It's been an axiom of starship design, since at least TNG, that Federation ships shape their war fields with their hulls. It's always bugged me a bit that shuttles don't seem to do that. It's obvious why that is; building a practical mock up for shooting would be a pain. Andrew Probert’s original TNG shuttle ideas bear that out.
Of course, I work in computers, so I don't have that issue.
So I started thinking about this challenge with that in mind. As with the methods of the real production crews I wanted the design to echo the Ship I was designing for. So I spent a lot of time thinking about which ship to work with. In the end, all of the Enterprises but C, E and J have a wealth of shuttles (NX_01 doesn't but at its size it doesn't need any) and I didn't feel any jazz for doing a work bee (especially with Any Probert's Sphinx out there. Somehow, that thing feels like a closing argument. "This is a work bee. 'Nuff said).
While the E has potential, the Type 11 and the Argo pretty much define the aesthetic for that ship. I wanted to do something different.
So I settled on the F. Then I sat back to think about what elements to 'echo.' I dumped the ring right away. I have an idea or two but most of them just don't feel right for shuttle craft. They seem like larger ships.
Thinking about warp field shaping and echoes led to an epiphany of sorts. The element least echoed in all shuttle designs...
The saucer.
That led me to choose Adam's F over Cryptics. Using a wedge saucer as a start point would only call to mind the Type 9 "speedboat" shuttle. Given what I had in mind a perfectly circular design might have been a problem, but I wanted it to be the least wedge like I could do and still get useable space inside.
Of course I wanted it to look good, and it does... to me. Whether it does beyond that sample is not for me to judge.
It's still in progress, and the final image will probably be radically different. I haven't settled on what I want to do. My first idea feels too similar to the SOTL 1701-E shuttle bay image. But I'll think of something, I'm sure.
Of course, I work in computers, so I don't have that issue.
So I started thinking about this challenge with that in mind. As with the methods of the real production crews I wanted the design to echo the Ship I was designing for. So I spent a lot of time thinking about which ship to work with. In the end, all of the Enterprises but C, E and J have a wealth of shuttles (NX_01 doesn't but at its size it doesn't need any) and I didn't feel any jazz for doing a work bee (especially with Any Probert's Sphinx out there. Somehow, that thing feels like a closing argument. "This is a work bee. 'Nuff said).
While the E has potential, the Type 11 and the Argo pretty much define the aesthetic for that ship. I wanted to do something different.
So I settled on the F. Then I sat back to think about what elements to 'echo.' I dumped the ring right away. I have an idea or two but most of them just don't feel right for shuttle craft. They seem like larger ships.
Thinking about warp field shaping and echoes led to an epiphany of sorts. The element least echoed in all shuttle designs...
The saucer.
That led me to choose Adam's F over Cryptics. Using a wedge saucer as a start point would only call to mind the Type 9 "speedboat" shuttle. Given what I had in mind a perfectly circular design might have been a problem, but I wanted it to be the least wedge like I could do and still get useable space inside.
Of course I wanted it to look good, and it does... to me. Whether it does beyond that sample is not for me to judge.
It's still in progress, and the final image will probably be radically different. I haven't settled on what I want to do. My first idea feels too similar to the SOTL 1701-E shuttle bay image. But I'll think of something, I'm sure.
