Enterprise Q

[erifah]

OK, so I haven't done any artwork in a long time, since I posted my beloved NX-5150.

I was in the mood again, but seeking inspiration. What hasn't aleready been done? What could be new, but not gimmicky? How about something more than a single deflector dish?

Yes, of course this is a bash. I cobbled together a few parts "off the shelf" to throw together a "mock-up" while the idea is still fresh in my mind, and get it to y'all ASAP so you can critique the concept at a very early stage.

 

[erifah]

Or how about this for something different: We lay the saucer on it's edge?

 

[Tiberius Jim]

It's a little hard to figure out what exactly is going on with the front of the secondary hull, and I'm not digging the bug eye look of the multiple deflectors (I'm assuming that is what those are) A side view would be helpful.

As for the saucer on it's side...I'm heartily against it.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

Uhm...

Wahahahahahahaha!

Uhm....

Bwhahahahahaha!!!!

No, sorry. Seriously? They look a little bit off. But the idea to do something different is very good!

I like the first, but only if you take away a few of the deflector dishes; that just looks completely silly.

And for the second, could you remake it into something like this?

Like a saucer on it's side with a hull on either side.

 

[erifah]

As for the saucer on it's side...I'm heartily against it.

When I had the idea to lay it on the edge, I remembered an image that immediately came to mind while I was laying in bed, and today I looked for and found the original pic of that image, and am posting it here. The engine layout and scale would all be different, of course, but I really think it could be a dramatic and elegant Star Trek design, if done right:

 

[Professor Moriarty]

If Starfleet loses so many ships that they get up to the letter Q, one would think someone at Fleet Operations would get the hint and stop naming starships Enterprise.

 

[sojourner]

Isn't that the Mellenium Falcon on it's side and flying backwards? Damn, Solo is one hell of a pilot!

But seriously, a vertical hull like this would use up too much internal volume on deck superstructure as compared to a horizontal hull. Also why would you need to go through the trouble of building a ship in this orientation as opposed to just having a ship bank 90 degrees on it's axis when it needed that profile?

 

[erifah]

But seriously, a vertical hull like this would use up too much internal volume on deck superstructure as compared to a horizontal hull.

Wouldn't that depend upon what we were using it for, and upon what brand of sci-fi technobabble I was using to describe warp field bubbles, etc etc?

 

[FalTorPan]

Is the Enterprise-Q omnipotent? I bet it gets from Point A to Point B in the snap of a finger!

 

[sojourner]

But seriously, a vertical hull like this would use up too much internal volume on deck superstructure as compared to a horizontal hull.

Wouldn't that depend upon what we were using it for, and upon what brand of sci-fi technobabble I was using to describe warp field bubbles, etc etc?

How does the shape of the warp bubble effect how you layout decks? "up" is a matter of perspective in space.

 

[erifah]

But seriously, a vertical hull like this would use up too much internal volume on deck superstructure as compared to a horizontal hull.

Wouldn't that depend upon what we were using it for, and upon what brand of sci-fi technobabble I was using to describe warp field bubbles, etc etc?

How does the shape of the warp bubble effect how you layout decks? "up" is a matter of perspective in space.

Ah, I cut too much of your question.

The technobabble comment was in response to "why would you need to go through the trouble of building a ship in this orientation."

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

Overall? I like it. With some few points here. Cut down some of the deflectors. Also, i feel the nacelles are too big and the pylons look too small. It's a really good start though.

 

[erifah]

... Cut down some of the deflectors...

Gotta have more than one. Maybe 3? Or maybe make 'em less bug-eyed weird.

 

[BK613]

Isn't that the Mellenium Falcon on it's side and flying backwards? Damn, Solo is one hell of a pilot!

But seriously, a vertical hull like this would use up too much internal volume on deck superstructure as compared to a horizontal hull. Also why would you need to go through the trouble of building a ship in this orientation as opposed to just having a ship bank 90 degrees on it's axis when it needed that profile?

OTH the amount of internal volume devoted to horizontal turboshafts would be next to nil. At the very least, the internal arrangement would be greatly simplified. In fact you probably could service the entire saucer with three pairs of vertical shafts; two forward,two amidships, and two aft.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

As for the saucer on it's side...I'm heartily against it.

When I had the idea to lay it on the edge, I remembered an image that immediately came to mind while I was laying in bed, and today I looked for and found the original pic of that image, and am posting it here. The engine layout and scale would all be different, of course, but I really think it could be a dramatic and elegant Star Trek design, if done right:

Looks good. Problem is the deck structure. Either you lay them out horizontally on top of one another; negating the need to have a vertical circular hull in the first place -- you can just use any other shape, or it's traditionally laid out, only with the gravity on one side. But that would look somewhat silly.

 

[erifah]

Looks good. Problem is the deck structure....

Not so much a problem as an entertaining design challenge!

 

[erifah]

Looks good. Problem is the deck structure. Either you lay them out horizontally on top of one another; negating the need to have a vertical circular hull in the first place -- you can just use any other shape, or it's traditionally laid out, only with the gravity on one side. But that would look somewhat silly.

I think there's yet another way to arrange the interior spaces.

I like to proceed with the idea that, for some reason or another, there MUST be a vertical circular hull, period. Maybe President Obama XIIX took over GS (General Starships) in a bailout, and wants to build "green" ships. Whatever.

(Or this is more fun to imagine: a big Hollywood producer saw my NX-5150 and wants to whisk me away from my boring life and make me the art director for a new Star Trek movie - and my FIRST task is to design a ship with a vertical circular hull. Oh, I'll whine and protest in private with my friends whilst dining at the fanciest restraunts on Rodeo Drive, but for THAT kinda money and a company car, hell yeah, I'll design that ship!)

I was thinking of something different from typically stacked decks, like in the first picture. Maybe I want to think not so much about "decks" than as in "compartments." Seems to me that "up" and "down" is, in any given location, is whatever the artificial gravity settings say it is. So why can't my decks be arranged like the second picture?

I think the biggest problem will be with the curvature of the floor, unless the floor is broken up into flat segments. If the floor is curved, some whiney admiral's gonna whine and cry about how he/she can't arrange the furniture properly.



.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

... Cut down some of the deflectors...

Gotta have more than one.

Why? You can put one large main deflector on the secondary hull and a smaller secondary deflector on the saucer. I don't see the need to have multiple dishes on the secondary hull, to be honest.

 

[sojourner]

Well, that would be some very long narrow decks. H. Beam Piper (one of my favorite authors) used spherical ships with decks layed out like onion layers due to the gravity generators being at the center of the ship instead of under the floor of each deck. Of course, to minimize deck curvature, those ships usually had a radius of some 2000 meters.

 

[erifah]

... Cut down some of the deflectors...

Gotta have more than one.

Why? You can put one large main deflector on the secondary hull and a smaller secondary deflector on the saucer. I don't see the need to have multiple dishes on the secondary hull, to be honest.

Well, of COURSE you don't see the need. You aren't a visionary, and you haven't been chugging Rock Star energy drinks all day like I have.

LOOK! Something shiny!

(And except for the racing heart, the night sweats, and the paranoia, you can really accomplish a LOT of stuff creatively with Rock Star in your system!!!)