Ray's TAS shuttlecraft...
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
In some respects this might be the most departure from the original onscreen design primarily because I jettisoned the nacelles. The way I reason this craft being used those nacelles just don't make sense to me (though your mileage might vary). This is strictly a ship-to-surface and back vehicle meant for onsite survey of aquatic environments. It has only two drive systems: an antigrav system for flight and a hydro-drive for on-surface and below surface propulsion. While it can get into space it isn't meant to go very far such as traversing solar systems. Certainly with no stardrive it can't travel between star systems.
Like the heavy lander this craft is meant loaned out to starships for specific missions.
Believe it or not I was actually pretty far along with this until I looked at it and found myself...dissatisfied. So I trashed the whole thing and decided to start again from scratch with small alterations to my design as I had drawn it. I'm getting near to where I was before I trashed it and should have something decent to show soon.
Here's where things stand. I'm nearly at the same point I was before I started over again. The changes I made are subtle but noticeable overall. I wanted to soften some of the hard edges of this design, namely the roof and underbody edges which I think look better rounded off. They were rounded off before, but I thought they would look better by doubling the radius of those edges. I'm still not crazy about this design as an aquatic vehicle, but at least I can make what I felt were small concessions to something that looks even a bit more credible.
Eventually I'll get to the interior where I'm thing of doing something similar to what I did with the lander. I think I'll certainly use that chair design again.
On a side note I must admit there are a few other TAS designs I might tack a crack at sometime to try to adapt them into something we might have seen on TOS. We have to remember that if building a miniature from scratch the TOS guys could do some pretty elaborate things: the Enterprise, the Klingon battle cruiser, the Romulan warbird, Kara's ship (from "Spock's Brain") and the Galileo (especially the full-size mockup which was a lot more elaborate in detail than some might think). The TOS crew weren't lacking in imagination, but rather in time and money.
Eventually I'll get to the interior where I'm thing of doing something similar to what I did with the lander. I think I'll certainly use that chair design again.
On a side note I must admit there are a few other TAS designs I might tack a crack at sometime to try to adapt them into something we might have seen on TOS. We have to remember that if building a miniature from scratch the TOS guys could do some pretty elaborate things: the Enterprise, the Klingon battle cruiser, the Romulan warbird, Kara's ship (from "Spock's Brain") and the Galileo (especially the full-size mockup which was a lot more elaborate in detail than some might think). The TOS crew weren't lacking in imagination, but rather in time and money.
Here's a glimpse of how I did my photomanip. I put the model in a simple scene approximating the ground colour and sky. I did this to get the right kind of colour reflections on the hull. Then it was relatively easy to get the model to blend into the more natural looking background when put into the landscape. I also tried to approximate the same direction of shadows.
I need to add the registry and then the exterior is pretty well done. Then onto some interior work.
While I'm reasonably happy with how this is coming out I'm thinking it needs a bit more detail. I've got an idea for some extra little greeble detailing. I'm also rethinking the huge lighting (sub-surface illumination) panels on the bow. Right now it looks just too plain and oversized so I want to play with that a bit more.
While I'm reasonably happy with how this is coming out I'm thinking it needs a bit more detail. I've got an idea for some extra little greeble detailing. I'm also rethinking the huge lighting (sub-surface illumination) panels on the bow. Right now it looks just too plain and oversized so I want to play with that a bit more.
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While working out the interior arrangement I've been giving more thought to how this can work out.
Keeping in mind that this vehicle has to withstand the pressures of subsurface depths it's even more important I think to have a double hull. Also I'm envisioning three compartments. The rearmost compartment is really just a double access hatch arrangement in the unfortunate instance of the outside hatch malfunctioning or being damaged whether in space or submerged. Mind you with the outer hatch compromised it wouldn't be advisable to rely on the inner hatch at any serious depths.
