USS Grandeur - One... More... Time!

[ncc74302]

So... I know you sound like you've pretty much settled on this turret-ish torpedo launcher design... but I just wanted to throw this out there.

You know how your and most trek torpedo bays are oriented horizontally? That is, if there are two launchers, they're usually side by side. What if you stacked them vertically and gave them more of a vertical alignment? I think especailly in the neck it might not make them look quite so bulky or stick out quite so much.

 

[Blip]

^ Ignore him, they look great as they are!

 

[ncc74302]

LOL, I know they look fine as they are too, but since Vektor seems to have expressed some desire to change them, I was offering a possible suggestion/solution to the problem :-)

 

[dogsowar]

 

[O'Dib]

Vektor said:

Too sexy, please, don't do it! NO, MY FRIEND, TOO SEXY!

 

[dru]

GENIUS!!

 

[Paranoid Android]

Is that poor little dude still standing out side the shuttle bay doors? Some one get the power on so he can get back inside, geezes!

Looks amazing though. I love the black grills under the warp engines. This ship has really evolved. I don't think I'd be able to work on something for four years (I know you weren't constantly, but still...) Can't wait to see her all lit up.

 

[Aegis]

That ship keeps getting better and better!

 

[Squiggy]

Brilliant!

 

[Magic04]

It just keeps getting better and better. Great work Vektor!

 

[Vektor]

ncc74302 said:
So... I know you sound like you've pretty much settled on this turret-ish torpedo launcher design... but I just wanted to throw this out there.

You know how your and most trek torpedo bays are oriented horizontally? That is, if there are two launchers, they're usually side by side. What if you stacked them vertically and gave them more of a vertical alignment? I think especailly in the neck it might not make them look quite so bulky or stick out quite so much.

One of the main problems with the upper photorp launchers is that their line of fire is already dangerously close the lower sensor dome on the saucer section. Stacking them vertically would only crowd the dome even further. Chances are that I'm going to make some further changes to all of the torp launchers but a vertical arrangement is probably not in the cards.

 

[Vektor]

I finally got some detail work done on the nacelle pylons:

The pylons aren't finished yet; there are some additional grills and vents and such yet to add. Ditto for the warp rudders and RCS thrusters, though all of them are much further along than in the previous renderings.

I'm sure you've also noticed that the hull textures are missing. I decided to remove them for two reasons: First, keeping the UV mapping updated with every geometry change was becoming tedious; and second, I don't want to steal my own thunder when it comes time for the big reveal of this model in its finished form, so I'm going to start holding back on the photorealistic WIP images so the end result will, hopefull, still knock everyone's socks off and not just be more of the same.

 

[Vulcan]

My socks are thoroughly knocked off already. Prettyful as always.

 

[AudioBridge]

Vektor, I've been a huge fan of this design. Hell, I think it has the potential to look better than the 1701-D. But it's going south now, my friend. To me, you've added a lot of unneeded detail. The smooth pylons on the version earlier in this thread look much better to me. Clean, strong, etc. Just my two cents

 

[Vektor]

AudioBridge said:
Vektor, I've been a huge fan of this design. Hell, I think it has the potential to look better than the 1701-D. But it's going south now, my friend. To me, you've added a lot of unneeded detail. The smooth pylons on the version earlier in this thread look much better to me. Clean, strong, etc. Just my two cents

Well, it’s not like this is a change to the design. I actually had the pylon grills in there once before a long, long time ago and I’m just now getting around to putting them back. Sorry if you think they’re going south but you’re gonna have to get used to them ‘cause they’re staying.

 

[The Doctor]

Very nice!

I think it's been said before, but that looks far more like a logical sucessor to the Galaxy class than the Sovereign that we got. Lots of great cues to the refit-E as well. This is probably the nicest fan design that I've seen.

 

[AudioBridge]

you’re gonna have to get used to them ‘cause they’re staying.

Hey, no problem, it's your ship. The overall ship is still fantastic to me. I'm just more Matt Jeffries less ILM when it comes to starships

 

[Professor Moriarty]

AudioBridge said:
Vektor, I've been a huge fan of this design. Hell, I think it has the potential to look better than the 1701-D. But it's going south now, my friend. To me, you've added a lot of unneeded detail. The smooth pylons on the version earlier in this thread look much better to me. Clean, strong, etc. Just my two cents

I completely disagree. The new vents add some much-needed detail to those areas. The NCC-1701 Enterprise has vents on her pylons, so it makes perfect sense that the Grandeur would have a similar feature. (In fact, the Grandeur's make more sense since they are angled towards the tail end of the ship; the Enterprise vents pointed towards each other, which wouldn't make much sense if they were supposed to serve some sort of venting function!) They fit in very nicely with the "swoop" of the pylons (in fact, they now make those "fins" on the pylons seem almost superfluous, if you ask me).

I'm glad that Vektor is keeping them, because they look just right to me. :thumbsup:

 

[Vektor]

AudioBridge said:

you’re gonna have to get used to them ‘cause they’re staying.

Hey, no problem, it's your ship. The overall ship is still fantastic to me. I'm just more Matt Jeffries less ILM when it comes to starships

Funny you should say that because these particular pylon vents were directly inspired by the Matt Jeffries TOS Enterprise. They also bear some similarity to the ones on the Sovereign class but that has more to do with the swooping shape of the pylons than anything else. Don't worry too much about me overcomplicating the design. I've already decided to steer clear of the John Eaves hyper-detailed-down-to-the-square-inch approach, not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not the look I'm going for. I may even forego the usual banks of escape pods all over the hull in favor of something less obtrusive. We'll see.

 

[Philo]

That sounds lovely, Vektor.

I'm loving the detailing. I'm all for you detailing this as much as possible, especially where it will give this ship it's true sense of scale and, dare I say, grandeur. The reason I'm not afraid of you doing an Eaves is simply because I trust your sense of composition and love your aesthetic style.