TAS made real....

[BorgMan]

I'm was curious why when I clicked on your images to enlarge them it goes out to Imgur, and I see you appear to be embedding using the URL tags instead of using the IMAGE tags. Is this intentional? Because if I out the same URL and use the IMAGE button it results in the pic being clickable and enlargeable w/o opening another page.

I usually do this because I like my images to open in a new window, instead of presenting it in-thread and messing up the layout. This image is small enough for it not to mess up a lot, but with larger images it can be a bit of a pain. But that's my reasoning.

 

[Warped9]

I’m working out some details. It would be interesting to see a physical model of this put in the water and see how it would behave, particularly one powered and built to submerge.

 

[Redfern]

I’m working out some details. It would be interesting to see a physical model of this put in the water and see how it would behave, particularly one powered and built to submerge.

Rather than detail your thread, here's merely a link to the "lounge" that relates to your speculation.

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/the-official-fan-art-lounge.304648/page-4#post-13558685

 

[Warped9]

Slowly adding detail and a few tweaks from what I posted earlier. Still figuring out what I might add before finalizing with hull markings and final colours.

 

[Maurice]

Nice. I had the thought that any other windows ought to be circular portholes because that looks says "boat". Also, think about how this thing would be used. Do you need a top or bottom hatch?

 

[Warped9]

^^ Inspired by your sketch I did add an escape hatch on top. It’s a subtle detail that is barely visible. My original hatch was flush with the upper hull and the seam was a very narrow recess outlining the hatch—I knew it was there, but it was practically invisible in the pics I rendered. So I opted for a hatch cover that is slightly raised above the upper hull making it somewhat more visible from a distance. I took the same approach with the aft access hatchway which is intended to swing open rather than dilate. The rear hatch is in two parts: the upper section swinging upward while the lower half swings down with fold-out steps. I suppose the upper part of the rear hatchway could open alone when the craft is floating on the surface to allow for taking samples or deploying equipment.

Recessed in the “nacelle” cowlings are hydrojet nozzles that are meant to pivot in order to steer the vehicle, given there is no obvious rudder unless one assumes the rudder (or rudders) is retracted while in flight. I have yet to detail the water intakes (closed while in flight like the ballast intakes) for the hydrojets and set toward the midway point of the nacelles’ length.

I considered adding a shallow dome or bubble to the craft’s roof, but decided against it. Interestingly Alan Dean Foster (in his adaptation) described the aquashuttle as an ovoid shaped craft with a clear bubble on top for the pilot—that doesn’t sound anything like the onscreen version. Actually it’s almost as if he were describing the Proteus submersible from the film Fantastic Voyage. If I were designing an aquashuttle from scratch that would be a fair starting point in terms of inspiration.

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[Atolm]

Looking oh So Good bro!!!!

 

[aridas sofia]

Warped, because I know where you are coming from with regard to TOS versus later Trek, I’ll point out that hydrojet nozzles may be akin to the RCS thrusters on the TMP Enterprise. But in TOS, there don’t appear to be any such Newtonian fine positioning systems alongside the gravity-manipulating warp drive. If a large ship or small craft has warp drive, is it reasonable to assume that warp drive at a small fraction of its power is what steers it in normal space?

And water is just normal space with a very dense atmosphere.

 

[Warped9]

Nice. I had the thought that any other windows ought to be circular portholes because that looks says "boat". Also, think about how this thing would be used. Do you need a top or bottom hatch?

Got it. Yep, I’m gonna round off that aft hatchway viewport more.

I don’t really see the need for a hatch on the underside of the craft. Presumably the aquashuttle allows them to go deeper than any free swimming scuba diver could. And as I alluded to upthread the upper half of the aft hatchway can open independently and allow any divers off from there if necessary.

TOS never showed us much of robotic craft used by Starfleet and the Federation. But advanced computers and AI would allow for a wide variety of automated craft. As such remote or automated submersibles should be available to Starfleet personnel if needed when exploring certain worlds.

The aquashuttle negates the necessity of ferrying a submersible to a location then hauling it down to a planetary surface. In this case you just ferry the “submarine” to the planet wherein it can be flown to the surface on its own—two vehicles (spacecraft and submarine) rolled into one. This allows for onsite surveys when sensor scans from orbit are limited.

 

[publiusr]

Blue on top, dappled off-white underneath?

