When will the Constitution Class make an appearance?

[Ithekro]

Basically the same uniform, but with metal patches and a different collar, since its closer to The Cage than TOS.

The Constitution will look basically the same (different in detail for higher resolution screens), but it seems logical to leave the basic shape alone for this series. Especially given how the rest of he fleet looks. A traditional Constitution-class vessel will stand out in that sort of fleet, and that is sort of what you want it to do. Stand out as something special and trigger that nostalgia factor, be it the Enterprise or not.

Given the trends, they would likely add self illumination to the ship.

 

[Arvis Taljik]

Maybe they'll just nip/tuck/poke the Disco design like this?

(Yes I built this model myself for fun)
Discovery Heavy Cruiser by barraganap on Sketchfab

 

[Kor]

I don't recall ever seeing a picture of the original Enterprise in TMP. ...

It was when the Ilia probe was looking at pictures of Enterprises. See the picture on the right side:

http://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=596&pid=64181#top_display_media

Kor

 

[ITDUDE]

Another show where you can see the smooth texturing of the Enterprise (you could say it's almost-new, or never used) compared to weathered and more detailed look of the Discovery. I think it follows canon

 

[Rahul]

I swear to god, I so far like Discovery, but if they ever show a Constitution class ship, and it looks anything different than this, I'm going to flip the table and quit!

 

[Agony_Boothb]

I think if we do see a constitution it will be updated but no where near as heavily as in the abrams movies. I'd be fine if they just made the hull more detailed, kind of a cross between the TOS constitution and the TMP constitution.

 

[Tuskin38]

I swear to god, I so far like Discovery, but if they ever show a Constitution class ship, and it looks anything different than this, I'm going to flip the table and quit!

It doesn't hold up.

And this is from someone who loves the design.

 

[Nerys Myk]

We saw it in the last scene of "Into The Forest I Go".

 

[Rahul]

It doesn't hold up.

And this is from someone who loves the design.

Yeah, it does.
In fact, the CGI-model of it looks a lot better and more polished than everything we have seen on Discovery so far!

 

[Nerys Myk]

I've never liked the CGI-models of the Connies. Never looks right to me.

 

[Draculasaurus]

I'd be OK with a new Bussard Collector effect and maybe smaller navigation light domes.
A little window size/scale fiddling might be OK too...

 

[Fandango831]

You could maybe get away with the original design but it's still super iffy especially trying to match it to the environment used in Discovery. Even with loads of light treatment, additional/remastered internal lighting, and retexturing it can still look rather dated. However you can play the dated look to a story telling advantage if the idea is to purposefully make the Constitution antiquated in comparison to other ships. Example below (credit to Deviant EagleSG)

 

[Tuskin38]

The nacelles pylons and neck need to be changed, that is about it for me. They’re too flimsy

 

[ItIsGreen]

I don't think we need to see one at all, it'd just be pure fan service - but if we did, I wouldn't want much changed. It does look out of place with the aesthetic of Discovery, but I'd still want it to be recognisable as a Connie. The part that dates it the most is the radar dish-style deflector, I actually wouldn't mind if they swapped it for the glowing circle almost every other ship has. Maybe lengthen and taper off the nacelles a little as that seems to be what they look like these days and that'd be about all I'd change. Oh, and don't illuminate it as much as we've been used to seeing, so that it looks darker.

They could throw in a line about them being old ships to handwave the dated look, but then the Shenzhou was also stated to be an old ship and looked far more modern than the old Connie.

 

[Tuskin38]

The part that dates it the most is the radar dish-style deflector, I actually wouldn't mind if they swapped it for the glowing circle almost every other ship has.

All the Fed ships in DSC so far have had a physical deflector like the Connie and NX.

Including the Discovery. The only difference is that they have a glow behind it like the NX class

 

[Agony_Boothb]

I wouldn't mind seeing something like this:

 

[ItIsGreen]

All the Fed ships in DSC so far have had a physical deflector like the Connie and NX.

Including the Discovery. The only difference is that they have a glow behind it like the NX class

Really? Can't say as I've noticed it, in the brief external shots we've had. At least not on my television from the other side of the room, anyway. Fair enough, maybe some sort of hybrid between the original and refit deflectors, then. Or dramatically downsize the physical dish and add a glow. As I say I'm not overly fussed anyway, and I'm more than happy for the Connie to be mentioned in dialogue only and not physically shown on screen

 

[David cgc]

I've never liked the CGI-models of the Connies. Never looks right to me.

I feel like the big trick is in the lighting and surface finish. When you get that, you can make it really shine (alternatively, when it's off, it looks really off, like the still-can't-believe-it's-a-miniature in "Trials and Tibble-ations"). Here's one of the top-shelf examples, which is fresh in my mind since I've been looking at it on my wall every day for the past two weeks.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I feel like the big trick is in the lighting and surface finish. When you get that, you can make it really shine (alternatively, when it's off, it looks really off, like the still-can't-believe-it's-a-miniature in "Trials and Tibble-ations"). Here's one of the top-shelf examples, which is fresh in my mind since I've been looking at it on my wall every day for the past two weeks.

Yeah, I think you're right about that.

 

[Timo]

The thing is, we've already been through this about half a dozen times, and we know how it works - there's no question, there's only the answer.

The makers of Star Trek don't give a flying fuck about whether the TOS ship design is "acceptable" or whatever. This is not a factor of interest to them. They already know for a solid fact that the TOS ship design will be accepted, because it already has been, those half a dozen times. They don't have to ask any self-proclaimed aesthetics experts here, because they already know the answer.

The only reason to bring back the TOS ship is bringing back the TOS ship, not some sort of an upgrade or adaptation. "Bringing back TOS phasers" could take the form of an upgrade or adaptation and still make us wet our pants because those weren't the phasers. The ship would be the one. Or if it weren't, it would not be brought back, as there's no shortage of other starships to use in Star Trek as such.

Timo Saloniemi