WIP: U.S.S. Bozeman revisited--aka Unused TSFS Ship Design.

[Gepard]

I confess, I've always hated the Soyuz-class we saw in TNG's "Cause and Effect," being as it was a cheap redress of the Reliant, only with ugly crap stuck all over it and a bigass shuttlebay poking out the back.

At the same time, I've also been intrigued by some of the unused ship designs from Star Trek III, especially one of Neil Rodis's paintings of a ship in spacedock. Intriguingly, the TSFS ship and the Soyuz seem to have a lot in common--the TSFS ship clearly owes a lot to the Miranda-class , and like the Soyuz-class, it has a big shuttlebay pod hanging off the back. Only it's not, you know, so hideous as to make your eyes bleed.

Since I'd wanted to build a model of Rodis's design for a while now, I'm working on a new U.S.S. Bozeman, as we could one day see in TNG-R (if we're lucky and they even do a TNG Remastered...)

Progress so far:

This a basic (very, very basic) study model, focusing on getting the shapes and proportions right. It's very low-poly so I could easily adjust the shapes to better match the concept art. It's not perfect, I think because some of the perspective in the painting is wonky, but I think it's good enough to establish the basic look of the ship.

I'd like to try and recreate this whole shot, with the spacedock and everything so I can do a fly-through. If I'm really ambitious, I might even get a Galaxy-class mesh and crash the two into each other.

 

[Reverend]

I had a go at doing some 2D plans for this a while back...never did finish it though.
I had trouble picturing what the secondary hull was supposed to look like...at least in a way that didn't make the while thing look like a big insole from above.

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

While I don't have the same degree of heartburn over the original Bozeman,this looks to be a great design - I look forward to how you develop it further!

 

[sojourner]

Gep. do you have a link to some of those unused designs? I'd like to take a look at them. OH, and nice job, I don't know if I will ever be able to build something that way.

 

[Gepard]

Gep. do you have a link to some of those unused designs? I'd like to take a look at them.

Unfortunately not. The image I'm using came from the December 2002 issue of Star Trek: The Magazine, where they were hyping the DVD release of TSFS. I haven't been able to fund any of them online; for all I know, the magazine may have been the only place they were published.


I got a good start on the real mesh last night and today. Some of the details have been tricky to work out; since the painting was pretty clearly not intended to show a ship that would ever be built, some of the geometry seems to be impossible in 3D, so I've had to go with the best approximations I can.


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I must have gone through three or four versions of the impulse engine block before I settled on one that I was happy with.


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I am pleased with the nacelles, which have come along smoothly, barring a dead end I embarked on when I tried to build some detail into the control cage that would be more wisely added after I freeze the mesh.


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Speaking of the impulse engines, however, I'm starting to think I'm going to have to turn the impulse exhausts into something else, like cargo doors or something, because they are just too damn huge. They look cool, but they're far too inconsistent with every other impulse engine scale we've ever seen before. If anyone has any good ideas about fixing them, I'd love to hear it.

I had a go at doing some 2D plans for this a while back...never did finish it though.
I had trouble picturing what the secondary hull was supposed to look like...at least in a way that didn't make the while thing look like a big insole from above.

I would say "flatiron" from above. It turns out to not be a very pretty ship at all from upper and lower angles; it seems to want the camera to stay around the midsection. I rendered a set of orthographic images and I'd be interested to hear how they compare with what you'd worked up.


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[Jon1701]

Great Work, Gep. Amazing job.

I like the look of her.

Are you going to go with a navigational deflector? Looks like there is room for an NX type one at the front of the secondry hull. That said, the Oberth and Miranda didn't have them. What about putting torpedo launchers were the Impulse engines should be. Keep the impulse engines within the two vertical centre pieces, and you can get four torpedo launchers in there. Two either side!!!

You also have to wonder how they get from the saucer to the secondry hull.

Great work though.

