Only critique -- probably coming from the Trekkie in me -- is it seems the leading edge of the engines need something to "enhance" the "shoulders." If not Madonna-esque bullet bra contraptions, maybe a little grill work or a half glowey globe or something.
Dennis prefers the rounded-off, backswept version and so do I. With the slot or vent on the leading edge of engine housing, it ties in well with the way the grooved edges of the saucer curve back into the tail fins, especially with the sails folded. I may make some adjustments to the panel lines and other small details but I think the overall shape of the engines is just about finalized.
How do those sails work? I don't see the small "forward" sails doing much at all except looking cool (nothing wrong with that, though).
Well, first of all, the term “sails” may be a bit of a misnomer. They are not actually sails in the sense of solar sails or anything else that catches some kind of “wind” and propels the ship forward. I called them sails because that’s what they were inspired by.
Dennis and I are still working out the operational details but the general idea is that the sails are a component of the ship’s FTL stardrive, which is based on the concept of wormhole travel through hyperspace. The sails generate a negative energy field that forces the wormhole open wide enough for the ship to pass through. I should mention that this is an adaptation of the original concept by
Aridas Sofia for what he called an “erebon inductor.” I’ve simply moved it out of the ship’s mid-section and into the sails. In accordance with certain script requirements, the sails may also have something to do with steering the ship through hyperspace.
As for the smaller forward sails, I added those mainly so the blue glow would show through from front viewing angles as well as from the back. Basically, they are there to look cool. I’m sure there are a multitude of ways to rationalize their function.
Is the deck orientation still perpendicular to the direction of travel? (i.e. up = forward)
Yes, and my thinking is that there is a particular technological reason for why they are oriented that way. I’m assuming the ship has a form of inertial control, probably generated by the ring at the aft end, which is integral to its sublight propulsion system and also provides a constant 1 gee of artificial gravity. This works even when the ship is coasting or in orbit, but only along the axis of the generator ring, hence the deck orientation.
We need something of a scale reference. I'm still getting too much of a Spock's jellyfish ship vibe.
I will be adding some windows to the main fuselage, which should help convey a visual sense of scale. As
Dennis pointed out, this is a decent sized ship, about 350 feet long fore to aft, though I don’t think that dimension includes the sails in their closed configuration.
I think I like this more than the last version. I'm not sure about that spherical bulge amidships (it looks a little cumbersome or bulgey) and I don't like the return of that broken aft ring. But generally I think the sails you've added restore some of the hot, "swept back" look I liked in some earlier versions.
The central sphere may be a little larger than I intended in these sketches, but there is an additional reason for its size that I haven’t revealed yet, not even to
Dennis. Look for that in another concept sketch in the near future.
Ironically, the aft ring is something I had previously advised you and
Dennis to get rid of in some of our email correspondence because I didn’t think it integrated well with the other shapes. In this case, however, I think it does work because of the addition of the… well, “cowling,” for lack of a better term, around the saucer’s outer edge. I think it allows those shapes to fit together in a way they just didn’t before. Having said that, I have thought about shortening the arcs a little so they form less of an obvious ring.
I'm more concerned about the sails myself. The look and idea is great, but I'd be interested in having them unfold "horizontally" as well as vertically, if that makes any sense.
I think I know what you mean and I was just discussing something similar with a friend and fellow artist I work with. I thought about splitting each sail down the middle and having them hinge out to the sides as well as rotate forward so they would form an X shape when viewed from directly ahead or behind. I haven’t taken that idea totally off the table yet but I’m afraid it would overcomplicate the design visually and I’m already pushing the boundaries of simplicity I originally sought to maintain.
