Update on the model: SVC finally gave me his comments about it. The neck drone launchers have to be removed and the lower sensor dome on the saucer has to be adjusted so it doesn't look so much like the TMP Enterprise. But after that, they said the model is good to go. I'm going to finish a current cover project I've got going for them but as soon as that's done I'm gonna finish up this model. Thanks to everyone who's shown interest in this project!
I registered with this site expressly for the purpose of praising your SFB work. I am truly impressed. I'm pleased you granted permission to Relayer to model this ship for StarFleet Command: Orion Pirates. He is a skillful modeller, one I aspire to (eventually) emulate. I'm hopeful that more of your work will make its way into SFC. Thank you for sharing your work here.
Greetings, Earthlings... I'm new around here, so I just got a chance to look at your CX model. Nice. Very nice. Being something of a traditionalist, I like the newer (less like TMP) version much better. (It seems to fit more with some of the line drawings I've seen in SFB publications.) I have a couple of questions, though. 1- Why are the front nacelle caps blue? Aren't they usually red? (Would this be one of the things you said you had to change to avoid trouble with Paramount?) 2- Why are the drone/missile launchers mounted at the base of the neck? According to the SSD sheets, the Kirov/Bismarck/New Jersey Heavy Battlecruisers (BCF, BCG, BCJ) have a pair of mounts there, but the Vincennes class (which evolved from the CC through the CB to the CX) has its launchers mounted on the rear of the saucer section, one to each side of the impulse engine.
RedSharif: Welcome to the boards, and I'll be posting plenty more art in the future for you to check out! therealfoxbat: 1- The blue nacelle caps are a mostly stylistic choice. If you had to find an explanation for it in SFB tech, it would be because X-engines are an outgrowth of "hot warp" technology, found on fast cruisers. And it's pretty much canon by now that fast cruisers have blue nacelle caps. 2- That has actually been changed at this point. The neck housing has been shrunk down considerably and turned into a probe launcher(which is actually located in the aft hull of the CX). Here's the updated model with SVC's changes. I have to clean up the mesh a little bit and then it's on to textures. Thanks everyone!
Hot Warp Engine nacelles have blue front end caps? Really? I would not have guessed that... (I've only had the chance to see Black And White line drawings of those ships. Looks like you really do learn something new every day...)
Jolau, that was the PROBLEM, it was a refit-style launcher... SFB can't use those or resemblances to TMP.
Vektor is correct. It was too similar to the TMP Enterprise and was probably gonna get ADB in trouble. So it got the axe.
Jolau, That is the Federation Heavy Battlecruiser from SFB. It was a short-lived design that evolved parallel to the Heavy Cruiser/Command Cruiser/X-Cruiser (in SFB background history). SFB put the missile pod at the base of the neck on that design because (in SFB wargame statistics, also known as an SSD) that design actually has a pair of missile mounts located there. There were three classes of Heavy Battlecruiser. They were virtually identical, except for the dual missile pod at the base of the neck. The Kirov (BCG) has a pair of Drone (Missile) Launchers. The Bismarck (BCF) has a pair of Gorn-designed Plasma Torpedoes. The New Jersey (BCJ) has a pair of Photon Torpedoes. The Heavy Battlecruisers ceased production when the X-Cruisers proved themselves a superior design. The X-Cruiser has its two Drone (Missile) Launchers and all four Photon Torpedoes located in the saucer hull, so it can't justify having that pod at the base of the neck.
Icy_Penguigo, I hope this doesn't rub you the wrong way, but if you want to further distinguish this ship from the TMP Enterprise, you might want to either tone down or eliminate the TMP-style assembly around the lower dome of the saucer. If it were me, and I wanted "newer tech" details there, I'd come up with something much lower-profile, that doesn't look anything like TMP. I would also add the little turret-like thingy onto the bottom of the lower dome, to make it look a little more TOS-like. That's just my two bits worth.