 

[Warped9]

Almost done I think. I am contemplating what else I could add to this. Colours are something I'm not wholly decided on yet. Overall I think this is pretty faithful to the onscreen version in terms of concept while massaging some of the elements to make it look somewhat more thought out. I am reasonably sure, though, that if MJ had had to come up with an aquashuttle he likely would have come up with something different. On that point I find myself challenged to envision something original here while the idea of a different design for the Bonaventure wasn't that difficult.

 

[BK613]

@Warped9 Other than some form of landing skids* (I'm sure they store it dry) it looks complete.

*(If there some there they are not noticeable to me)

 

[Warped9]

There are slim landing pads running nearly the whole length of the nacelles.

 

[Warped9]

 

[Warped9]

The one thing that really jumps out at me about this design, and the two other TAS shuttlecraft designs, is that I don’t see MJ using the large panoramic viewport design. I think he would more likely have used the segmented viewport design element as seen on the familiar Class F shuttlecraft design as well his initial concept for the TOS shuttlecraft.

With that said the panoramic viewport works for the aquashuttle given having a wide field of view of your surroundings, particularly while submerged, has great appeal rather than being enclosed within a shell with limited outward visibility like many of today’s submersibles. A similar case could be made for the heavy lander which is meant to foray into unusual and particularly harsh environments.

The Class F shuttlecraft doesn’t really need much outward visibility. It’s a smallish interstellar spacecraft meant to travel extended distances from the mother starship or starbase, and there really isn’t much to see in interstellar space.

 

[Santaman]

Really nice work on that one, it is a real nice space boat.

 

[Warped9]

Next up: the Copernicus shuttlecraft from "Slaver Weapon."

I will be repeating myself, but none of the TAS shuttlecraft as shown could ever be standard complement aboard a starship given being so oversized. So at best they could be specialized craft loaned out to starships for specific missions. In the Copernicus' case it could be serving as a runabout type vehicle while the Enterprise has been dispatched elsewhere. So the Copernicus as shown simply could not have been one of the Enterprise's standard shuttlecraft compliment. Or the story could be told with either a standard Class F shuttlecraft or a new small variant not previously seen in TOS. If "Slaver Weapon" had actually been filmed during TOS then it's most likely they have simply reused the familiar Class F design as it would have been the most cost effective.

But in this thread we are conjecturing best case scenarios and allowing for the construction of a new filming miniature for the story so we will try to realize a more realistic three dimensional version of the TAS high-speed scoutship.



Like many TAS designs there are conflicting and inconsistent lines to this. So my goal is to reconcile the overall look as best as possible.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Outstanding! One of my favorite designs from TAS. Looking forward to this one in particular. It appears as if a little more thought was put into its geometry matching up orthogonally, as opposed to some of the other more nebulous designs.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Next up: the Copernicus shuttlecraft from "Slaver Weapon."

I will be repeating myself, but none of the TAS shuttlecraft as shown could ever be standard complement aboard a starship given being so oversized. So at best they could be specialized craft loaned out to starships for specific missions. In the Copernicus' case it could be serving as a runabout type vehicle while the Enterprise has been dispatched elsewhere. So the Copernicus as shown simply could not have been one of the Enterprise's standard shuttlecraft compliment. Or the story could be told with either a standard Class F shuttlecraft or a new small variant not previously seen in TOS. If "Slaver Weapon" had actually been filmed during TOS then it's most likely they have simply reused the familiar Class F design as it would have been the most cost effective.

But in this thread we are conjecturing best case scenarios and allowing for the construction of a new filming miniature for the story so we will try to realize a more realistic three dimensional version of the TAS high-speed scoutship.



Like many TAS designs there are conflicting and inconsistent lines to this. So my goal is to reconcile the overall look as best as possible.

Warped9, is it possible you could smooth the sharp paper airplane edges of that design? I know shuttlecrafts were sharped edge but I was wondering what a new shuttlecraft would look like if the design reflected to appearance of a Starship Class vessel?

 

[Warped9]

I have done interpretations of this design two or three times before over the years. My first effort tried to make the vehicle much more compact. But to retain something of the general look of the onscreen versions you simply cannot make them as compact as the Class F shuttlecraft. I have tried, repeatedly.

Best to try to make them just small enough to be temporarily berthed in the ship’s hangar while retaining the look of the onscreen versions and accept they’re not part of the standard shuttlecraft complement.

I have also made my own original compact shuttlecraft designs that could fit as part of the standard shuttlecraft complement, but they look nothing like the TAS designs.