In Star Fleet Battles, the Texas class cruiser from the Romulan War has something that looks similar. They turned out to be early model torpedo tubes...
USS Kiaga - Perimeter Action Vessel
- Thread starter Vektor
- Start date
Look out! It's the zombie thread apocalypse! Just when you thought the Kiaga was securely buried in its grave, it comes clawing its way back to life! 
Actually, the work shown here was done months ago, but I was going through some old folders last week and realized I never showed any of it, so consider it a little Monday bonus.
Actually, the work shown here was done months ago, but I was going through some old folders last week and realized I never showed any of it, so consider it a little Monday bonus.
Hi Vektor!
This is one awesome looking design.
Your rendering of Aridas' design is truly an incredible work.
I saw Aridas' design of Kiaga, in the past, as it was progressing
and between what he came up with and what you did with it, truly amazing work!
This is the first time I have seen your CGI rendering of this.
This design really looks great for a period pre-TOS design.
Kudos to both of you!
This is one awesome looking design.
Your rendering of Aridas' design is truly an incredible work.
I saw Aridas' design of Kiaga, in the past, as it was progressing
and between what he came up with and what you did with it, truly amazing work!
This is the first time I have seen your CGI rendering of this.
This design really looks great for a period pre-TOS design.
Kudos to both of you!
I always liked this thing. 
So, is it done, or do you have more you want to do?
So, is it done, or do you have more you want to do?
What a terrific ship design and beautifully executed!
...But didn't aridas' original have some sort of a prominent phaser turret atop the spine? C'mon, let's see some secondary weaponry here! Or perhaps gunports that cover the retracting turrets?
I love the current hull texture effect, but perhaps one could toy with today's stealth trends and use "low-key" pennants, possibly light grey on a dark grey hull? Silly, I know, but no sillier than having low-key pennants on fighters that paint bright afterburner flames against the dark sky...
Timo Saloniemi
I love the current hull texture effect, but perhaps one could toy with today's stealth trends and use "low-key" pennants, possibly light grey on a dark grey hull? Silly, I know, but no sillier than having low-key pennants on fighters that paint bright afterburner flames against the dark sky...
Timo Saloniemi
Well, in fairness if you take Todd Guenther's Perimeter Action Markings poster as any kind of guide, there would be many varied schemes going on amongst even the early, 2250-era PA force. Just look at this 1997 painting of the later PA "Echo" that he did to get an idea of the kind of thing I think you mean:
Or, the finish on my much earlier clipper "Ariadne":
But... that F-86 skin is so wild (as is the darker incarnation Vektor tried out before) that there just has to be an excuse for its use. Truth is, I like 'em all.
As for the beam weaponry, one laser on top, three around the lower sensor, and the two big phasers.
Or, the finish on my much earlier clipper "Ariadne":
But... that F-86 skin is so wild (as is the darker incarnation Vektor tried out before) that there just has to be an excuse for its use. Truth is, I like 'em all.
As for the beam weaponry, one laser on top, three around the lower sensor, and the two big phasers.
Well. . . What I think I can say I like about this design are the aquatic references. This isn't another bird, it's actually much more like a leaping frog, about to smack down a moth. If you've ever seen a frog filmed in slo-mo, it's really a surprisingly graceful beast. It's bulbous but it's not at all hideous. And it can be sleek and mean at the same time, swift and carrying a punch.
What I think I can say I don't like about this particular design, surprisingly, is the misplaced Constitution class lower primary hull. It looks like the frog has just swallowed it, and it's hanging out of its mouth. It suggests the geometry of a different vessel which just isn't here. I can't get over how much cleaner the design looks if I just put my thumb over the lower "nipple." It looks like it could be a late 22nd century equivalent of a small submarine (maybe those sheathes could cover the bright Bussard caps when it's on silent running). There's not a lot of people manning it, probably fewer than 40, and it should have about one-third the volume of the Defiant from DS9. It should be small and not carry a lot of defensive weaponry, like shields, but instead rely on its maneuverability, stealth, and perhaps one very mean offensive weapon. (Science vessel? No way.)
But once I put my thumb down, the proportions are thrown off because that's the base of a much bigger ship that can hold several hundred people. It's hybridized at a point where it doesn't need to be hybridized; just because its primary hull is saucer-shaped doesn't mean it has to have a piece of the Constitution dangling down from it. Simply smoothed off at the bottom, this design would be killer.
DF "Down South We Got Some Mean Frogs" Scott
What I think I can say I don't like about this particular design, surprisingly, is the misplaced Constitution class lower primary hull. It looks like the frog has just swallowed it, and it's hanging out of its mouth. It suggests the geometry of a different vessel which just isn't here. I can't get over how much cleaner the design looks if I just put my thumb over the lower "nipple." It looks like it could be a late 22nd century equivalent of a small submarine (maybe those sheathes could cover the bright Bussard caps when it's on silent running). There's not a lot of people manning it, probably fewer than 40, and it should have about one-third the volume of the Defiant from DS9. It should be small and not carry a lot of defensive weaponry, like shields, but instead rely on its maneuverability, stealth, and perhaps one very mean offensive weapon. (Science vessel? No way.)
But once I put my thumb down, the proportions are thrown off because that's the base of a much bigger ship that can hold several hundred people. It's hybridized at a point where it doesn't need to be hybridized; just because its primary hull is saucer-shaped doesn't mean it has to have a piece of the Constitution dangling down from it. Simply smoothed off at the bottom, this design would be killer.
