The Art of Voyager

[Praetor]

Per discussion in GodBen's thread here, I thought there might be interest in this topic in our forum, so I would take a pass at doing a sort of photo essay in tribute to VGR. While the merits and demerits of the series can be and are readily debated in our beloved forum, the production quality, is, IMO, almost unparalleled in Trek. In particular, the design of the Voyager herself is remarkably good.

Anywho, I thought I'd post a series of images from my collection for all VGR fans and haters () alike to enjoy and discuss, beginning with some concepts for the Voyager itself.

This is the earliest set of sketches I have by Mr. Sternbach, when he was trying to find a direction for the ship.


These concepts were generated by Jim Martin, who designed the Defiant:


And these were done by Doug Drexler, designer of the NX-01:


This was the one that got direction approval from the producers:


And these were the first expansions of that general shape:



The upper pod was meant to be akin to the pod on the Nebula class, possibly even a separable daughter craft of some kind.

However, the producers ultimately decided they wanted to streamline the design a bit.

Any thoughts thus far?

More later!

 

[Michael]

Nice idea for a thread! I hope you don't mind me adding some images. Here are some I found in the Art of Star Trek book and a special magazine that came out when Voyager first aired in Germany. (I had to go down to the cellar to dig them out of some old box. It's freakin' 4 AM in Germany. I should really sleep and not wander through the nightly house!)

(Click on the images for larger versions.)

However, here's another sketch by Rick Sternbach:




Another 3D rendering by Doug Drexler:




An early model of the Voyager:






And some early sketches for the bridge of our hero ship:

 

[RAMA]

cool stuff

 

[Praetor]

Of course I don't mind, NCC-1701 - in fact I didn't have all but the photos of the model - the design of which I shall go into in depth next time.

 

[rramarr]

You have to love the diversion away from that saucer look that they seem to never be able to creatively grow away from in any of the other class ships.

 

[Praetor]

Yeah, to me VGR's design really felt like a logical extension of the TNG aesthetic and technology.

 

[kimc]

Nice stuff. Of course, my poor old pc was grinding away thanks to all the pics. Links would be helpful for those like me who have older machines.

 

[Praetor]

Sorry about that! I'll link the next batch, if that's okay.

 

[Karnbeln]

The finished Voyager is one of the most beautiful ships in Trek... although I've loved the near- finished triangular one for some time, and wish it could have made it on screen in some other capacity.

 

[Akiraprise]

Sorry about that! I'll link the next batch, if that's okay.

Clickable thumbnails would be great.

Thanks for posting this stuff.

 

[miraclefan]

And some early sketches for the bridge of our hero ship:

Ya as much as I hate VOYAGER, I have ALL of this stuff in magazines and what-not. Preator, tell me what do you think of the bridge on the lower right hand side? I have always liked it, it has a very ''military & submarine'' feel to it! and I think it would have actually worked quite well as a possible ''DAEDALUS Class'' bridge if ENTERPRISE continued(in fact it looks like it belongs in the ENT era), don't you think?

 

[Praetorian]

Very nice thread!

 

[TheGodBen]

Fascinating stuff! I can see the genesis of many other ships which we would see later, such as the Prometheus class, the Dominion Battlecruiser and the Vulcan starship from Enterprise. Strange to think that they all came from early concepts for Voyager!

 

[Praetor]

Sorry about that! I'll link the next batch, if that's okay.

Clickable thumbnails would be great.

Thanks for posting this stuff.

Okay, done. Hopefully that will go easier on everyone else. And I'd advise anyone else posting pics to do the same.

And, you're welcome.

Ya as much as I hate VOYAGER, I have ALL of this stuff in magazines and what-not. Preator, tell me what do you think of the bridge on the lower right hand side? I have always liked it, it has a very ''military & submarine'' feel to it! and I think it would have actually worked quite well as a possible ''DAEDALUS Class'' bridge if ENTERPRISE continued(in fact it looks like it belongs in the ENT era), don't you think?

I actually agree... that one has always been a sneaking favorite of mine. Too small for the Voyager itself, but a good design for another ship.

