Overwatch Station (Frontier class)

[Serin117]

Greetings, gentlebeings.

Thought I'd drop my portfolio work here as I'm a little happy with it.
I took the Frontier class design and decided to make my own as a bit of a long term project through which I could learn to model stuff myself.
So this particular model started a couple of years ago and has been in a state of constant evolution since.
Its a bit different to the original version from the novels in that its not square. I think DS9II is 2km x 2km x 2km, whereas Overwatch is 2km x 2km x 1.5km.
In-universe(novelverse canon) it was constructed well outside the Milky Way via a stolen slipstream capable Vesta class, and is operated by an organisation that formed from the remains of Section 31 that seeks to change key UFP ideals and operate well outside of the law.

I've been building out the internals, and they like everything else have gone through several iterations.
Fairly content with the current setup - Ops and a command council meeting room above the big cutout with the artificial terrain. Command crew quarters above that and the operations spire(that deals with the missions of a fleet of small stealthships) occupying the rest of the upper spindle.
The lower half of the central egg is all science and storage, with the lower spindle being engineering and power generation. I sort of modeled a lot of that so it could be ejected downwards.
Outer ring is crew quarters as per the original DS9, but mixed with docking facilities as per the original Frontier class.

 

[Cyfa]

I'm not surprised you're "a little happy with it" - it's very good, with some fantastic detail! I must admit, I'm not a fan of the original design, mainly because it was too tall, so your shortened upper and lower pylons have made it much more palatable
I love that shot of the lower spindle connecting to the core, and I really like the brushed metal finish.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

So glad I got to see this thread! This version definitely feels superior and more station-y to the novel versions which always looked like an oversized toy. I'm also a big fan of the metal finish, since it's not something we get to see a lot in ST.

 

[Serin117]

The metallic finish is more about me not being great at texturing - but I do want it to look more like a photoreal metal rather than the more standard Trek painted hull plate thing they usually do. Just haven't quite worked out how to get that look yet.

Anyway - some work on Ops.
I recently rewatched the remastered Halo 2 cutscenes and developed a hankering for that UNSC style bridge where its very warren-y and confined, with screens and interfaces filling every square centimetre.
So, I tucked some consoles under a second level and almost got the feel I was after. Just need to learn how to make UI's.
Admittedly at this point I couldn't even guess as to the functions of some of those stations. I had imagined that a lot of the in-galaxy operations they would be run would be out of the upper spindle, but there's just so much room in Ops that might have to rejig that.
Its not as if a station well outside the galaxy would have much need for local flight operations.

 

[Sibyl]

This is very, very cool!

 

[Serin117]

Fiddling with the artificial terrain section a little today. Using Gaea EAP for the terrain and The Grove for the foliage.
That was only two types of fir, adding more types and variation will help with realism.

Oh yeah, and this. Whatever it is. Armour? Venting? Retracting plates over transparasteel viewports? Who knows.

 

[Psion]

Hmmmm ... perhaps it should be the Paramount mountain in that dome?

 

[Serin117]

Hmmmm ... perhaps it should be the Paramount mountain in that dome?

Whilst Gaea is capable of taking terrain maps from the real world and messing with them, I find I prefer original shapes.
This isn't the last iteration - just the third. I'll muck around more until I find something I like.
Maybe a gradient between both domes, a slope down towards one.
Its kinda meant as a re-configurable training area a little more real than a holodeck.

 

[Serin117]

I like this version. I think I got the tree density right. It does however leave a rather large lump of mountain in one of the domes - maybe I could fill it full of warrens for people who prefer to do stuff underground. The Mole people.

 

[Santaman]

Big megalomaniac space station.. what is not to like about that!

 

[Serin117]

Finished up a big portfolio render of the station.
Filled up some new labs, and stuffed two of the cargo bays with stuff.

 

[fireproof78]

Is that where the baseball teams play?

Looks amazing!

 

[Serin117]

Is that where the baseball teams play?

Looks amazing!

In this case its the place where they train, and on occasion perform fun terraforming experiments.

 

[Bernard Guignard]

Great work