 

[Gepard]

Are you going to go with a navigational deflector? Looks like there is room for an NX type one at the front of the secondry hull. That said, the Oberth and Miranda didn't have them.

There's enough height on the secondary hull that I think a small dish with torpedo launchers flanking it would fit in there, so my rough plan was to try and see about fitting it in there. I'm not a fan of the NX-class arrangement, so I don't see myself using that. If a dish in the secondary hull doesn't work out I'm just going to leave it off.

What about putting torpedo launchers were the Impulse engines should be. Keep the impulse engines within the two vertical centre pieces, and you can get four torpedo launchers in there. Two either side!!!

Maybe, but that seems like overkill for rear-facing launchers. Are they really expecting to get attacked from behind that often?

You also have to wonder how they get from the saucer to the secondry hull.

The Oberth has the same problem.

Great work though.

Glad you like.

 

[Santaman]

Those pylons are a lot thicker then those on an Oberth so a turbolift would fit right in there.

I don't think the impulse engines are too large, they look fine to me in any case.

As for the launchers, turn two into RCS thrusters maybe?

As for the rest, great job

 

[Jon1701]

Are you going to go with a navigational deflector? Looks like there is room for an NX type one at the front of the secondry hull. That said, the Oberth and Miranda didn't have them.

There's enough height on the secondary hull that I think a small dish with torpedo launchers flanking it would fit in there, so my rough plan was to try and see about fitting it in there. I'm not a fan of the NX-class arrangement, so I don't see myself using that. If a dish in the secondary hull doesn't work out I'm just going to leave it off.

What about putting torpedo launchers were the Impulse engines should be. Keep the impulse engines within the two vertical centre pieces, and you can get four torpedo launchers in there. Two either side!!!

Maybe, but that seems like overkill for rear-facing launchers. Are they really expecting to get attacked from behind that often?

You also have to wonder how they get from the saucer to the secondry hull.

The Oberth has the same problem.

Great work though.

Glad you like.

God, no - don't use the NX arrangement.

What I meant was one of a similar size - a very thin elipse. I was only semi-serious about the torpedo lauchers.

 

[Gepard]

God, no - don't use the NX arrangement.

Ah. Yes. If I'd been paying attention when I read your post, that would have been obvious.

Today was "Secondary Hull Day." I reshaped most of the components and built the back end and shuttle bay. I've been fiddling with how the torpedo launchers should fit on but haven't come up with anything good yet. They've been added in their rough positions, just to test out the location.


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I don't think there's a good way to get a deflector on there, at least as the front of the hull is arranged right now.

 

[MadMan1701A]

Modeling wise, it's looking great. That is definitely an awkward looking ship, though...

-=MadMan1701A=-

 

[Data Holmes]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/2841968965_069099804d_o.jpgI don't think there's a good way to get a deflector on there, at least as the front of the hull is arranged right now.

Nice... Remember that this is the movie era, you don't have to have a deflector dish. Just use the set up of the Reliant.

 

[Blip]

Tssk. Reliant was "designed" by ILM - considering the amount of thought they put into that and other ships such as the Grissom, I hardly think we can rely on it as a technical guide...

Not too sure about the aft shuttlebay, to be honest. To me it looks like your endcaps should be a part of the same door assembly, with a slightly curved right angle rather than the clamshell arrangement you have there. In fact, I'd suggest that the secondary hull as a whole is a lot less curvy than you've portrayed, and more boxy.

Unfortunately a combination of poor shading along the sides, and the pronounced slope at the front of said hull give the impression of it being a lot smoother.

Despite that though, I love that someone is taking the time to tackle this peculiarity - and I definitely agree with your assessment of the original Bozeman!

 

[Unicron]

* shrugs * I like the original Soyuz better. The secondary hull doesn't really suit this design IMO, as it just looks tacked on. Perhaps it's supposed to be a pod unit, much like the Oberth's lower section is speculated to be? That solves the transportation issue.

