I did start this thread about the Romulan runabout/gunship so I added all those to Variant 2 of the Romulan ship. I did use the flatter turrets for both bottom and top however.
Thank you! I think the some of the Star Wars ships do better in having what look like guns/cannons on many ships is better than "phaser strips". Just the look of a heavily gunned ship is more effective visually.
Sure, that makes it easy to understand for the viewing audience. Phaser Strips (on the other hand) try to convey a higher technology. Harder to understand for the casual viewer, but interesting for those who want to see one possible direction for where things (technology) may go.
Than the Romulan or other White Falcon versions? It is pretty handsome. Among the main differences are that the cutter is 5 meters longer and 0.3 meters smaller in height which I think combine to give a slimmer, sleeker look. Also there is an added structure where the pylons holding the nacelles connect to the main body that I do like the look of.
They both have their virtues. One concept that might interest you might be a layered saucer base. Imagine the outermost saucer having a geometric shape with many facets…the next deck up…is a layer with fewer facets and so on—terminating with a triangular bridge up top. Each deck beveled/sloping down On every other layer..inset into the flank of a facet…is one of your turret assemblies…maybe flatter….two side-by-side like phaser banks. That could be knocked out as a base for your ships.
I have made a number of models that begin as basic geometric shapes. I have made several flying saucers, tetradecahedrons (14 sided), and a couple that were intended to be toroidal or otherwise open. One in particular was intended to be a Stargate. The White Falcon ship lives in a sci fi universe I created where stargates exist for long range interstellar travel. I didn't do much with it because I decided that it looked too much like a tambourine.
Replaced the topside single 8"/203mm gun turrets with two enlarged flat turets with twin 130mm/5.1" guns. I am a fan of symmetry and the mismatch with the underside turrets didn't work for me. Those two turrets on the bottom were also enlarged from 90mm to 130mm guns.
Added a Warp ring to the Orion type. At over 128 meters it also notably outsizes the Space Guard cutter/gunship. I have seen a 300 meter Soviet Orion "Battleship". So I may upscale the present one to proper space dreadnought dimensions.
I imported my other project, the Spacematic Redux, so it can meet the Space Guard cutter. Although the cutter is set outside the Trek universe, we will say that this is Cyrano Jones piloting the Spacematic, and he is the sort that might get stopped and boarded by a Space Guard cutter.