3DAnother Connie Re-design

JWWright

Trying to avoid burnout on my Eagle Transporter model... So I've been playing around with an idea for a more geometric approach to the old Constitution class.

Highlights of what I have so far:




WIP Archive, progress album can be found here.

Rekkert

Interesting, really cool aproach to the design, definitevely looking forward to see how it evolve!

Halo Buff

Certainly a different take on it, all corners instead of curves.

Melak

A positively bold design!

JWWright wrote:

Trying to avoid burnout

That's it! I never knew how to properly name that...so simple

JWWright

Thanks guys, I always think my re-designs will piss off many purists... which I am one, too. The original Jeffries design was and still is a real milestone in starship design.

I wanted to see what a Connie would look like with a more "building -like" use of interior space... While drawing on some design aspects from the TMP re-fit, and even the JJ-prise, which I'm not a big fan of...

This is just a design experiment, no cause for alarm! My way of clearing my mental palate... so I can get back the my Eagle with fresh eyes.

Ironscythe

Thumbnails don't do this justice. I was all ready to open up with scathing criticisms and a few personal insults, but when I saw the larger view, I was blown away by how surprisingly cool this is.

You've done something special here, so go about texturing and color choice like your life depends on it, because if you really do this right, you're up there with Probert, Eaves, and Drexler in my book.

JWWright

Ha ha! Thanks! I'm lucky Mr Flibble is pleased, I've seen what happens when he becomes cross...



Well, those guys are legends, my goal is to approach their quality, but I'm not there yet. Very high praise and I'm grateful!

A couple of scale tests, this will help my placement of portholes later and assist my level of detail as I model the fiddly bits...

Added a control/observation deck for the shuttle bay. You cant really see the figures in the thumbnails...

[Deleted User]

I would suggest an octagonal(8) or nonagonal(9) sided saucer section. what you have in the first thumbnails looks a bit off. Just my opinion.

JWWright

Good suggestion, actually the primary hull is technically an octo... but tapered, check out the top view.

JWWright

Quick update:

publiusr

Here is something that you might want to work on
http://www.shipschematics.net/startrek/images/federation/dreadnaught_starempire.jpg
From the novel "Dreadnought!"

I like this primary hull a bit better
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h256/justiciar/Star%20Trek/Federation/gemini4.png
http://subodeon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ships&action=display&thread=1591

The only thing I might do is make the hull as wide in the back as the first one is in the front, and keep the design equal all way around, as the second one. Also, it might be good to rotate the section, sharp edge on, and have a raise section under the bridge with tubes facing all firing arcs.

http://subodeon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ships&action=display&thread=1387http://subodeon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ships&action=display&thread=1962

Excelsior hulls
http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=20575
http://subodeon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ships&action=display&thread=1981

Tool kit
http://subodeon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ships&action=display&thread=2023

JWWright

Scale test for decks, windows, defense grid and shuttlepod docking rig...



Thanks for those links, dont get me started... I have a backlog of a hundred models I want to make... add those to the stack!

JWWright

What I did like about the JJ-prise, is what I liked about the 1701 from the Cage, where the main viewscreen was also a kind of window

JWWright

More stuff:

Buckaroohawk

Hmmm...as much as I love the work you're doing on the revamped Space: 1999 Eagle, this experiment isn't hitting me with that same "WOW!" factor. This isn't a judgment of your talents by any means; your Eagle WIP shows just how strong your design, function and artistic sensibilities are. It's just that this version of the Constitution Class starship isn't singing to me the way the Eagle is. Oh, and it isn't because I'm a Trek purist either. I love seeing how other artists interpret that classic design. I've done three different versions myself and I'm working on a fourth.

As a side-project started to keep you from burning out on the Eagle, this is a good distraction; the Connie works because its arrangement can be re-shaped in such interesting ways. Maybe it's the angular nature of this version that's keeping it from growing on me but it just doesn't look right somehow. Perhaps I need to let it settle into my mind a bit more and see how the details emerge. I will endeavor to keep my mind open to its possibilities. In any case, however, if this is what it takes to get the Eagle finished, then I'm all for it!