The middle compartment (actually the useable aft compartment) is a staging/holding area for equipment. When on the surface the upper part of the outer access hatch can be opened to allow for performing or deploying experiments....or maybe even sneaking in a bit of fishing? (-:
A third access hatch separates the staging compartment for the forward control compartment. This is where the flight crew and personnel are positioned during flight or subsurface maneuvering. There is room for a crew of four.
Just under the forward lighting panel at the bow is a small panel with a retractable phaser. This phaser can be used for a variety of purposes including stunning (for deterrence) of threat life forms that could be encountered. Under the hull there is an off-centre panel from which a variety of probes can be launched either in-flight or submerged. Some such subsurface probes could be used to probe into further depths that might lay beyond the aquashuttle's capability or to extend the range of the craft's surveying.
Keeping in mind that this vehicle has to withstand the pressures of subsurface depths it's even more important I think to have a double hull. Also I'm envisioning three compartments. The rearmost compartment is really just a double access hatch arrangement in the unfortunate instance of the outside hatch malfunctioning or being damaged whether in space or submerged. Mind you with the outer hatch compromised it wouldn't be advisable to rely on the inner hatch at any serious depths.
The middle compartment (actually the useable aft compartment) is a staging/holding area for equipment. When on the surface the upper part of the outer access hatch can be opened to allow for performing or deploying experiments....or maybe even sneaking in a bit of fishing? (-:
A third access hatch separates the staging compartment for the forward control compartment. This is where the flight crew and personnel are positioned during flight or subsurface maneuvering. There is room for a crew of four.
Just under the forward lighting panel at the bow is a small panel with a retractable phaser. This phaser can be used for a variety of purposes including stunning (for deterrence) of threat life forms that could be encountered. Under the hull there is an off-centre panel from which a variety of probes can be launched either in-flight or submerged. Some such subsurface probes could be used to probe into further depths that might lay beyond the aquashuttle's capability or to extend the range of the craft's surveying.
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I need to add the registry and then the exterior is pretty well done. Then onto some interior work.
While I'm reasonably happy with how this is coming out I'm thinking it needs a bit more detail. I've got an idea for some extra little greeble detailing. I'm also rethinking the huge lighting (sub-surface illumination) panels on the bow. Right now it looks just too plain and oversized so I want to play with that a bit more.
I had an idea for this aft view - that little rounded rectangle that's raised on the wings, you could have it glow blue where it connects to the hull in a thin stripe all around. It could represent the glow of the engine-reactors.
This is supposed to be a TOS type vehicle...and I never cared for that blue glowing engines that contemporary Trek did.
If TAS had never introduced the aquashuttle I'd agree with you. But TAS did introduce it so now I'm just trying to reconcile it in a more credible form (as I see it anyway). This version doesn't have warp drive and I jettisoned the nacelles because I don't feel they fit for a vehicle supposedly made for underwater operation. My version is a strictly orbit-to-surface (and return) craft. It doesn't even have impulse but is propelled (for atmospheric and limited spaceflight) by an antigrav system....Would an immobile base really care for a versatile vehicle that can do spaceflight, atmospheric flight and surface and subsurface travel in water? Rather than accept the compromises, the base would probably want a thoroughbred submarine...
Timo Saloniemi
I've scaled it down from what was seen on TAS but nonetheless it still remains a sizeable craft and one which I think unlikely to be kept berthed as part of a starship's regular shuttlecraft complement. So my thought was it could be a specialized vehicle loaned out temporarily to a starship for specific missions (same with the lander version I did previously).
In a more credible scenario such a craft might not even belong to Starfleet, but rather it could be owned and operated by a separate science and research agency within the Federation and essentially given a ride to its destination by a Starfleet vessel, assuming the destination lies outside a given range normally reachable by non Starfleet ships.
In the past and even today naval forces have worked with civilian agencies. Governments aren't the only ones who conduct scientific research and onsite study.
Totally excellent!
Are you going to show this model as orthos of it? It would be great to see it that way and are you going to do the same with other 3D rendered models? Once again, excellent work! 
