3DMy Refit Enterprise

[Deleted User]

Hey all first time posting on here. I was laid off 4 months ago, I was faced with lots of free time so what to do with? Make an enterprise of coarse. It was a toss up between my favorite 2; refit and B. I started work but was quickly side tracked, but I remembered I had this guy and still being unemployed figured it was time to finish it up. When I first started on this I was kind of thinking it would pretty straight forward. Turns out this is probably the most difficult model I've ever attempted. But I've really been enjoying the challenge.

Buckaroohawk

Looks like a good start to me, though the bridge area and the base it rests on (which houses the VIP Lounge) seem a bit too tall. You might want to drop those down a little. CGI still has trouble with elegantly sloping lines like the ones on the Enterprise refit, or more accurately, CGI artists often have trouble with them. Even highly experienced artists often pull their hair out over details that would be a much simpler task on a physical model. Furthermore, the Enterprise is a very deceptive lady. The design looks simple, but the way the shapes come together can throw even the best CGI artist into fits of frustrated rage. So don't worry too much about creative bottlenecks. With patience I'm sure you'll find solutions to those challenges.

By the way, are you basing the model on blueprints, or constructing it from memory?

[Deleted User]

Yes, I'm working from blueprints. I'm using the gilso's which I found at http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/gilso.php . It was the only high quality complete set I was able to find at the time. I think they're doing the job. Though the views disagree in a few places. I'm also using some photos taken of the shooting model.

I'm poly modeling this in 3ds max 2010 using Vray as my renderer. This is one of those times I wish that max had better nurbs tools. I prefer poly modeling, but this model begs to be nurbed.

Melak

Looking nice!

I've always wanted to model this one, but the nacelles kill me every time

As for blueprints, I prefer the official set hosted on that site over Gilso's, they don't have as many thick lines and just seem to have a bit more definition. If one of the two sets is more accurate, I couldn't tell.

http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/star-trek-the-motion-picture-sheet-1.jpg
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/star-trek-the-motion-picture-sheet-2.jpg
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/star-trek-the-motion-picture-sheet-3.jpg
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/star-trek-the-motion-picture-sheet-4.jpg

And over at www.modelermagic.com you can find literally hundreds of hi-res photos of the studio model, most of them as far as know are made by Mark Dickson.

[Deleted User]

Been working on the nacelles. I do agree they are quite challenging. And thanks for the link those shots will seriously come in handy. I had actually search around for shots of the model but only found a few. I was searching the term 'shooting model' didn't know the proper term was 'studio model'. Those other plans do appear to be a bit more accurate. It's too bad they weren't scanned very well. I think the plans I'm using are close enough for my purposes.

[Deleted User]

Decided instead of creating the entire ship, create a scene and focus on detailing what will be seen in the shot.

ST-One

That's already a very nice shot.

[Deleted User]

A few details added. Is there anything official on what this airlock is supposed to look like, or am I free to do whatever?

Buckaroohawk

Lehm wrote: »

A few details added. Is there anything official on what this airlock is supposed to look like, or am I free to do whatever?

There is a drawing of what the interior of the saucer airlock might look like in Shane Johnson's book "Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise" but none of the films ever featured this area of the ship. I don't know if anyone's ever posted the images from the book online but you could do a Google search to find out. I suggest doing an image seach so you can bypass most of the listings of people who are selling copies of the book. If you don't feel like doig that much work, though, why not design your own interior. The only thing to be mindful of is that the airlock rests between the two decks that make up the rim of the saucer, so somewhere inside the airlock there will have to be steps (or a ramp or something) leading to the upper deck. The stairs can't go down to the lower deck because of the cut-in on the underside of the saucer. Good luck!

[Deleted User]

Thank you for mentioning that. I totally thought that door was bigger than it really is. For some reason I was thinking it was 16' high. I decided to throw a biped in there to see and its only 8' high. That certainly changes what I can do with the space. So the saucer is only roughly 20' high good thing to know.

Funny thing I noticed. After I came to that realization, I was looking at the scene in motion picture where the crew is gathered in the observation. There's no way that room fits in the saucer. I was like those cheats.

Buckaroohawk

Lehm wrote: »

Funny thing I noticed. After I came to that realization, I was looking at the scene in motion picture where the crew is gathered in the observation. There's no way that room fits in the saucer. I was like those cheats.

Andrew Probert actually talks about the "cheat" of the Main Rec Room scene on his website http://www.probertdesigns.com/Folder_DESIGN/TMP.ENT-RecDeck.html . It's a very enlightening tale about how arbitrary decisions are often made at the cost of design concepts in filmmaking. I think you'll enjoy it.