What's the point of Aztec-ing on the hull?

[LazyReader]

"Greebling" is a old scifi special effects trick where a prominent details added to the surface of a larger object that makes it appear more complex, and therefore more visually interesting. It also adds sense of scale, the biggest thing in trek ships is "Windows" with pill shaped aperatures which show case how big the hull is, if he lights are small/blinks the Ship is HUGE.
"In Universe" explanation...Various space rays, micro-meteoroid, radiation, energy weapons, beams, and various warp stress, could bleach or stain/burn the plates, so they're casually replaced when needed. A dark plate is the most stressed, light plate the most recently installed.

Also the Aztec pattern goes back to the original movie, The original Aztec pattern on the large Enterprise miniature for the first movie gives the ship that sense it's made of plates of metal welded together. unlike other scifi franchises Trek Ships are very 'Streamlined" so to add a sense of realism; they add details to the hull plating. See a real warship in drydock, since their hulls are made of plates of metal, the appearance is very similar

https://imgur.com/ejGseCH

as for "Aztek" originally there was no "Software" design it so it was made by tesselations and geometric patterns.

 

[Deks]

Why did the modelers apply "Aztec-ing" patterns onto the hull?

What's the logical point of it?

It's not quite Digital Camoflage.

So why not go for a different paint scheme / look?

Well, we've seen that SF ships hulls are capable of many things.
Maybe the hull can act as a solar power accumulator for powering the ship near a start in event of main power failure.
The hull's polarity can be changed (as we know), and it has been used for other things.
In short, the hull has adaptive properties which can be modified on the go... I suspect the aztecing is a product of how the material (Tritanium alloy) behaves... or it needs to be arranged in such an order to be effective.

 

[BK613]

Because it looks cool.

 

[yotsuya]

Paul Olsen spent 9 months painting the TMP refit to make it look like a multitude of panels. Bill George's first job at ILM was to prep the model for TWOK and the shiny surface was unsuitable to blue-screen work (TMP used white and black screens),l so he had to paint nearly the entire model with a dull coat. Additional detailing had to be done to the sides of the secondary hull and the nacelles so they would not reflect the blue light off the screen. They detailed it the same way they did the Star Destroyer in 1977. They used fine lines to give the illusion of panels. I think they used the same type of pastels they used to weather the TOS Enterprise. But that is a guess.

My personal in universe explanation is that the TOS 1701 was painted. Over the years of use the smooth paint weathered and the use of the deflector grid damaged the paint over the grid lines making them visible. For the 1701 refit they skipped the paint. I would guess because they were using a new hull plating that didn't need to be painted. New the panels are iridescent. As they age they dull to various shades of off-white. For TNG they have come out with yet another type of hull plating. For the NX-01 we see what might have been under the TOS 1701's paint.

 

[valkyrie013]

In Enterpise, first episide, they scuff the paint on the hull when the inspection pod bumps the hull. Also mentioned on the service station episode.

In a book, it was said that the ship was rushed at the end for launch and didn't get a paint job and was bare metal finish. Good enough for me.

 

[Christopher]

In a book, it was said that the ship was rushed at the end for launch and didn't get a paint job and was bare metal finish. Good enough for me.

That was my first Trek novel, Ex Machina.

 

[Transaction Declined]

In a book, it was said that the ship was rushed at the end for launch and didn't get a paint job and was bare metal finish. Good enough for me.

…and yet Starfleet still took the time to apply signage upon a supposedly bare surface?

 

[publiusr]

That would not take as long as the thermocoat.
I was reading a phys.org blurb about invisible ink in printers used to make color prints. I wonder if this process could be used to give a nice Aztec finish

 

[BK613]

…and yet Starfleet still took the time to apply signage upon a supposedly bare surface?

Such signage could be required by whatever space law/rules of the road that might cover operating in the vicinity of Earth.

 

[publiusr]

Now Probert meant for the hull to be a ceramic.

Looks like the nacre-like finish was for a reason?
https://phys.org/news/2021-09-unbreakable-glass-seashells.html
https://phys.org/news/2020-07-material-mimics-strength-toughness-mother.html