DF "Down South We Got Some Mean Frogs" Scott
Since I designed it I guess I should provide some insight. Your comments are well taken. I think scaling components up and down and transporting full size components from a large ship to a small one is always fraught with danger. If we look at the understructure as akin to a roof and the sensor "nipple" as akin to a dormer, my thinking might be a bit clearer. The roof is scaleable. The same roof shape might be found on a house 20 feet wide or 100 feet wide. The dormer is not scaleable. It is fixed to a certain size because of the relationship of its function to the human body and its size. Likewise, I have blueprinted that sensor as enclosing a full suite of devices plus the area for humans to work with them. The sensor suite is a full size suite imported from the Constitution design, but imported to a smaller platform. This is meant to infer the outsized capabilities of the ship.
The understructure would, on a Constitution, be much bigger, housing weapons and cargo and sickbay and quarters and a rec deck, etc. On a Kiaga it is limited to sensor support and weapons operations. The "roof" on a 100 foot wide building might hide 15 rooms, but on a 20' building just 5. Likewise, on Kiaga the lower structure is small, but still holds photorp tubes and laser turret controls and the requisite plumbing and means to get around.
The understructure would, on a Constitution, be much bigger, housing weapons and cargo and sickbay and quarters and a rec deck, etc. On a Kiaga it is limited to sensor support and weapons operations. The "roof" on a 100 foot wide building might hide 15 rooms, but on a 20' building just 5. Likewise, on Kiaga the lower structure is small, but still holds photorp tubes and laser turret controls and the requisite plumbing and means to get around.
Thanks for the explanation, aridas, I see what you're going for now. Funny thing: My in-home office is actually an oversized dormer cut into a sloping roof. So someone actually did scale the dormer up in this case. But one look at the windows gives anyone an idea of just what size the room actually is.
On second glance, perhaps it isn't so much the sensor dome "nipple" itself that throws me off as much as 1) its placement relative to the "cab-forward" design on the opposite site of the dish; 2) that same gentle S-curve that tapers down to that point, which after coming-up-on-a-half-century of seeing it on the Enterprise 1701 makes one's mind automatically fill in the missing components. My mind keeps wanting to fill in the thin neck and the descendant engineering fuselage. It's the same phenomenon as when Enterprise NX-01 first premiered, and as Vektor will recall while he was designing the Vanguard.
I see the math you're using in your mind, but it's difficult to train one's aesthetic sense to use a slide rule. It sees what it sees, especially all those things that aren't there. It's this one particular visual cue -- the replicated sensor dome -- which, in my mind, looks out of place; and if almost anything else were happening there instead, I think I'd be able to enjoy the rest of the ship and the design as a whole.
On second glance, perhaps it isn't so much the sensor dome "nipple" itself that throws me off as much as 1) its placement relative to the "cab-forward" design on the opposite site of the dish; 2) that same gentle S-curve that tapers down to that point, which after coming-up-on-a-half-century of seeing it on the Enterprise 1701 makes one's mind automatically fill in the missing components. My mind keeps wanting to fill in the thin neck and the descendant engineering fuselage. It's the same phenomenon as when Enterprise NX-01 first premiered, and as Vektor will recall while he was designing the Vanguard.
I see the math you're using in your mind, but it's difficult to train one's aesthetic sense to use a slide rule. It sees what it sees, especially all those things that aren't there. It's this one particular visual cue -- the replicated sensor dome -- which, in my mind, looks out of place; and if almost anything else were happening there instead, I think I'd be able to enjoy the rest of the ship and the design as a whole.
I think I see what you mean. If I understand correctly, the problem as you see it is most manifest in the second image from the top on this page, right? The upper "handle" looks offset compared to the nipple? If that is the case, it only happens when seen from that view. To correct it would mean either getting rid of the only bit of design vocabulary that links the ship back to the TOS ship, or offsetting the sensor relative to the center of the saucer.
One thing that might help is that ring above the lit dome IS going to be different from the TOS ship. At this point, it has the three standard little capsule-like fill ins surrounding it. If Vektor likes, he might model the detailing of that area that I came up with-- the capsules become turrets similar to the Talos IV cannon, or the turrets on Scotty's Constitution-class technical diagram in "The Trouble with Tribbles". Those turrets will race around the sensor on tracks that are inset into the ring, to provide optimal firing lines.
Those details, if installed, might make the sensor look different enough to distinguish it. There is also the possibility of elaborating upon the "nipple" itself to further define it as a targeting sensor for those guns. And to do some detailing on the dome to indicate some interaction between the lit surface and a sensor cluster inside the dome. And/or create some less-robust visual link to the cruciform sensor suite that surrounds the dome on the TMP ship.
One thing that might help is that ring above the lit dome IS going to be different from the TOS ship. At this point, it has the three standard little capsule-like fill ins surrounding it. If Vektor likes, he might model the detailing of that area that I came up with-- the capsules become turrets similar to the Talos IV cannon, or the turrets on Scotty's Constitution-class technical diagram in "The Trouble with Tribbles". Those turrets will race around the sensor on tracks that are inset into the ring, to provide optimal firing lines.
Those details, if installed, might make the sensor look different enough to distinguish it. There is also the possibility of elaborating upon the "nipple" itself to further define it as a targeting sensor for those guns. And to do some detailing on the dome to indicate some interaction between the lit surface and a sensor cluster inside the dome. And/or create some less-robust visual link to the cruciform sensor suite that surrounds the dome on the TMP ship.
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