 

[EmperorKalan]

Hmm. It has a lot in common with the TNG Springfield class: http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/springfield.htm

 

[Jon1701]

Can't help thinking the secondry hull would look better if it was mounted a little more forward. I know that detracts from the original design, but the above shot doesn't look right to me - its that shot that it, as unicron says, makes it look tacked on.

I quite like if from the other angles though.

 

[Gepard]

Tssk. Reliant was "designed" by ILM - considering the amount of thought they put into that and other ships such as the Grissom, I hardly think we can rely on it as a technical guide...

The Reliant was designed by Joe Jennings and Mike Minor from the Paramount art department, the same folks who designed the sets and took the first pass on the Enterprise refit in TMP. So if there's a lack of technical knowledge, it's not just at ILM.

At any rate, since this ship was deigned by ILM as much as the Grissom was, the lack of a deflector fits.

Not too sure about the aft shuttlebay, to be honest. To me it looks like your endcaps should be a part of the same door assembly, with a slightly curved right angle rather than the clamshell arrangement you have there. In fact, I'd suggest that the secondary hull as a whole is a lot less curvy than you've portrayed, and more boxy.

I'll admit my first, snap impression of the design is different from yours, but I think it take makes sense on analysis. I suspect, upon reflection, that you're right about the intent, given that lines and color continue around the sides of the door area, indicating that it may have been drawn as one piece. But there are a few problems with doing it that way, not the least of which is: how would the door open in that case? The way I have it built, the sides are static and the center door rolls up out of the way, like a garage door.

And the highlight along the back seems to have a shadow on its inside edge, which could be plausibly interpreted as a division:

Also note that the division lines up with the thickening in the dark underside of the hull; I just don't see how that feature can be preserved and maintain a functioning shuttlebay. But it does work perfectly as a divider between separate pieces.

And while it seems like the front part of the hull could be a little squarer than what I've got, my first priority was to get the aft end right, and the rest of the form followed from that.

Unfortunately a combination of poor shading along the sides, and the pronounced slope at the front of said hull give the impression of it being a lot smoother.

This painting is definitely impressionistic, which leaves a lot of detail to the imagination. Though I'm not sure how, if the painting gives a particular impression of a certain shape, that impression can be wrong, as this is the only image of this ship that exists (as far as I know.) My attitude is, if it looks like "X", it is "X," because this is all we've got.

Despite that though, I love that someone is taking the time to tackle this peculiarity - and I definitely agree with your assessment of the original Bozeman!

Glad you like it.

Hmm. It has a lot in common with the TNG Springfield class: http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/articles/springfield.htm

You're right, it does. I'd forgotten about that ship, but I'd always really liked it, too. The Wolf 359 kitbashes are something of a guilty pleasure, designwise.

Can't help thinking the secondary hull would look better if it was mounted a little more forward. I know that detracts from the original design, but the above shot doesn't look right to me - its that shot that it, as unicron says, makes it look tacked on.

Which image are you referring to? I can take a look.

 

[Data Holmes]

Gep, your secondary hull pod almost looks like an aerodynamic lifting body drop ship in a way. It's got the bridge up top, a big impulse drive on the back instead of a shuttle bay, and the way the front curves it looks like you could put a drop ramp between the two photorp tubes....

And is shares a similar design thought to the executive shuttle from TUC...

 

[Jon1701]

Which image are you referring to? I can take a look.

Something like this. Please forgive my horrendous photoshopping.

Just a thought. Its a more traditional arrangement, but there does seem a lot of empty space hanging out the back on the original. I know its not textured or anything yet. Maybe I'm just not seeing a secondry hull that extends all the way to the end of the nacelles.

 

[Gepard]

I see what you mean. One of the things I liked about the original image was the sense that the secondary hull was actually longer than the nacelles, which was different. Of course, that turns out to be a trick of perspective, but... I'll try a couple different versions and see what sticks.