Yes thank you very much that means a lot to an old time draftsperson like me 
Great work there very nice.
Thank you, :-)
Just busy with the office move. Cables have become the bane of my existence at the moment.
Not finished with the move yet, the Utilities section is being built, and then... back to sorting out cables, lol.
But I've been thinking, now that I've finished my Connie and the Refit Connie and dealt with the scal issue, I'm going to take another look at the Ambassador Class again. Never felt that I really did the ship justice, and given the studio model's history (rushed into play so key features like Torpedo Tubes were missing, and extra detail was left off, never really good enough to use again throughout the show...) I thought, well, "why not rationalise the design and make it work?" Do a real deep dive - keeping the silhouette, but making the ship work.
Yes, there are other projects calling to me as well. But it's something to look forward to :-)
More soon :-)
But I've been thinking, now that I've finished my Connie and the Refit Connie and dealt with the scal issue, I'm going to take another look at the Ambassador Class again. Never felt that I really did the ship justice, and given the studio model's history (rushed into play so key features like Torpedo Tubes were missing, and extra detail was left off, never really good enough to use again throughout the show...) I thought, well, "why not rationalise the design and make it work?" Do a real deep dive - keeping the silhouette, but making the ship work.
Yes, there are other projects calling to me as well. But it's something to look forward to :-)
More soon :-)
For my money, the one thing on that ship that never looked right was those right-angle engine pylons
Excelsior had those, too, and Ambassador was supposed to be a clear design-language bridge between Excelsior and Galaxy.
Not to say I think it looked good, mind you, but that was the idea.
The other oddity the Ambassador had was no impulse engines on the saucer section. The only one it had was at the back of the neck, and unless an emergency separation would take the neck along with it (not a very aesthetically pleasing look, but still functional I guess), the saucer would have no propulsion capability to escape a problem with the secondary hull. There would also be no capability for the ship to be able to operate as two independent vessels in combat like the Galaxy could. One section would be left immobile.
It was a half-baked design, IMO.
Not to say I think it looked good, mind you, but that was the idea.
The other oddity the Ambassador had was no impulse engines on the saucer section. The only one it had was at the back of the neck, and unless an emergency separation would take the neck along with it (not a very aesthetically pleasing look, but still functional I guess), the saucer would have no propulsion capability to escape a problem with the secondary hull. There would also be no capability for the ship to be able to operate as two independent vessels in combat like the Galaxy could. One section would be left immobile.
It was a half-baked design, IMO.
the saucer's impulse engines could be hidden in the separation zone
The Galaxy Class was designed to operate as two ships, a first for Starfleet - the Ambassador Class was not designed that way. Probert's original covered all of that, but yes, the studio model was rushed.
Guys, I do not intend to completely redesign the Ambassador, but rather build a better model of it and tweak a few things. I did do a new class called Ranger a little while back, which covered all of these issues nicely..
The trick here is to keep the silhouette and yet make the ship work ;-)
Wish me luck!
Updates:
The impulse engine has been moved under the saucer, but above the separation line. I have no plans to do anything further here. Saucer Sep is still an emergency facility in this class, not a functional facility like the Galaxy.
The pylons have been tweaked to flare - not overly, but enough IMOO that I don't lose the look of the ship.
Secondary hull matches the curvature of the studio model, but has a new "spine."
Dorsal interconnector will have capacity for a torpedo launcher (missing on the studio model)
Saucer will not have impossible windows.
More soon.
The impulse engine has been moved under the saucer, but above the separation line. I have no plans to do anything further here. Saucer Sep is still an emergency facility in this class, not a functional facility like the Galaxy.
The pylons have been tweaked to flare - not overly, but enough IMOO that I don't lose the look of the ship.
Secondary hull matches the curvature of the studio model, but has a new "spine."
Dorsal interconnector will have capacity for a torpedo launcher (missing on the studio model)
Saucer will not have impossible windows.
More soon.
I like what you did with the pylons, those look better to me than the originalUpdates:
The impulse engine has been moved under the saucer, but above the separation line. I have no plans to do anything further here. Saucer Sep is still an emergency facility in this class, not a functional facility like the Galaxy.
The pylons have been tweaked to flare - not overly, but enough IMOO that I don't lose the look of the ship.
Secondary hull matches the curvature of the studio model, but has a new "spine."
Dorsal interconnector will have capacity for a torpedo launcher (missing on the studio model)
Saucer will not have impossible windows.
More soon.
The other thing which always bothered me about the Ambassador class was the way the navigational deflector appeared to be 'aimed' slightly downwards, instead of straight ahead.
Anyone else know what I mean?
I think it's because of the glowing 'focus' of the dish being too high - I'd love to see what it would look like with that moved downwards a bit.
Anyone else know what I mean?
I think it's because of the glowing 'focus' of the dish being too high - I'd love to see what it would look like with that moved downwards a bit.
