Ok so a little backstory on this one... Back in 2016 I hand-drew a sketch for an Excelsior-class variant, the Gibraltar. That wasn't the first such Excelsior variant I made, but it was the best one yet. At the end of 2018 I tried to put that into digital form here, but the results weren't great, despite my attempts at improving it. Then the next year I did the Concordia class, but though at that time it was very good, my newer works have made it looked quaint. So in an effort to produce a definitive Excelsior variant, here is the Gibraltar again... At 790m, this is possibly my largest design yet. It's because I decided to put 3 decks in the saucer rim, and was so satisfied with the saucer that I didn't have the heart to scale it down. Let me know what you think! (You can check on my Deviantart page to download the full-sized versions.)
Oh, I like that it isn’t a typical Excelsior secondary hull…but I want those secondary hulls to be layered too…we had someone do a post Galaxy class with a lovely layered secondary hull. Had I the skills, I would have a huge dish with two smaller dishes above and even with the top of the main dish—and to either side of it….as a cluster…with a variety of weapons above that as part of the neck. The saucer is what grabs me…there is a design at Deviantart (post your link in case I lose my notebook again) called “Heavy Cruiser—2230 Proposal” that is the polar opposite of the Playmobile. Thin saucer but one that also smiles. If a saucer isn’t wide enough…it, well…looks congested. Take away that smiling lower sensor dome with a dorsal that is too far forward…it either looks like Best Genus from MY HERO ACADEMIA or it looks like it is being choked. Tall ships…but flat saucers…it’s a good look. Just one slob’s opinion.
Just as a reminder from before, this is the bridge that goes with this Excelsior derivative... And the uniforms...
Blast...the deviant art page won't let me see it either... Springville Road Library turned off the filter---and it still won't show an image for anything on Deviant art. That title causes more trouble.
The deviant art page is blank there is nothing to pull down. just some little box and "IMG" Library filter...but they had that turned off. My luck...
That sucks, especially since I have another design in the pipeline... Try a different computer or device, I guess. I've never had that problem.
Good looking design, but looks a bit too much like Excelsior + Enterprise C mixed together. Here's my suggestions for what it's worth: BTW, I'm looking at your design from a Function, then Form perspective. This way you can maximize the existing internal volume inside your Warp Bubble. All your Volumetric design decisions are limited by the shape & size of said Warp Bubble when you look at it from a engineering perspective. How big that Warp Bubble is will be determined by placement of Warp Nacelles and how much energy you want to spend on expanding said bubble from your Warp Nacelles. 1) Widen the spacing of the Warp Nacelles to be as wide as the edge of your saucer, the Bussard Collectors are getting obstructed by your Saucer and that leads to inefficient InterSteller mass collection; by widening it, the Bussard Collectors can operate at max efficiency. 2) You chose a Odd # of Pairs of Ball Phaser Turrets placements, I LOVE IT! I've always thought that having only 4 or 3 Ball Phaser Turret Pairs is kinda weak and the bare minimum to provide Hemispherical coverage. By having more Ball Phaser Turret placements, you can have larger over lapping zones of Phaser Coverage. Have you ever thought of changing the Turret cluster to be a Triad (3 Turrets arranged in a Equi-angular Triangle cluster?) The reason I bring this up is that with 3 Ball Phaser turrets, with some spacing in between said 3 Turrets, allows wider overlapping potential field of phaser coveage. When the 2 Ball Phaser Turrets are right next to each other, there's a large deadzone where one turret can't fire at due to the obstruction by it's partnered turret. With a Triad Cluster for each Turret Placement, you can alternate which side of the triangle is facing up along the saucer to create a nice pattern. By having a gap in between the 3 Ball Turrets (2-3 meters, about humanoid size) you shrunk the dead zones of each Turret by ALOT without wasting too much space on spacing them apart. Another benefit of spacing them apart is that you can put in tiny shield emitters in the center to function as a secondary Shield layer for each Turret Triad Cluster, this way if the Main Shields go Down, each Turret will have some Shielding to protect that section of hull from damage. Also while the Main Deflector Shields are up, that provides a secondary layer of Shielding against any splash damage that passes through the Main Deflector Shields. 3) Have you ever thought of extending the Star Drive out to have the Shuttle bay protrude slightly past the end of your Warp Nacelles from a side/top orthographic profile? Remember, the Warp Bubble is a Ellipsoid Shape that has to contain everything within it's volumetric shape, there's ALOT of dead / empty space in the aft section where the Warp Nacelle extends out to. The Intrepid-Class USS Voyager had what I called the "Trident Design" where the Star Drive extends past the Warp Nacelles to make better / more efficient use of her Warp Bubble's empty volume by allowing more ship structure to exist and give more internal room in the StarDrive section. The designers didn't make maximum use of their Warp Bubble Volume in every sense of the word, but they got this part right by extending the aft-end of the StarDrive to be past the aft-end of the Warp Nacelles, ergo maximizing Volumetric use. 4) You have the traditional StarShip cut-out on the bottom of the StarDrive section, that's a very inefficient use of volume, if you inverted that cut-out so that it isn't Concave, but Convex where it protrudes out, you get much more internal volume to work with while still fitting within the Warp Bubble. That's some food for thought 5) For the neck-line, have you ever thought of using a gentle KammBack or FastBack slope that transitions from the base of the saucer to the aft edge of the StarDrive? that can provide alot more structure / internal volume and support. Another benefit of extending the Neckline out is that you can take the Impulse Exhaust decks and mount them to the outside of the neck, that's alot more empty internal volume that isn't being used. The Galaxy-Class Enterprise D had a very large Impulse Exhaust on it's neck, you can do the same by mounting the Impulse Exhaust to the outside of the neck and blend it into the structure. The one aspect of the Excelsior neck was known for was that it was THICC! That made it stout and tough, compared to the spindly neck of the Constitution Class. And we all know how long the Excelsior stayed in service compared to the classic Constitution Class. 6) A side bonus of a thicker neck and moving the Impulse decks down to be attached to the outside of the extended neck is that you can add in a extra long Shuttle Bay on top of the neck and run it along the top of the neck area, right below where the Warp Nacelles Warp Field Grilels would need to meet and face each other. An Extra Shuttle Bay on top could always help =D.
There are no rules concerning how warp bubbles work, so I say this shape is optimal for this specific warp system model. As for ramscoop obstruction, originally it was ok but the nacelles were too spaced apart; it looked ugly so it brought them closer together. I couldn't elevate them either, so screw optimal collection. The field's just going to have to be angled. Finally, there is no ENT-C inspiration here, aside from a minor one in the pylons. And if I wanted to maximise volume I'd build a cube.
Shortening down the neck 'nape' does wonders, and was one of my own complaints about the nuTrek Enterprise. This as an Excelsior really works!