I know it's been quite a while since I added to this thread, but I've made some significant progress in this project and thought I'd share.
Work on the Crew Lounge got my juices flowing. One thing leads to another and I found myself wanting to model that other interior space that can be visible from outside the ship: The Hangar Deck. I also wanted an appropriate setting to make some renders of the Shuttlecraft model I had made.
As before, my personal criteria demanded that whatever I came up with must fit within a 947' ship. It must also respect exterior elements like window placements. Finally, it must be plausible. That meant I needed to plan out how it would be used and make it workable. For example, how do they bring aboard cargo? How does one access the aft control booths? It was a puzzle that was a lot of fun to assemble.
The Hangar Deck is one of the spaces that
must be adjusted to fit the ship. The miniature set we saw onscreen does not fit into the hull. Some folks despair and say it can't be done. Some compensate by enlarging the whole ship until it
does fit, causing other major problems in the process. Your mileage may vary and the
Enterprise of your imagination may differ from what I propose, but I can tell you that a Hangar that looks very much like the onscreen version
can be made to fit into the hull. And there are odd little details that align in ways that seem to indicate that this might be close to what Jefferies had in mind. But enough talk; here is the
Enterprise of
my imagination...
Port Hangar Observation Gallery, familiar view looking forward:
Looking aft:
Looking down onto the Flight Deck:
On Hangar Deck. A preflight inspection of the Shuttlecraft:
A view of the Shuttlecraft from the Starboard control booth:
The Shuttlecraft about to launch:
...and returning: