WIP Enterprise Protostar

[dubeau]

Hi, Got this idea about an old design I made. Some kind of a twist if you prefer...
Back in the days I made an Enterprise F that was too futuristic in some manner.
This was the design: http://membre.oricom.ca/komaro/3d_10.html

Basically I though: why generate a singularity core/event inside the ship when the ring
nacelle could do it outside the ship. So, I want to redo that model a step up
and use the ring to generate a singularity outside the ship under the ring. It would
look like a dark planet core of some sort. I want to redo more standard textures too...

 

[dubeau]

Top of the saucer:

 

[Kaiser]

Looks good so far

 

[dubeau]

So, I modified the ring engine to be a bit bigger. I actually used the old one. In the center you can see the two emitters for the singularity. The rest of the ring create the force field that stabilize it. Dead in the center is a representation of where the singularity should be. I still don't know how I am gonna do the singularity...I don't know if I can do a static special effect in 3DS yet...

 

[Solarbaby]

I like this. I love designs which stray away from the norm. I think though the elliptical saucer is unnecessary since the triangular (engine?) at the aft does appear to not need to create a warp field like the other aerodynamic shaped hulls of later designs in trek.

 

[dubeau]

I think though the elliptical saucer is unnecessary since

Well, I was thinking about that. There is a need for a saucer, but maybe not in this shape. But I have no clue on what should be made instead. I am gonna try some experiments with this, for the moment this is a question mark. I need to redo the emitters in the back too, I don't like them at all.

 

[publiusr]

Kind has that uber-tech Ori look to it.

 

[JES]

I'm sort of liking what I'm seeing so far. I'm kind of aesthetically liking how the pylons are sort of a pair of wings that come up, meet, and form a sort of airfoil. If you don't want to use a stretched saucer, might I suggest an arrow or delta-shaped primary hull, or a stretched semi-circle (a semi-oval, if you will)?

I'm not very certain about leaving the singularity emitters exposed though. If there weren't any shields left to protect the singularity or force field emitters, and an enemy fired straight at them, might this not mean loss of control of the singularity, which I'm assuming you mean is a black hole, would then proceed to consume the ship? Is there not probably a safer place to generate and contain a singularity?

 

[dubeau]

Well, the ring shape does protect with force fields the core of the singularity, in fact it is essential in the process of creating one. I am not sure what it should be, a black hole or a small proto sun, didn't think that hard about it. I feel, like any engines, it should have advantage and disadvantage. Of course it is exposed and visible, but it can sustain a longer wormhole opening in front of the ship. The singularity can be stopped be overload, but in the other, you can use that overload of energy throughout the ship. If destabilized, the singularity will sustain itself and will "leave the ship", it will create an explosion and disrupt time/space. However the ship also have a warp core to get away. The warp core is the one that generate the force fields for the singularity, but also stabilize the ship.

I tried another shape for the saucer, kind of a triangle style...didn't look good. Gonna try a two part half saucer for fun.

Some top hull works for the panels:

 

[The Axeman]

I like the spoiler/wing/engine idea as its very sleek looking and pretty different from the normal, yet still reminiscent of the Vulcan ring ships. I'm not sure how I'd go about animating the warp effect though, it would be pretty challenging.

I'm not a fan of the secondary hull or the prominent raised areas on the saucer though. The secondary hull lacks definition, it looks like it was inflated rather than built. The detail on the saucer seems very prominent and bulging as well, way taller than simple phaser banks or single deck stepped areas seen on most ships. It's like someone making a cake version of a ship, if that makes sense, very bulked out detail.

 

[dubeau]

Axeman, thanks for the comment. Just a start for the hull area...still a lot to do. I want to do an extrude+chamfer around the shapes of the hull. It doesn't always work well tho...The middle section Hull should have small panels all around. I made the shapes turbosmooth, because i modeled with very simple shape (Box) to start with. I usually do prefer to start from primitive form, because spline modeling always cause problem with the cap area not being cut at all (No wireframe).

As for the warp singularity, no, I don't think I will animate it. I know nothing about animation in 3dsMax. I will do something like a 3 layers alpha texture, but static for now.

 

[The Axeman]

I often use box modelling myself, but its a balancing act. I have to be careful not to leave things looking like balloon animal versions of things, or go too sharp and artificial looking. I've started using splines more and more to get the main shape of things now as it lets me build in a bit more definition at the start, but you really have to sketch out your idea first so you know where you're going.

 

[Tiberius]

I am REALLY liking this idea!

 

[dubeau]

I agree Axeman. I saw some tutorials about modeling with splines, especially for cars and planes. Surely I will learn it more along the way...

I redid the saucer. It's a bit more curvy but it fits so much more with the natural shapes of the hulls. I refined the borders of the hulls. Made the sensor ray around the saucer. Gonna have to rethink what I am gonna do with the saucer area, in terms of panels, pods and phaser.

 

[Kaiser]

Looks good so far

 

[Colonel Midnight]

Out of curiosity, does the singularity have to "see" ahead of the saucer for the drive to work?

(Sort of similar to those supposed/often-debated "starship design rules" with respect to the nacelles needing to see each other.)

Overall -- I like it, although I think the curved wing/pylon area needs to be broader/have a bit more beam to it. The whole design "feels" too narrow and thus unbalanced, IMO.

(Not that would mean anything in outer space, but still... this is art we're talking here.)

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[dubeau]

To answer you CM, no. The singularity creates a wormhole in front of the ship with the helps of the shields, because it rotates in a certain way. It is a central unique engine. The ship can make turns, in the wormhole, because the singularity can also turn left or right (On itself). However, even if a wormhole can be create backward, the ship cannot enter the wormhole in this manner.

Believe me: I had to enlarge the ring a lot, to get the emitters and the singularity into place. Bigger that that, was ridiculous when you look at the ship frontally. I have to place some darker panels on the ring, that would serve has shield projectors and such. Still have to be made.

 

[dubeau]

I put a description of two pieces of tech here:
http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?p=6089416#post6089416
I coudn't sleep...LOL

 

[dubeau]

Less time to work on it, but here a small update. I put the 4 views of the software too:

 

[Kaiser]

Looks good