Fascinating stuff! I can see the genesis of many other ships which we would see later, such as the Prometheus class, the Dominion Battlecruiser and the Vulcan starship from Enterprise. Strange to think that they all came from early concepts for Voyager!

I think Mr. Sternbach in particular channeled some of his unused Voyager ideas into a 'Prometheus Stew.'

Okay, so the producers asked Mr. Sternbach to refine the design a big, culminating in this design, which NCC-1701 posted some images of upthread:

(At the bottom.)


Now, from what I understand, this was basically locked as the design for the Voyager. The producers were happy, Mr. Sternbach started drawing up plans for a model - they even commissioned that study model. Legend has it that a producer (Jeri Taylor) came in and said that they wanted to make it even sleeker, and more curvy, 'like a Lexus.' Then began a series of more sketches and drawings.

What does everyone think of the 'almost' ship? I rather like it's utilitarian design, even if it is a bit 'clunkier.' It suggests a slightly older age to me, and has nice shared component shapes with the runabout, both of which I like.

And anyone else with images to contribute is welcome to do so, btw.

 

[Michael]

Okay, done.

Ditto.

I actually agree... that one has always been a sneaking favorite of mine. Too small for the Voyager itself, but a good design for another ship.

Yup, that was always my favorite as well. And I see some definitive hints of the NX-01 bridge in there.

What does everyone think of the 'almost' ship? I rather like it's utilitarian design, even if it is a bit 'clunkier.' It suggests a slightly older age to me, and has nice shared component shapes with the runabout, both of which I like.

I agree, its look rather places it in Star Trek's past. To be honest, I was never really fond of that design. I don't like the down-swept nacelle struts and think the nacelles look much too long. It kind of looks like the child of the Intrepid and an Excelisor class ship to me.

 

[Praetor]

What does everyone think of the 'almost' ship? I rather like it's utilitarian design, even if it is a bit 'clunkier.' It suggests a slightly older age to me, and has nice shared component shapes with the runabout, both of which I like.

I agree, its look rather places it in Star Trek's past. To be honest, I was never really fond of that design. I don't like the down-swept nacelle struts and think the nacelles look much too long. It kind of looks like the child of the Intrepid and an Excelsior class ship to me.

Funny, I think the things you dislike about it are what I liked about it!

I would have really liked to have a hero ship with down-swept nacelles for a change, and I've always been sneakingly fond of the idea of Voyager being slightly older - or at least not state-of-the-art. (It always felt just too perfect that their ship just happened to be ideally suited to long-distance missions and long-term warp travel.)

Still, I like the Lexus we got:


The lower version in the third to last image is the first one I remember seeing (in TV Guide.) Mr. Sternbach has admitted before that the saucer blends into the engineering section lower than it should, creating something of avisual paradox, which was corrected in the version afterward.

The last one is of course the 'approved' design. I have the actual top/bottom plans for the model somewhere... I'll have to dig for them.

Here are detail images, and paintings of the landing legs and the ship when landed:


Here is a link to an excellent article about the design process overall.

I've also added the image to my original post of a distinctly Vulcan-ish 'roll-bar' version of Voyager that seems to integrate the primary/secondary hulls even more.

Any suggestions on other concept art to post before moving on to images of the actual model itself?

 

[lennier1]

Nice!
This thread reminds me of one of my favorite VOY design sources: http://www.star-trek-voyager.net/articles_bts.htm
The 3rd section is pretty much an expanded version of this thread.

 

[Tachyon]

This looks very cool. But I think the "sharper" design makes it look a little more like a fighter than an exploraton ship. Nevertheless, I could imagine Starfleet building a ship looking like this.

 

[miraclefan]

^How come we never saw ''that'' design in the background of those DS9 battles?

 

[Tachyon]

A little offtopic note here:

So far the best ship design for me has been Schinzon's mean-looking bird in ST: Nemesis. That ship was, hand down, the best design I've seen in Trek so far. But let's see if the new Trek movie will hit us with something even more " "