Matt Jefferies TOS Shuttle MK II

[RedSpar]

Hi everyone,
If you are a old timer around here you may remember my 3d take on the original Matt Jefferies shuttle design that never made it into TOS for budget reasons. Here - https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/matt-jefferies-original-shuttle-design.78081/

Well I decided to go back to it and fix many things I and others didn't like about it, i.e. too wide, too modern looking for TOS. I remodeled probably 85% of this ship, so it is essentially brand new.

Anyways, to start I finally added working landing gear (animated):

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Here you can see how much I narrowed the fuselage down:

Here I went back to similar impulse engines as a standard TOS shuttle such as the Galileo

Close up of the rear landing strut:

New detail of the top deck:

Side and top views:

I'm now working on the hatch and then off to texturing.

 

[uniderth]

Nice. I like the animation. I like this width as opposed the the fatties and the really skinny versions.

 

[Albertese]

Overall I really like it. The proportions are excellent, and I love what you've done with the aft end, but I do feel the greeblies on the top are a little out of keeping with MJ's style. Though I guess they work if we're allowing that esthetic to creep in to TOS.

--Alex

 

[RedSpar]

Thanks guys!

I do feel the greeblies on the top are a little out of keeping with MJ's style. Though I guess they work if we're allowing that esthetic to creep in to TOS.

--Alex

Well the good thing is I can run the louvers all the way to the aft end to cover it up if need be. It gives me the option to show a little more visual interest or not. But I understand your point and debated over it myself.

 

[RedSpar]

Spent half the day engineering up a replica of a TOS warp nacelle bussard. I even had to go look at the Smithsonian restoration to get ideas, but I think I got pretty close. I'll do a animation test next.

Exploded view:

 

[JonVP]

Looks stunning!

 

[RedSpar]

Quick animation test. Needs tweaking.

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[uniderth]

...a replica of a TOS warp nacelle bussard.

Shhhhhhhh.

They're not bussards.

#notbussards

 

[Kaiser]

Awesome shuttle

 

[RedSpar]

Shhhhhhhh.

They're not bussards.

#notbussards

Wut?

Anyways, I'm about to start texturing but I am at a bit of a conundrum on how to proceed. TOS ships, especially shuttles don't really have any fine details or panel lines, etc. I am debating whether I should do some or not. I may add a touch of weathering but also don't want to be boring and just have one uniform color. Thoughts guys?

 

[Albertese]

I don't think the basic uniform color is all that boring. TBH I feel it's more realistic than bold panel lines and filthy details. Look at pictures of real aircraft, and, unless they're badly damaged, the surfaces do tend to be smooth and clean and unadorned with paneling details. And, after all, Matt jefferies was an aircraft engineer/illustrator. He certainly would have had these facts in mind.

On the other hand, modern movie standards in a post-Star Wars world would like to see more crap on a spaceship to give it a "sense of scale" which can be a dubious effort in my opinion, but it's your project, so there's no reason not to festoon it if that's your thing.

Have fun with it!

--Alex

 

[uniderth]

Wut?

Haha. Sorry I couldn't resist. It wasn't until TNG that the idea came along that those were bussards. Even then, in Kirk's era nothing is mentioned of them being hydrogen collectors. I recall reading somewhere that the point of the lighted and animated nacelle caps of the Enterprise was to convey the power flowing through those engines. Also from dialogue I think much of the intent was to have the matter/anti-matter reaction take place in the nacelles. That's why they were out there on those struts, safe away from the habitable areas. You'll also notice in "The Doomsday Machine" the Constellation's domes are blown apart. So clearly some sort of energetic activity was going on there. This explanation just make so much more sense to me than having them be giant vacuum cleaners IN SPACE. It also fits with the refit Enterprise. That is the first time we see the Enterprise without nacelle domes. It's also the first time we see a glowy-swirly shaft, and the engineering crew suddenly wearing radiation suits. Perhaps this is becasue the moved the reaction from out in the nacelles into the belly of the ship.

It makes sense why the shuttle can have such a large habitable volume; because the fuel and power source is held out in the nacelles.

Anyway, that's a long explanation for a small detail. I prefer the to call them reactor domes. But you can call them whatever you want. I just had to give you a little good-natured ribbing.

Anyways, I'm about to start texturing but I am at a bit of a conundrum on how to proceed. TOS ships, especially shuttles don't really have any fine details or panel lines, etc. I am debating whether I should do some or not. I may add a touch of weathering but also don't want to be boring and just have one uniform color. Thoughts guys?

If I was modelling this (which I'm not, so my opinion doesn't matter much) I would stick with the smooth look. No panel lines. What I would try and do is add very very subtle imperfections in the smoothness of the hull.

Here you can see the wrinkles where the panels aren't attached to the frame.

I would try for something like that but MUCH more subtle.

Then I'd try using specularity instead of grime to give the surface some detail. Because the thing is going to have fingerprints, streaks from cleaning, and maybe some subtle paint fading. Look at pretty much any smooth surface and you can see changes in the specularity across it.

But, it's your model so do whatever you feel like. If you want a more lived-in, hull plated look; go for it.

On the other hand, modern movie standards in a post-Star Wars world would like to see more crap on a spaceship to give it a "sense of scale" which can be a dubious effort in my opinion,

Which sucks, but ya' know; muh' greeblies!

 

[publiusr]

So it wasn't just the saucer that Romulans copied