To no pollute the other thread, thought I'd create a new one for my side projects, that are actually quite a few. Long post ahead, and several images, so be warned. First off, the TMP Akira I showed in the Connie thread. I say TMP, but it's supposed to be a slightly pre Excelsior ship that stays in service well into the Ambassador years. In keeping with the theme for Akira variants, I'm calling it the Kusanagi Class. Go figure it out The black areas are just a blockout for possible features. The big one below is supposed to be the Shuttle Bay while the others would be windows for special rooms. Second one is the cargo ship. I haven't done much work on it yet apart from just working on the general layout. The idea is to be able to chain cargo sections in the back as required. But the ship will always have its own. Maybe. I might still change this. Obviously inspired by the Constellation in a few areas, so I did a thicker saucer for it. Might have a cargo hangar at the front. Finally, a few quick ones. First a supply station. Supposed to be Regula sized, but strictly for deep space re supply of ships. Also started a workbee, but I can't seem to find the file that produced this image. Might have to start over: And finally, I'll leave a couple of images that should be self explanatory:
Whoa, the TMP Akira is an awesome concept! You really make the design work for that era. I'd love to see it realized with the amount of detail and realism with which you did your TMP Enterprise. As for the name, I had to google Kusanagi, it's the name of a Final Fantasy character called Akira Kusanagi, right?
Thank you and I'm happy you think I made it work! I have been iterating on this design for 2 months now. And that's the plan! The only bit I have to figure out is how to detail the catamaran so it looks TMP. The rest should be pretty easy. Well easy as in I know what to do Bingo
I've been thinking about the catamarans, and one thing I thought might work is the lower half detailing on the Excelsior. Split that on each of the catamarans. So like that blue/grey split look on the very bottom as like an accent along those or something like that. Am I making sense? What day is it?
No real updates, but thought I'd show a couple more features of the Kusanagi (TMP Akira) in the meantime. First one is the design for the bridge: Originally, I was going to just keep the refit one, but as the design progressed I figured it needed something different. This is a very rough blockout, so expect the shape to change. Basically, I'll have the bridge in the round part and have a conference room at the back. The whole structure is also large enough that it should fit a few other rooms in there. The other interesting part is the weapon pod. The design is also very much in flux. In fact, if anyone has any cool ideas, let me know. I don't want to use the Miranda pod. I think I need something that looks more advanced. What I want to show though is how it detaches: I could do a similar attachment as the Akira, but that is a weird angle to get a hot swap to happen. The way I did it, it would be very easy to swap to a different pod, or even something completely different. Some folks suggested a big science lab, a sensor pod and a medical facility. I also thought I could design a big auxiliary craft that attaches back there. Edit: Ok, I lied. Here's something I tried. Instead of using the convex saucer top, I am using the same shape as the Excelsior here. Better, worse?
This is beautiful ... but as for the torpedo/sensor/medical pod: how do the turbolifts get in there? Is there enough room for it to come up vertically on either side, stop, and then move horizontally?
Valid concern. The catamarans are about 4m high at that point so I can fit a deck easily there. And the attachment I made is quite wide. A turbolift fits there without problems. Here's an image: The cylinder is 2.4m in diameter and 3m high. I can make that bigger and it would still fit.
I actually really like that Excelsior saucer on the Kusanagi. Sets it apart from the Connie saucer and I think that fits a bit more with the catamarans
Thoughts... I think it would be sleeker to somehow continue the contour of the nacelles into the torpedo pod, rather than break it out with the bar that breaks the flow. I don't see why it's important to have turbolift access to the torpedo pod. You get in via jeffries tube crawlway if you really want to get up there. If you need to go there quick, either use a Workbee out of the shuttlebay or use a transporter. I kinda wish the secondary hull to the Akira had as drastic of a fantail cut as the excelsior. Feels more elegant to me, and more of a connection to the TMP aesthetic. *shrug* I love that bridge module. You nailed the tones of the TMP Aesthetic without recreating the bridge.
Yeah, I think that looks better. I had some folks complain though. I'm trying to get the catamaran and middle section to work with both options. I kinda agree. The turbolift access is not for the weapon pod though. That would be for different attachments. I can't make the turbolift fit into the pylons I made. In any event, I'll see if I can create an attachment for the pod that works similar to the Akira one. I want to keep the other options as well for the other stuff I mentioned before. I tried that before and I wasn't a fan of it. I think the cutaway works when engineering extends past the saucer. Also, the Akira never had that, and I kinda want to keep a certain familiarity with the Akira design on the major pieces. Thanks! I'll refine it in the coming days, but I think the basic shape is pretty much what you see.
Awesome, and I'm glad you're putting some numbers behind these designs. However, my concern is less with the connection point of the pod with the main hull and more with that little elbow as seen in the weapons pod, below: Now, with a weapons pod, it's not much of an issue having regular turbolift access to the pod spaces. You could assume a Jefferies Tube arrangement for crew to get into the pod, but then how does one get torpedoes and equipment into that space? Intra-ship beaming? Cargo shuttle? Maybe workbees can load torpedoes through the firing ports. Maybe, with arrangements like this, the torpedo supply isn't normally reloaded in the field. At the very least, consider adding a docking port on that pod somewhere, if not thickening up that elbow. That would change if the pod had expectations of a science or medical crew. No lab tech or doctor would want to climb a ladder to get to work. Can you imagine McCoy serving on such a ship? "I'm a doctor, not a damned trapeze artist!" They will need easy access to ship and pod spaces.
- Better! I think the Excelsior style saucer top looks more purposeful, but I do like the Constitution-style rim & windows (and that big underbelly!). The Kusanagi is a beautiful ship.
You have good points, especially about reloading. That gives me some ideas though. I'm thinking I can have a reload system either at the top or the bottom for service ships to come in and dock with the pod. The pod also won't be the only torpedo launcher the ship has, so it'll be used only in specific situations. As for other facilities that get attached, my thought was that the connection would be completely different. That's why I showed both the pod and the pylon disconnecting instead of just the pod. So for a science lab for instance, I would have to build a separate way of connecting. I also think that a science lab or a medical facility (I'm inclined to build a whole different ship for that actually) would be quite a bit large than the weapon pod, so it should be easier to make a straight up vertical connection there. All that said, it's quite an ambitious idea, heh. Not sure if I'll get around to building all that. For now, here's a super early test on plating for the saucer:
Small update from yesterday. I didn't manage to do much, but I decided that I need to work on the Excelsior a little bit every day so I can finish it in a timely manner. With that said, I did a few more details at the top superstructure: