Love that bridge! Very sleek.
S.S. Enterprise Google Sketchup
- Thread starter Patrickivan
- Start date
Here's some more bridge work... I hate my chairs. They're tough shapes to replicate...
I like the little console as per the Pato drawing. It really suggests to me that the captain and exec are piloting this ship more like plane or NASA's STS...
And though you can't see it in these images, there's raised surfaces on the console, including that little nav know in the centre. Though all the coloured bits are paint- I used the Tile texture, decreased the tile size, and changed the colours. Got some neat effects.
You can see that there will actually be a couple of crew stations below the main viewer. It's a neat idea. I'm also surprised that i made this work in such a small space as opposed to the Pato drawing that suggested something larger. I could have made it larger, but oh well...
I like the little console as per the Pato drawing. It really suggests to me that the captain and exec are piloting this ship more like plane or NASA's STS...
And though you can't see it in these images, there's raised surfaces on the console, including that little nav know in the centre. Though all the coloured bits are paint- I used the Tile texture, decreased the tile size, and changed the colours. Got some neat effects.
You can see that there will actually be a couple of crew stations below the main viewer. It's a neat idea. I'm also surprised that i made this work in such a small space as opposed to the Pato drawing that suggested something larger. I could have made it larger, but oh well...
Very nice stuff.
Although, I can definitely see Roddenberry seeing something like this in development and saying, "Make it bigger."
Although, I can definitely see Roddenberry seeing something like this in development and saying, "Make it bigger."
I can see that too. It may be a compromise I shouldn't have made... After all, on such a bare bones small ship, the command centre is going to be the heart of the operations (or brain
)... But the pain in the ass I'm having right now is making the damned chairs... TOS or not, making those crazy curves work is really starting bug me... Thing is, I NEED to figure it out. That said, I am NOT keeping the chairs above. They're WAY too large and make the bridge look even smaller... Anyway.
I moved the impulse engine. It was in a neat looking position, but not very practical. There’s no room in there for an impulse set up. So I split it up and placed them on the saucer and the end of the secondary hull. I don't want to place too many on the secondary hull because the mass of the ship would cause it to spin... I don't know anything about the physics of stuff like that. It just doesn't look right. And I don't want to put too many on the saucer, because there just isn't room. Any ideas? Anyone?
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Just personally; I don't see what was wrong with the impulse engines on the dorsal. If you watch "The Cage" and the early episodes of TOS it seems that the Impulse engines (or "rockets") were there as a back-up option, not a main source of propulsion.
I would be tempted to go with that philosophy.
Love the bridge BTW - what does Gene know anyway?!?!
I would be tempted to go with that philosophy.
Love the bridge BTW - what does Gene know anyway?!?!
Hmm...how big do "impulse engines" have to be? (in taking up internal space..)
Is this something that is really "trek-documented", so to speak? (I'm curious, never done any comparative research on that, some TOS cutaways make them huge. Heck, I don't really know what an "impulse" engine is supposed to be...it's nature seems blurry, is it a tiny "warp" engine or something else?). Sorry to digress.
The rear saucer is the expected place, but I really like your red nozzle patterns in both places...like many, older, smaller units perhaps?
Is this something that is really "trek-documented", so to speak? (I'm curious, never done any comparative research on that, some TOS cutaways make them huge. Heck, I don't really know what an "impulse" engine is supposed to be...it's nature seems blurry, is it a tiny "warp" engine or something else?). Sorry to digress.
The rear saucer is the expected place, but I really like your red nozzle patterns in both places...like many, older, smaller units perhaps?
Just personally; I don't see what was wrong with the impulse engines on the dorsal. If you watch "The Cage" and the early episodes of TOS it seems that the Impulse engines (or "rockets") were there as a back-up option, not a main source of propulsion.
I would be tempted to go with that philosophy.
Love the bridge BTW - what does Gene know anyway?!?!
Zaaaa? I don't know what you're talking about here... can
you fnid an image please?
Hmm...how big do "impulse engines" have to be? (in taking up internal space..)
Is this something that is really "trek-documented", so to speak? (I'm curious, never done any comparative research on that, some TOS cutaways make them huge. Heck, I don't really know what an "impulse" engine is supposed to be...it's nature seems blurry, is it a tiny "warp" engine or something else?). Sorry to digress.
The rear saucer is the expected place, but I really like your red nozzle patterns in both places...like many, older, smaller units perhaps?
I was always under the impression that it's a type of super heated gasified propulsion and that the "IMPULSE" was an acronym. Just super efficient...
As for the size of the engines, they must have a lot of guts to them. The size is obviously subjective to interpretation.
I hear ya!
Anyway- I've been adding consoles to the bridge. Here's a little POV shot from the entrance to the bridge. I'm putting the helm and nav stations directly below the main viewer. The command console is a small duplicate of the helm, as well as having the options to display other station readouts as required.
Just personally; I don't see what was wrong with the impulse engines on the dorsal. If you watch "The Cage" and the early episodes of TOS it seems that the Impulse engines (or "rockets") were there as a back-up option, not a main source of propulsion.
I would be tempted to go with that philosophy.
Love the bridge BTW - what does Gene know anyway?!?!
Zaaaa? I don't know what you're talking about here... can
you fnid an image please?
Sorry, perhaps I should have said "listen" instead of "watch" the early episodes, I don't think I can back that up with images! But here's what I was getting at - starting with an extract from the writer's bible. While the show bible should not always be taken literally (since what gets shown on screen is often contradictary) it does give a starting point on how to interpret the on-screen events.
The notion that Impulse Power is akin to rocket power is born out in The Cage; the ship is trying to leave orbit using the "hyperdrive" when the power goes dead
The very next episode (WNMHGB) suggests just what sort of "rockets" they might be:
What decays to lead? Why, uranium of course, the type in nuclear engines!
In The Naked Time, it is warp engines (not impulse) that are suggested as a means of escaping the orbit of the contracting planet. The implication could be that the impulse engines aren't strong enough for the job; indeed, they are never even mentioned as an alternative once Lt Riley switches the (warp) engines off.
I think that's about it for examples of impulse engines made out of atomic rockets. The concept soon evolved into fusion engines or even more advanced technology, possibly utlising some kind of FTL impulse power. The Enterprise-D employed sub-space driver coils as well. Atomic powered thrust survived in the form of RCS thrusters, making their first appearance in The Motion Picture refit.
But stepping back to those early days of Trek; if you take the warp engines to be main source of propulsion for both FTL and sublight (this seems to be case in several later episodes) then rockets as an emergency propulsion alternative seem perfectly acceptable. They also don't need to take up much room to be believable!
^
Oh dude- I thought you were talking about some engines along the connecting dorsal between the saucer and secondary hull! I couldn't believe that I had missed something like that! Sorry man- I completely misuderstood what you were talking about... No biggy...
But ya, rocket engine, ion engine, Impulse, whatever. I suppose the basics are the same. Fuel is heated and forced out a hole. That has a reaction and pushes the ship in the opposite direction.
I pretty much just assumed the impulse engines where solely for sublight, and the warp engines for FTL alone...
But we'll leave that for later if I decide to move the impulse engines... For now, I've updated the bridge and finally completed the chairs! I'm okay with these... The command chairs are a variation of the other bridge chairs. A little more padding and a couple of controls. The red/ yellow alert and stand-down buttons, and the comm. Of course the images are larger on wordpress.
Oh dude- I thought you were talking about some engines along the connecting dorsal between the saucer and secondary hull! I couldn't believe that I had missed something like that! Sorry man- I completely misuderstood what you were talking about... No biggy...
But ya, rocket engine, ion engine, Impulse, whatever. I suppose the basics are the same. Fuel is heated and forced out a hole. That has a reaction and pushes the ship in the opposite direction.
I pretty much just assumed the impulse engines where solely for sublight, and the warp engines for FTL alone...
But we'll leave that for later if I decide to move the impulse engines... For now, I've updated the bridge and finally completed the chairs! I'm okay with these... The command chairs are a variation of the other bridge chairs. A little more padding and a couple of controls. The red/ yellow alert and stand-down buttons, and the comm. Of course the images are larger on wordpress.
Is that wooden panelling on the chairs? I like that, it is reminiscent of some of the furnishings in the pilots episodes. The direction you're going in with these designs is great, keep it up!
This makes me think that the impulse engines may have been envisioned as a sort of helios or nuclear style rocket system - a series of atomic explosions used to propel the craft forwards.
I was a bit hasty when I said this - impulse engines are mentioned as an escape option:
So from that exchange, it seems they weren't using impulse engines to stablise their orbit. RCS systems are never mentioned in TOS. Were they using the main (warp) engines? Impulse engines are presented (as in The Cage) as a backup "blast us out" sort of alternative.
This makes me think that the impulse engines may have been envisioned as a sort of helios or nuclear style rocket system - a series of atomic explosions used to propel the craft forwards.
