This is going to be a weird post, but for a moment, I'd like to defend the original Matt Jeffries design of the Space Cruiser Aurora.
Yes, it's very true, that in 2021, 50+ years after "The Tholian Web" was first broadcast, we all know that the Aurora was a reused Tholian model with AMT nacelles tacked on with parts from an AMT Klingon model. But, back in the days when there was no internet, no DVRs, no Blu-Rays, DVDs, VHS, Beta, photos, or even drawings available things were a bit different.
Going strictly from memory, I recall the original show before the redone CGI versions. And if I recall, in the Tholian Web, there were no shots where they showed the ship turning, and you only saw the ship in 3/4 for a fraction of a second. As a result, nearly all of the shots of the ship were head on and 90 degrees side on. I think there was one shot where it was being hit by phasers where you saw the thing from an angle.
And basically, when you only see the ship bow on and side on, it doesn't make sense. You see a three bladed propeller and a diamond with virtually no tweening. I tried to view that as the same ship and I really couldn't. Basically, until someone told me in the 1980s, I had no idea that the model was reused.
Now, if you actually disconnect the Aurora from the Tholian model, the Aurora is a Very Interesting Design!
Nowadays, we're all used to the rather boring fact that all Starfleet ships have a cookie cutter look to them. But, frankly, until we got to the USS Bonaventure in TAS "Time Trap" the cookie cutter look of Saucer, Nacelles and 2ndary hull had not been established. We could see the Enterprise, her 12 sister ships and that was it, EXCEPT for the Aurora.
I was fascinated by the fact that the Enterprise and the Aurora looked completely different. They're as different as an SR-71 is from a Sopwith Camel.
To my mind the fact that both represented Earth ships was kind of exciting design wise. I was one of those kids who spent time pouring over the beautiful 3 view drawings of airplanes in 1960s hard cover pocket books, so the notion that all Fed ships would look the same was just weird. It would be like they came up with the B-17 and every plane for the next hundred years looked like a kitbash of the old Flying Fortress. No F-104 Starfighters, No B-70 Valkyries, just B-17s now, B-17s tomorrow and B-17s forever!
So, when the Reliant came out, and then the Excelsior, and the Ent-D, I thought it was... well... boring.
TAS's "Huron" and the robot cargo ships were much a more visually interesting departure.
That's why I like imaginative designs like Warped9's "Astral Queen" and "Valiant" They use the same elements with nacelles and deflector domes that show we're in the same shipyard, but they're as different as Kelly Johnson's "Lockheed Electra" is from his "SR-71."
And that's why I like the Aurora. It's completely different, but it fits.
