in the trailer was taken from the most unflattering angle possible. Fiddling with the 3D model, you can find all sorts of better poses.

Second, on reflection I think the key issue is the nacelles. They are just a nasty shape (though I like their front ends), and their angles clash with the rest of the ship.
Give the nacelles a more streamlined look (which could still be in keeping with the chunky look of the rest of the ship) and the whole effect would be more harmonious.
Hell, you could make them look like Flash Gordon rocketships, i.e. with nosecones that taper to a point at the front. That would work better than what we have now.


Further thoughts:
- I don't mind the front view. The way it is on two levels is intriguing.
- With the delta the size that it is, I think we may see more saucer separations than we have in the past. It might even be a regular thing, that the saucer would detach to go into a heliosphere, or into battle (or vice versa).

 

[Kelso]

Looks good to me. The retro/industrial look of the ship and the low registry number are deliberate choices... but without knowing the story, those choices don't tell us when the show is set.

Maybe it's a prequel to TOS.

Maybe a post TUC crew is manning a 50 year old ship, ala Battlestar Galactica.

Maybe a ship that has been missing for 200 years mysteriously reappears in the 25th century.

Who knows? But I'm intrigued.

 

[JWPlatt]

I'm expecting in-world dialog about the ship to mirror real world comments that the overworked crews have to endure. "Ugliest ship in the fleet," "garbage scow," "hauled AS garbage," and so forth. It would be brilliant to have built this ship fugly on purpose. If the ship is a character, it will suffer abuse, often to humorous effect. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Tim Walker]

Interesting idea, JWPlatt.

And then...the "garbage scow" proves its worth in action.

 

[Captain of the USS Averof]

It's not as beautiful as the Sovereign or Akira classes, but it's not as ugly as the Olympic or Oberth classes, nor even the Fatbassador class.

I'm sorry, but the Ambassador class is one of the most beautiful Federation starships.