Star Ship Polaris

[Vektor]

Honestly guys, we don't need color changing lights on this thing. I think it's gonna be blue or orange or nothing at all. It should NOT wind up looking like a neon bar sign.

 

[B.J.]

^Personally, I'm not talking about the Polaris specifically here, but radiators in general.

They wouldn't glow very bright, just a dull red, which would probably be washed out by a weak flashlight. http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/basicdesign.php#dullred

I was talking about getting rid of heat from a stardrive. Could be any amount. But the idea was that it would be red in idle and blue-white when activated.

Here's the text:

What color will the radiators glow? A practical one will only glow dull red. You can use the Blackbody Spectrum Viewer to see what temperature corresponds to what color. If it was glowing white hot, the temperature would be around 6000 Kelvin. This would be difficult for a solid radiator, since even diamond melts at 4300 degrees K.

In other words, it won't glow blue-white because by then the whole thing will have melted!

 

[Vektor]

I keep finding stuff I always planned to do but forgot about until now. Here, at long last, are the docking latches that hold the lander modules in place:

I also optimized out another few thousand polygons to (mostly) make up for the stuff I added and got the last couple dozen objects properly renamed. I just have two more sets of greebles to add and a couple of light sources for illuminating the name and registry. Those are the final three items on my completion list. Hopefully they'll all be done by tomorrow night.

 

[Maurice]

How do you get into the lander? I don't see a hatch. Oops. I just made more work for you.

 

[Vektor]

The bay interiors you see here are incomplete and will probably be deleted entirely from the final update I deliver to Dennis. They're not visible for 99% of the movie so no point in including them as a permanent part of the model. When I manage to get around to it, I'll do more detailed versions of both the lander module and the bay interior that can be copied in just for those scenes that require them.

 

[Maurice]

^^^Was just teasing. Actually, a while back I was doodling and trying to figure out what the lander interior layout might be like, and how you'd get in and out while docked vs. when it's on the ground.

 

[aridas sofia]

FWIW my original plan for the lander capsule was to have a null gravity tube run along its central axis. When docked, the two landers' tubes would latch on to the main null gravity tube running along the axis of the ship, and entering the landers would be as simple as leaving the tube to enter any of the decks.

 

[Vektor]

I have a plan for the lander modules. Will be easier to show it than describe it. Might be able to post a sketch in the next couple days.

 

[aridas sofia]

Yes, like I said, "for what it was worth" i.e. here is the idea that was behind the capsule if you haven't thought of something of your own to do with the design.

 

[Vektor]

Your description is essentially the same as what I originally had in mind, though I was under the impression the central axis of the fuselage was occupied by a power conduit connecting the two drive spheres.

I now have a slightly different design in mind where access to the lander module is through a side hatch rather than through the nose cone. Putting a hatch in the nose cone was just too mechanically complicated without doing something clunky.

More will become clear when I post the sketch.

 

[aridas sofia]

...though I was under the impression the central axis of the fuselage was occupied by a power conduit connecting the two drive spheres.

Again, FWIW- Along the exact axis, yes. That is where the two hypergravity spheres were meant to be linked back to a power source dead center that had a similar linkage to port and starboard to the antigravity stuff going on in the saucer. But flanking the power chase (off axis the saucer plane) was the null gravity tube- the combined assembly of power chase and tube being the ship's "mast" fore to aft and its "yard" port to starboard.

 

[Psion]

...though I was under the impression the central axis of the fuselage was occupied by a power conduit connecting the two drive spheres.

Again, FWIW- Along the exact axis, yes. That is where the two hypergravity spheres were meant to be linked back to a power source dead center that had a similar linkage to port and starboard to the antigravity stuff going on in the saucer. But flanking the power chase (off axis the saucer plane) was the null gravity tube- the combined assembly of power chase and tube being the ship's "mast" fore to aft and its "yard" port to starboard.

Ooo! This is a neat bit of insight into why the capsules are located there, even if it doesn't become part of the official Polaris canon. That message needs to be included in the Making of Polaris book.

 

[StarCruiser]

I have only one thing to say about those latest screenies...

DRRROOOOOLLLL......

 

[Maurice]

I personally don't care about the technobabble.. I'm just interested in how we portray it on screen, as we have to storyboard some shots around that.

 

[aridas sofia]

Different designers design in different ways. Some work with how something looks and build from there. Some figure out how a thing works and tailor the look to that. I can guarantee that if you are designing a car or a ship you will figure out how it works before the decoration gets laid on. Many conceptual designers come from that industrial design background and follow the same creative process.

 

[Maurice]

Just to be clear, I'm not critiquing the process, but the design rationales do not affect my end of the process: which is to get the shots into the production pipeline.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

In other words, it won't glow blue-white because by then the whole thing will have melted!

Good point!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I personally don't care about the technobabble.. I'm just interested in how we portray it on screen, as we have to storyboard some shots around that.

As far as docking with Polaris is concerned, we won't show folks entering or exiting. On the ground, unless Vektor has another specific in mind I've assumed it's something like the C57-D.

 

[Vektor]

Had no time to work on Polaris or anything else last night and probably won't tonight either. Here's the short description on the lander module:

The access hatch is on the back side of the lander. It pops inward and rotates upward, similar to the way an aircraft boarding hatch works. On the ground, a ramp below the hatch also drops down to ground level. The outline of the ramp is visible in the more recent renderings.

I thought about the C57-D landing strut ladder approach, but I just didn't think the lander or the struts were big enough to be practical.

I'll get some sketches online as soon as I finish off the last couple of greebles on Polaris, maybe tomorrow night.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Thanks!