3DUSS Quasar Technical Manual

Rekkert

Hello!

We've been talking quite a bit with BolianAdmiral about an idea of his to create a Tecnical Manual style document for his Nebula Class USS Quasar, detailing things such as personnel equipment, auxiliary crafts, interior diagrams, etc.

In this thread it is my idea to detail each time he commissions me to create a piece of artwork for it, and if in the future he commissions someone else's for some of the pieces he's more than welcome to keep this thread going with those.

His first commission for this project is the creation of a Type-17 shuttle craft with some custom modifications. Here's the progress so far:

evil_genius_180

Cool. I like that shuttle design. Of course, they wound up just re-using and modifying the Star Trek V shuttle, but that's still a cool "what if" design.

BolianAdmiral

Very nice start! Love it so far!

Rekkert

@evil_genius_180: Indeed it was just cheaper to reuse the Galileo in the end, but this designs fits very well but the TNG aesthetic, so it's completely plausible as another shuttle being used in other ships.

@BolianAdmiral: Glad you like it!

A final update for today, the nacelles are done (they won't have any grills or visible warp field generations) and I've started adding details to the main body. Also, I couldn't help myself and I did a quick shuttlebay using some scaled columns from my bridges.

Nevets

STUNNING. I've always loved the original shuttlepod design with its nice curves. It's just a shame production cost never allowed for it.

BolianAdmiral

Very nice! The nacelle turned out great! Nice to have it in a shuttlebay, too!

BolianAdmiral

This is going to be the shuttlepod Hyonos, as indicated, a Type-17 shuttle. It's the very first auxiliary vehicle/shuttle seen in the fanfic the Quasar (and the Zodiac) is featured in. It's the shuttle that first arrives from the Quasar to transport Captain Rachel Ariel to the ship, which is being prepped for launch at the Cape Canaveral Orbital Yards.

Unlike the fan versions of this shuttle already present, this version will as closely as possible follow the look of the very original concept pre-production model, as seen in the pictures below.

Starscream

Good job!

I can't help thinking that the body of the Type-17 would have made for an ideal basis for a Defiant-type shuttlecraft, rather than the heavily modded Type-18 we got...

Rekkert

@Nevets: Thank you! Indeed it's a very nice design.

@BolianAdmiral:

@Starscream: Thanks! Yeah, like I mentioned previously, it just fits in great with the canon designs.

I've added the side windows as well as several details on the top of the ship, and added some panels at the bottom, but I wanted to keep the overall design clean.

BolianAdmiral

Wow... very nice! The side window is just perfect, and I love the bottom details! I agree that with the shuttle being so small, it's definitely the best idea to keep things as clean as possible, wherever we can.

evil_genius_180

It looks great. :thumb:

The design reminds me of a cross between the Type 6 shuttlecraft and the Type 15 shuttlepod.

Starscream

Forgot to mention Bolian, but I quite like the name you chose for this shuttle - it sounds quite Greek. Is there a story behind it?

Rekkert

@BolianAdmiral: Yeah, I thought about adding some more stuff at the bottom like the Galileo had or the shuttle from Voyager, but it doesn't really add to the design, it's just greebles.

@evil_genius_180: Indeed, looking at it in hindsight it's almost a perfect fusion of both designs.

I'm curious as to the name of the shuttle myself, you have to answer this one.

I've added the hatch window, as well as the phaser strips and details all over the place.

evil_genius_180

It's looking great. In my opinion, less is more with shuttles. As a vessel that is designed to enter and leave atmospheres, you don't want a bunch of bits and bobs hanging off of it due to the heat and stresses.

BolianAdmiral

Wow, that's looking nice!

Regarding the name... yes, it is Greek. It's actually the name of a cat I had - a mostly all-white Siamese Redpoint named Hyonos, which is Greek for "snowy". I figured it was a name that sounded different, and most people would just assume was the name of some alien diplomat or whatever, lol. But it's my way of honoring my kitty.

Rekkert

@evil_genius_180: Yeah, that's a good point, otherwise emergency landings wouldn't be as smooth as they are on the show.

@BolianAdmiral: Heh, that's a great reason for a name! Back when I was using SketchUp I did a ship named USS Hipolito in honor of one of my cats, who went missing shortly before.

Last update for the day, I've done all the labels except for the Starfleet emblem, as well as tinkered with the materials a bit.

By the way, I like to do renders keeping the angle in order to see the way I progress with the model, let me know if it's boring and you want me to change the angles.

BolianAdmiral

Rekkert, no worries about the angle... it's fine! So sorry to hear your kitty went missing, but I think it's great that you also honored the kitty in that way! The signage looks great!

I'm still waiting to hear back from Rick Sternbach about the back side details. As soon as I hear something, I'll let you know!

evil_genius_180

I do hope you'll show us the back when you do details back there. Otherwise, the angle is fine and the shuttle looks good so far.

Rekkert

@BolianAdmiral: Yeah, it was sad, but it was some 6 years ago. I have 7 kitties now, and they don't leave the house without their badges.

@evil_genius_180: What back details? A yellowshirt has to be outside to push all the time.

Okey, lots of little stuff. I realized Blender 2.79 is out so I updated it to that. This brought several changes to the materials which now look more realistic.
Also, I've changed from using modeled lettering and markings to having a texture file with all of them and the hull material adding an alpha channel to include them directly on the surface. And BolianAdmiral suggested using another, more accurate font for most of the text, so that's also changed.

Rekkert

I've changed the nacelle a bit to add a phaser strip there. I've also added more details at the top and side of the craft, and a keypad near the hatch (yes, it's a hatch not a door, a human can't get through without crouching).



I've also added an emblem at the bottom per BolianAdmiral's request.

evil_genius_180

Looking great, dude.

BolianAdmiral

Sweet updates! The only thing I would suggest at this point, would be to move the keypad to the opposite side of the door (I actually thought it was a door, in the regard that it slides aftward, instead of swinging outward/upward, like a hatch), as where it is now, it kind of looks squashed in with all the other detailing toward the aft, sort of cramped. I LOVE the bottom Starfleet pennant! It really helps break up all that solid white on the bottom. LOVE the standing console in the bay, too!

Rekkert

@evil_genius_180: Thanks!

@BolianAdmiral: Well, I meant hatch because of the size actually, as yes it slides to the aft of the shuttle as in Rick's drawing. The shuttle itself is quite big, but pretty low. Here are some views with a 1.8 human figure for scale:

Screenshot from 2017-09-25 01-38-38.png

BolianAdmiral

You're right... it technically IS a hatch.

Rekkert

Well, I came across another of Rick Sternbach's concepts for this shuttle, and we decided with BolianAdmiral to make the shuttle more accurate to this new image, so I've basically started over. The shuttle is a lot bigger this time, now tall enough for people to be standing up inside.

BolianAdmiral

Looks good so far. The larger size will certainly make the hatch's size more reasonable for a human to get in/out of.

Rekkert

Lots of progress on the shuttle, including some on the back side hatch.

evil_genius_180

I like it.

ashleytinger

Rekkert wrote: »

Lots of progress on the shuttle, including some on the back side hatch.

Sad they cut up the Star Trek V shuttle. While I did like the end result, I think this one may have fit the show a little better. Nice work!

Rekkert

@evil_genius_180: Thanks!

@ashleytinger: Thanks! Yeah, it does fit a bit better both with the existing Type 15 and with the Galaxy-class as a whole, but I do like the Type 6 anyway.

Here's the third version of the nacelles. While still not finished they're pretty much done. There are Warp coils inside the nacelle, and a half glass, hlaf metallic material on the 'warp grill'.

Starscream

Beautiful!