Just a wee update. I've added a shuttle/supply access door and a few windows. Note the window on the saucer with the "Shutter" on it.
The windows are 1.3 metres across, and .5 metres high. The shuttle deck door is 5 metres high. The secondary hull is 9 metres across.
The windows are 1.3 metres across, and .5 metres high. The shuttle deck door is 5 metres high. The secondary hull is 9 metres across.
Wow- I have not done anything with this ship in 3 months! I missed it, so I've started again.
Here are a couple of images. The first is a sectioned image showing the command deck and it's new corridors. The main corridor is loaded with conduits above and below it. I've also placed a grated floor for quick access (okay- because it looked neat)... I've also inserted the bridge. It could have gone into the bulb, but I decided to sink it to the main deck because it made more sense.
The second one is just an xray for fun.
As you can see from just the few crew members, that despite the small size compared to the Enterprise (TOS), it's still fairly roomy. The saucer section has so much floor space... I'll fill it in with people as the rooms fill in. I didn't mean to do an interior, and that makes it a little difficult, but oh well...
Any thoughts about where this is going? I'm personally pleased to see this very old Enterprise concept design fleshed out.
Here are a couple of images. The first is a sectioned image showing the command deck and it's new corridors. The main corridor is loaded with conduits above and below it. I've also placed a grated floor for quick access (okay- because it looked neat)... I've also inserted the bridge. It could have gone into the bulb, but I decided to sink it to the main deck because it made more sense.
The second one is just an xray for fun.
As you can see from just the few crew members, that despite the small size compared to the Enterprise (TOS), it's still fairly roomy. The saucer section has so much floor space... I'll fill it in with people as the rooms fill in. I didn't mean to do an interior, and that makes it a little difficult, but oh well...
Any thoughts about where this is going? I'm personally pleased to see this very old Enterprise concept design fleshed out.
This has probably been covered in these forums before, but I gotta ask how this Trek design aspect is generally explained... If impulse engines only provide rocket thrust, but aren't aligned with the ship's center-of-mass (aka CG), how does the ship go in a straight line?
In other words, think of pushing an object on ice- if the pushing force is left or right of the CG, the object will spin. Rockets work the same way, in 3-D. The TOS/TMP Enterprise's CG can't be along that impulse engine's line of thrust, unless the lower hull weighs next to nothing compared to the saucer and/or nacelles. If the nacelles have so much more mass, then other designs such as Reliant don't work. And if it's the saucer...how could the 1701D use the dorsal impulse engine only, both with the saucer attached and without?
I like the description in Diane Carey's novel Final Frontier (1701's 1st mission w/Capt. April; no relation to the Shatner disaster). There, it's called an Internally Metered Pulse drive, using pulsed fusion reactions collapsed into gravity waves, directed to propel the ship... basically GR's warp drive without "dimensional and time distortion". See http://everything2.com/title/impulse+drive
Anyway, sorry for the detour... The ship is looking great, and would be a real treat to walk-thru. In keeping with the pre-TOS approach, the impulse system may be a bit bulky, so perhaps the aft of the lower hull is a logical spot.
That quote was from the writer's bible, so it was probably phrased in such a way as to make sense to 1960s script writers. You're right about COL thrust of course, but I doubt it was much of a consideration; impulse was simply meant to be a low-tech alternative form of propoulsion, for use in emergencies only (they use warp drive for everything else, even leaving orbit in the early episodes!)
I don’t know why I do stuff like this. I’ve decided to make the guts to the warp nacelles. Each nacelle contains the power source for it’s respective warp drive system. It also shunts power to the rest of the ship. While the actual engines are in each nacelle, it is not a manned area due to the nature of the energy involved. Typically, personnel will only go up there for occassional repairs, otherwise, no one is in there.
I wanted to include some familiar elements from TOS, such as the dilithium housing. Here, I’ve enlarged the reactor significantly. I’ve also decided to make the main power transfer conduit all blue-glowey, a la TMP’s system. Though none of that blue is shown on the exterior of the ship.
The stick things near the back will have rings around them.
I wanted to include some familiar elements from TOS, such as the dilithium housing. Here, I’ve enlarged the reactor significantly. I’ve also decided to make the main power transfer conduit all blue-glowey, a la TMP’s system. Though none of that blue is shown on the exterior of the ship.
The stick things near the back will have rings around them.
very nice warp nacelle guts there
Thank you!
Russian physicist and scientist? I quickly looked them up. Why these two specifically?
I can't even recall if I already had a class name for the ship... I have to go look up my blog. Silly, eh?
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