JWWright

I wouldnt sweat it, this is still pretty early and rough, it's a long way from refinement, as it really is a work in progress. I could wait to post here, after I've developed it to a more visually striking degree, but that would defeat the spirit of this forum, I think. Nothing's set in stone...

Buckaroohawk

JWWright wrote: »

I wouldnt sweat it, this is still pretty early and rough, it's a long way from refinement, as it really is a work in progress. I could wait to post here, after I've developed it to a more visually striking degree, but that would defeat the spirit of this forum, I think. Nothing's set in stone...

You are absolutely right, sir. I made my judgment too quickly, and I offer my sincere apologies. If you can do with the Connie what you've done with the Eagle, then you have an enthusiastic "thumbs up" from me.

JWWright

I dunno if this is gonna turn out worth a crap, like any model I start on, especially when its a radical departure... thats the nature of experiment... chasing the rabbit through the hole.

But persistence is usually what separates win from fail... When I model something that already exists, it's easy to keep going because someone already did the thinking. Its easy to want to bail on uncharted territory. But sometimes persistence pans out, other times it doesnt.

They cant all be gems... ha! Anyway, a little more work... I added the main gangway to the saucer, the dorsal protrudes through the saucer which will be more apparent during a separation event. More windows and roughing out the Impulse manifolds...

Hellsgate

Interesting. What era? The Lost Years?

JWWright

Thanks man, no particular era, this is purely a design experiment. Its based on a notion that spaceships are really just buildings in space, and buildings are generally blocky uses of space, which is practical and functional...

But who knows? This could be a ship from an alternate version of the mirror universe...

I always thought the RCS quads on the well known ships were pretty sparsely represented, I wanted to implement something more along the lines of directional rocket manifolds capable of tossing the ship around for defense maneuvers, sublight course corrections, station-keeping and delicate space dock operations.

Hellsgate

I'd go with a borderline ENT-to-TAS era experimental starship, along the lines of a Constitution-Class precursor to the Nova-Class science vessel / Defiant Pathfinder-Class specifically intended to be deployed along the Klingon and Andorian borders, (mostly to keep the Vulcans & Andorians in their respective corners during the opening two to three years of "The Coalition".)

JWWright

Thats fine with me, whatever era anyone thinks works for them, but still, for me it's purely a design study.

I'll add some tanks and supports to the RCS quads later, time to move on to other areas of the ship... more to come!

JWWright

Next, RCS on the secondary hull somewhere...

daibaka

That last lower quarter view really sells that design to me to be honest. Love the RCS quads - they actually look like something that can steer the ship without resorting to subspace-accelerated-whatchamacallits.

For some reason (and it may just be me being dumb) the bridge looks like it should retract down into the deck below for combat, bunker-style. I know - they wouldn't be able to see the dramatically inbound photon torpedo through the window/screen and it would play havoc with the turbo lifts, but thats the just way I see it!

JWWright

Thanks, man!
Retractable bridge, you say?...Hmmm... I don't hate that idea... I'll have to keep that in mind!
I always thought the RCS quads were rocket manifolds, powered by fusion reactors.
More to come!

JWWright

Found a spot for 'em:

daibaka

Yeeeessss... Thats the business, right there! As long as that fusion thruster exhaust doesn't impinge on the hull anywhere (and I can't see anywhere that it does) you'll be laughing all the way to the bank with this. I get the impression that as the ship builds up incrementally from the details like this you might just be onto something special...

JWWright

Starting work detailing the hangar...

Aardwolf

Awesome stuff you got here.

JWWright

Thanks! Got the clamshells modeled, they'll be rigged for opening. A few details on the E-hull...

JWWright

Shaped out the shuttle deck ledge, glazed the ops windows, scribed the spine: