Enterprise-D Captain's Yacht Concept Design - Calypso

[timmyjack!]

Hey y'all!

I was inspired by the new production art for Picard S2 and had a little fun doing a 'design sprint' to produce a mock-up for Calypso, the 1701-D captain's yacht. Thought you may enjoy seeing it!

Here's a link to an interactive presentation model of Calypso that you can check out:

https://twinmotion.unrealengine.com/presentation/vXG2lK8UzN3CX8R5

Here are some images:

Mainly inspired by Andy Probert's early Galaxy bridge concepts and the overall tone of a research ship like Cousteau's Calypso but with more of that command-level Starfleet 2360s aesthetic. Design would feature modular units that could be reconfigured for research missions, diplomatic enterprise, etc.

Obviously there's a ton of detail that could be added to this - most of the time I spent was fiddling with the design and not on 'set dressing' but it would be neat to flesh things out more and set the yacht in some space or planet scenes that take advantage of the features.

Excited to hear thoughts, critiques, opinions! Cheers!
-Jack

 

[David cgc]

Interesting ideas! At first, I was assuming the "tower" at the center would retract when the ship was docking or in flight, but I see from the airlocks in the back that it must be a permanent configuration. I like it as an event space, but, as you say, it's missing some details and features, like a helm, or bathrooms. I suppose for the former, they could be the black railings on the top podium, or could appear holographically whenever the ship needs to be used.

 

[UssGlenn]

This is a very interesting take. Thoughts:the nacelles seem just sort of stuck on the bottom, and don't really go with the rest of the ship. Perhaps you could thicken the bottom deck and have them in the body of the ship. You need that extra space for the Warp core and related engineering functions anyway. You might have to ditch the floor window, but it's redundant with the huge glass ceiling anyway. Then your stairs get integrated into the new landing gear. Also, does the airlock need to be two decks high? It's really impacting how sleek the ship looks. That upper horseshoe viewing platform really needs to be where you fly the ship from. You've got an amazing looking flying conference center without a way to power or pilot it.

 

[timmyjack!]

Interesting ideas! At first, I was assuming the "tower" at the center would retract when the ship was docking or in flight, but I see from the airlocks in the back that it must be a permanent configuration. I like it as an event space, but, as you say, it's missing some details and features, like a helm, or bathrooms. I suppose for the latter, they could be the black railings on the top podium, or could appear holographically whenever the ship needs to be used.

Thanks! Yes, she's set up with 2 permanent levels and the airlock doubles as a lift / lockout chamber. The second level with the 'cupola' is intended as the command deck with the conn / helm control at that frontmost horseshoe. I had planned to outfit the 2nd level airlock alcove with some mission ops panels similar to the back of the Ent-D bridge for extended mission support capability but I hit my deadline. I deliberately did not want a lot of tech or permanent stations (think ready room in terms of technological density) for that sort of early Probert aesthetic.

An example of those sort of sketches for the tone.

Bathrooms are handled similarly to all Trek productions - but we can assume the Quarters would each have their own and there would be a couple of public-accessed heads - probably near the aft lounge.

Cool!

Nice callback of Picard's fish tank. Could use a lion fish, though. lol

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Livingston

I would have loved to have added Livingston! Maybe another update Lots of details still yet to populate.

This is a very interesting take. Thoughts:the nacelles seem just sort of stuck on the bottom, and don't really go with the rest of the ship. Perhaps you could thicken the bottom deck and have them in the body of the ship. You need that extra space for the Warp core and related engineering functions anyway. You might have to ditch the floor window, but it's redundant with the huge glass ceiling anyway. Then your stairs get integrated into the new landing gear. Also, does the airlock need to be two decks high? It's really impacting how sleek the ship looks. That upper horseshoe viewing platform really needs to be where you fly the ship from. You've got an amazing looking flying conference center without a way to power or pilot it.

Good notes on the nacelles - I do want them to be able to retract into the lower hull so that the yacht matches the 1701-D miniature appearance on the bottom exterior, and these are already fairly thin to achieve that which is why they're looking a little tacked on since they're trying to do double duty. Modelling needs more love there though.

