WIP Excelsior JJverse
- Thread starter dubeau
- Start date
I don't think it will be...The Excelsior have a particular Art Deco feels to it, and it's the farther away from Church curvy design. I don't believe the Federation would do all their designs based on one designer's idea...The Vengeance is the proof of that. That's why I am making it similar to the old design...I still wants it to be the Excelsior when you look at it.
Even if you are trying to stray away from Ryan Church's design, like a certain set/art director from TWOK say's, "There are rules, and themes that need to be obeyed, you can tell what a federation ship is by the design used throughout the fleet." ( I'm paraphrasing by the way.)
So when I was building/texturing the USS Pike, a lot of my reference was 90% ILM shots from both of the new movies. They rest is from TWOK. The Vengeance looks like what the TMP era of ships, if it was twisted darkly. All of it comes really comes down to the details.
Eg: All Starfleet ships in the JJ-Verse so far, have open thrust nacelles. And have a, "straight vs. curve" design philosophy behind it, yes, even the Vengeance has these qualities too.
Your ship, to be quite frank, doesn't. Hence I don't get that distinct feeling that's it's not a "JJ-Verse" ship. But, that's my opinion anyway's.
If you want I can show you what "Straight vs. Curves" means.
Finally I wish you good luck, can't wait to see what you come up with.
Yes, I would like to show me what you mean by Straight vs Curves (Send me a pm if it's too long). By any means, I don't mind changing the design. For me it's an exercise, it might not be the kind of project that receive an ending if it's too much trouble. But we will see.
That look can be a tough nut to crack Reliant for example, was from Joseph Jennings Lee Cole and Mike Minor
"Also, remember the Enterprise was always supposed to be an exploratory vessel where the armament was secondary. That was even more true for the Reliant."
I wonder how they would have designed a battleship...
I have an example here:
This is mainly an organic term, and used a lot by traditional animators. The idea is to create a eye pleasing contrast for movement and design. A huge example would be anything done by Bruce Timm. His Justice League really shows through. Most modern architecture follows this rule. And as as shown by the example above, Star Trek uses that to, the base delta the enterprise mission patch is also a classic example.
But I wouldn't mind having a side shot and a good 3/4 view of your ship in a grey material. I'll PM you my corrections on that.
Two things in particular I really want to point out is the neck of your ship and the nacelles structs. From the latest render you've posted, the neck curves out then, it connects to a curve, then it connects to the secondary hull, which ALSO has a strong curve inwards. There is no balance in that and it kills the shape of the ship.
For the Nacelle structs I would keep the same angle, but curve them. The to do a straight extrusion at a 90 degree angle upwards (this would be very subtle) into the nacelle proper.
For the Nacelle structs I would keep the same angle, but curve them. The to do a straight extrusion at a 90 degree angle upwards (this would be very subtle) into the nacelle proper.
The nacelles seems too flat to me.
I have worked quite a bit on the engines. I am trying to uphold the principle of an open nacelle, and straight vs curve principle of the JJverse. I have also fix part of the neck and refine some parts. I hope you appreciate the lens flares, it took me like...10 seconds to make it, an annoying effect.
I love the front of those nacelles.
I've always just attributed the angular design of the Vengeance to it's nature as a "battleship" and a sort of homage to stealth aircraft design. The Enterprise being the JJ Flagship makes sense as a sort of introduction of a new style. A hotrod in space sort of feel. Prior to the JJPrise, the overall style seems to have mirrored the TOS style.
I kind of disagree with the idea of the Excelsior's nacelle having to be restricted open thrust nacelles. The original's were very different from just about every other Starfleet vessel created at the time.
I recall Madman1701 making this really cool nacelle design for his Excelsior model, but dropping it because he was modeling someone else's concept, and staying true to that.
The original Excelsior was half curves, with straights to give her her length. Why should this be any different? I think you need to first try making her basic profile elegant, going where your artistic instincts take you, then start making twists on the design to make her distinct from the original.
The neck on the other hand is the only real design element that I feel comfortable about running with.
I recall Madman1701 making this really cool nacelle design for his Excelsior model, but dropping it because he was modeling someone else's concept, and staying true to that.
The original Excelsior was half curves, with straights to give her her length. Why should this be any different? I think you need to first try making her basic profile elegant, going where your artistic instincts take you, then start making twists on the design to make her distinct from the original.
The neck on the other hand is the only real design element that I feel comfortable about running with.
