wtf? Trek F14 Tomcat

[The Axeman]

Yes indeedy, I was asked to make a Trek F14 hybrid for a character in an RPG to use. The guy thinks the F14 is the dogs danglies, and wanted his character to use one in the game. I built a rough copy of an F14, then started to try and detail it in a Trek stylee...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4385574371_15a9b318bd_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/4385574443_63c4fb5f79_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4385574529_917151dda8_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4386338732_fcb1f094cd_o.jpg

It's a lot harder than I thought it would be to Trekify an existing vehicle, particularly something like a fighter. Decals and pennants will go a long way to completing the look, but just trying to add thrusters and phasers and so forth is surprisingly taxing. I love the look of the F14, it feels a bit odd to be kacking it up this way. Anyway, just thought you guys might like to see this.

 

[Kaiser]

very awesome

 

[sojourner]

Make it transform into a Mecha too!!

 

[C.E. Evans]

Very nice! I was actually afraid it was going to be something with gigantic warp nacelles for the exhausts, but this was very tasteful while still being Trekkish.

I can understand a love for the F-14. A whole generation grew up with it being the top dog in the sky and that love affair didn't end for some when it was retired awhile back...

 

[The Axeman]

Yeah, they were just an amazing looking aircraft that made you drool. Shame they were terrible hangar queens and crap to run, but you cant have everything.

 

[Colonel Midnight]

Wasn't an F-14 model used in one of the DS9 kitbashes for the Dominion War? Or was it an F-15? It was pretty obvious once you saw it...

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[MarianLH]

Darn, I was hoping this thread was going to be about the Star Fleet Battles F14. It was named after the historical one, but doesn't look anything like it.

How much can you alter the design? Reshaping the canopy to resemble the shuttlecraft of the same era is one thing that comes to mind.


Marian

 

[AmbassadorKosh]

Make it transform into a Mecha too!!

That would be cool to introduce the Valkyrie fighter into the Trek universe. I can here the dialog now: (Science Officer)Captain, there's a large subspace distortion ahead. (Captain) On screen, maximum magnafication. What the......(screen shows a Macross or New Macross class battlefortress emerging from a space fold).

 

[sojourner]

Wasn't an F-14 model used in one of the DS9 kitbashes for the Dominion War? Or was it an F-15? It was pretty obvious once you saw it...

Cheers,
-CM-

OldBSG used an F-15 kitbash for the antagonists (the Terraten alliance or some such?) in a couple episodes

 

[largo]

Make it transform into a Mecha too!!

That would be cool to introduce the Valkyrie fighter into the Trek universe. I can here the dialog now: (Science Officer)Captain, there's a large subspace distortion ahead. (Captain) On screen, maximum magnafication. What the......(screen shows a Macross or New Macross class battlefortress emerging from a space fold).

i'm very certain that there's already at least one fanfic along those lines.

 

[The Axeman]

Crossovers, almost without fail, suck.

They used an F-15 kitbash on the old BSG? Ah, that must have been something to see. When you spot a blatant kitbash or anachronism like that it just blows any suspension of disbelief right out of the water. That terrible hover lamborghini in the Judge Dredd film springs to mind, or Dr McCoy using a microphone to block out heartbeats.

 

[B.J.]

Wasn't an F-14 model used in one of the DS9 kitbashes for the Dominion War? Or was it an F-15? It was pretty obvious once you saw it...

Cheers,
-CM-

OldBSG used an F-15 kitbash for the antagonists (the Terraten alliance or some such?) in a couple episodes

The F-14 hull in DS9 was for the USS Elkins model (first one on this page). The Eastern Alliance Destroyer is the BSG ship, but it's so highly modified that I personally don't have any problem with its believability.

 

[sojourner]

I recognized the Eastern Alliance Destroyer for what it was during the original airing of the show, when I was 9. They did a good job on the model, but it was still presented in a fashion that the kitbashing was obvious. If they had gone the route of DS9 and reversed the orientation it may have been better hidden.

 

[RichMerk]

Love your F14 model! Would it help to make it look more Star Trekky if you removed the grille at the front of the engines and put a more traditional bussard dome there?

Darn, I was hoping this thread was going to be about the Star Fleet Battles F14. It was named after the historical one, but doesn't look anything like it.

This one? http://3d.merknet.com/free/tomcat/tomcat.html

 

[The Axeman]

I added the grille so that the red bussard glow inside wouldn't be too overpowering. Without it, the glow was dominating the front view too much. I'm thinking instead about altering or removing the large rear fins and adding some other small feature there to make it look slightly less like an aircraft. I'll get some work done on this on Saturday and let you see how it looks.

 

[The Axeman]

Some updates on this prestigious project...

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4393757030_12dbdb90bd_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4392988755_1e12618c8f_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4393756846_06a21ac79f_o.jpg

 

[Kaiser]

nice update shots of this

 

[Data Holmes]

Very nice...

 

[The Axeman]

Well, finally got around to finishing this thing off for the guy. I added a bit more detail and slapped some basic image maps on it. I've kept the images pretty simple and white because the guy is learning lightwave and is now trying his hand at altering image maps to suit, so he can make it any colour or decals he wants.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4417471412_686d45a126_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2802/4417471558_12d4b14f88_o.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2759/4417471882_2735f01f4e_o.jpg

I have to say that slapping the image maps on this thing really brougt back memories. Many an afternoon in my youth was spent ripping little decals to bits trying to fit them to Tomcats, Phantoms, etc. I'm tempted to try and make a proper modern military fighter just to stick the decals on again.

 

[RichMerk]

It sickens me how easily you can crank out such awesome stuff.

Still, it looks like a regular F14 jet with a Starfleet paint job, not a starfighter. It's the engines. They just don't look like warp engines, even with that blue glowy part. But I suppose the final verdict should come from the person who requested the model.