The Tech Manual description of the yacht says it's impusle only, but it's a huge ship (45m in the long axis scaled from the Sternbach plans) and it would seem silly for it not to have integral warp engines like the Type 7 shuttle so this one has warp nacelles but no core like the 7 (or the core is integrated into the impulse ring somehow). Like I mentioned, conning is from the forward most horseshoe station. Would love to do custom animated LCARS or something like that in a future iteration to help sell the idea more but that's the overall intent.

Re: the cupola dome and the bottom viewing window, I hear what you're saying, but I just like it! I imagined the yacht is primarily used for research and diplomatic missions and having the ability to see a planet receeding as you're launching and the ship that you're docking with approaching in the upper dome is a cool visual effect and would just be a fun place to be. Here's a little concept sketch I did of that 'moment':

 

[UssGlenn]

Like I mentioned, conning is from the forward most horseshoe station. Would love to do custom animated LCARS or something like that in a future iteration to help sell the idea more but that's the overall intent.

Just put a permanent chair in front of it, and it will immediately read as a cockpit. As to the floor window, I just realized that if you used the space when the ship is docked you'd not have the upward views, so it's not redundant at all.

 

[bailey]

The Tech Manual description of the yacht says it's impusle only, but it's a huge ship (45m in the long axis scaled from the Sternbach plans) and it would seem silly for it not to have integral warp engines like the Type 7 shuttle so this one has warp nacelles but no core like the 7 (or the core is integrated into the impulse ring somehow).

Always got the impression that the main purpose of the Captains Yacht was for diplomatic uses, moving delegations between planetary surfaces and ships, first contact situations, stuff like that. Probably wouldn't want it operating independently too much.

 

[Santaman]

Nice work.

 

[Ottens]

Very interesting! I like the diplomatic look of it. You can imagine the captain using this to negotiate a treaty between two alien races.

Here's Andrew Probert's drawing of the Ent-D captain's yacht for the 2007 Ships of the Line calendar for context.

 

[BorgMan]

Very interesting! I like the diplomatic look of it. You can imagine the captain using this to negotiate a treaty between two alien races.

DUDE! Out of which Jefferies tube did you crawl! Good to see you're still alive and kicking!

 

[Vale]

I like this a lot. Very grand, but still capturing that essential 80s TNG aesthetic.

 

[Ottens]

DUDE! Out of which Jefferies tube did you crawl! Good to see you're still alive and kicking!

I know you!! My goodness, it's been forever. How are you doing? I've gotten back into Trek a bit in the last few months, did a revamp of Forgotten Trek and have been getting a more active here. Since SCN is gone, it's the only good Trek message board left.

 

[BorgMan]

SCN's loss was a bitter pill to swallow yeah, but it had been in decline for quite some time. And I'm doing quite alright! Not earning enough money yet to buy a house, but hey, a man can dream right?

 

[HappyMcWonderful]

So what did happen to SCN? I was a member there for awhile, went looking for it recently and it's gone.

 

[valkyrie013]

I added a warp drive by making an internal warp ring around the outer diameter.
Looks way big!

 

[BorgMan]

So what did happen to SCN? I was a member there for awhile, went looking for it recently and it's gone.

As said, member numbers were dwindling and Bernd was eating the cost of keeping it up in the air by himself, so at a certain point he pulled the plug.

 

[Ottens]

It's too bad, but I think it's of a piece with the general decline in message boards in favor of social media.

 

[timmyjack!]

Here's a little teaser of some WIP on this. More soon....!

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Oooh, lovely! And well-timed. Loving all the 1701-D love!!

 

[Husk of Henoch]

The most opulent yacht in the fleet. Built to impress. Where's the bar?

 

[timmyjack!]

The most opulent yacht in the fleet. Built to impress. Where's the bar?

Astern, by the airlock, of course! We hope you enjoy the ambiance. Oh, and the Chateau Picard is complementary but please consider leaving a few strips of Gold-pressed Latinum for your bartender