Phaser strips in, I've spent some time proving the array-round-a-curve- concept and I'm happy with the result, need to tweak the profile of it a bit though;
I rebuilt the phaser strip to raise its profile a bit, and also added the ends. Blender can end caps on an array but it was proving a huge pain to get them to line up so I just did a spin on the end cross section and then a merge vertexes, which seems to have worked fine. You can see a bit of segementation but we're at extreme close up here so I'm fine with that.
Next thing I'll do is probaby start with the window booleans.
We have some windows. I don't know if I'mm 100% happy with the placement and alignment so might come back to this later and redo bits of it, but it's good to move things on for now;
I see you put the twin torpedo launcher on the side of the saucer. I never liked that placement, so did not put it on mine. Instead I went with windows.
This ship is already over gunned with the 12 launcher in the weapons pod and the two forward facing launchers on the bottom of the saucer.
I never saw this ship as being a gun boat, but with the number of launchers it had it gives that impression. At first I though this ship was some sort of Carrier, for small fighters. (something not really seen in Trek.)
But it come across more as a Troop carrier. It gets the troops to a plant then start dropping them down by shuttles (reason for the shuttlebay to got though the ship) as Transporter dampening fields are in place stopping them transporting down to a planet.
I see you put the twin torpedo launcher on the side of the saucer. I never liked that placement, so did not put it on mine. Instead I went with windows.
I'm not wild on the idea of lateral torpedo launchers either, it's not something we've seen anywhere else canonically, but they are there so I've stuck with them for now. I guess they could be there to help protect shuttles on approach/departure. A troop carrier seems like a good theory though.
I think that was thinking behind them. But a torpedo has RCS/Impulses Drive which allows them to turn.
If a ship was able to get that close to make the launcher useless, then the Phaser array should be able to do the job.
I just think the design when a little to happy with the launchers.
I think that was thinking behind them. But a torpedo has RCS/Impulses Drive which allows them to turn.
If a ship was able to get that close to make the launcher useless, then the Phaser array should be able to do the job.
I just think the design when a little to happy with the launchers.
Yeah they defnitely had fun with those, especially given how the ship only has 2 phaser strips (saucer top and bottom), it is an odd one. Maybe it's a duel role long range gun boat and carrier.
Great progress! It's certainly a unique arrangement to have so many launchers, but given it's a unique trait of the design, I don't see a problem with it, it gives the Akira a unique role within the fleet.
Speaking of which, on the old Armada games the Akira was a standard cruiser, while the Steamrunner was a long range artillery unit, with tricobalt torpedos that could be fired on a full 360° angle. I always though the roles should've been reversed.
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I remember the Star Trek: The Magazine article about the ship from around 20 years ago. Alex Jaeger designed the ship to be a torpedo boat. Also, it's preserved on Memory Alpha:
"This was my gunship/battlecruiser/aircraft carrier. It has 15 torpedo launchers and two shuttlebays - one in front, with three doors, and one in the back. I really got into it with this one, with the whole idea that the front bay would be the launching bay, and then to return they'd come into the back, because they'd be protected by the rest of the ship." (Star Trek: The Magazine, July 1999, Issue 3)
So, that tells you his thoughts when designing her. It's possible this was yet another ship designed around the Borg threat, much like the Defiant. The Borg led to some unconventional ships being built.
You use the ship in Star Trek Online as a tactical officer. You get it as a Commander, if I remember correctly. It's got lots of guns, especially forward facing, but still only a standard number of torp launchers.
I had a theory that other variants might have different 'pods' fitted on the back too, so the Akira may be the tactical variant with a torpedo pod but maybe there's a sensor variant which a sensor pod up there, or a logistics variant with a tractor beam suite up there or something. Think Thunderbird 2's pods, they can be swapped out depending on the mission profile.
Anyway, speaking of that, added detail to the torpedo pod, and added the windows to the underside of the saucer;
I had a theory that other variants might have different 'pods' fitted on the back too, so the Akira may be the tactical variant with a torpedo pod but maybe there's a sensor variant which a sensor pod up there, or a logistics variant with a tractor beam suite up there or something. Think Thunderbird 2's pods, they can be swapped out depending on the mission profile.
If you go with that Theory, that would make the Akria Class a replacement for the Nebula Class.
Loving what you have done.
Personal I never liked the layout of those rear Launcher as it would create issues with the load mechanisms. So I had them all pointing to the rear to resolve that issue.
Alex Jaeger was not thinking about the interiors when he design her and went with what looked cool. It might have also been down to the amount of time he had to work on it. I know he a huge fan, so if he had the time he would have though about it and designed it differently.
Alex Jaeger was not thinking about the interiors when he design her and went with what looked cool. It might have also been down to the amount of time he had to work on it. I know he a huge fan, so if he had the time he would have though about it and designed it differently.
I'm aware that it wasnt a 'hero' ship either, so despite getting a bit more attention than Steamrunner and Norway, it didnt get the full blueprints and production drawings treatment with real thought going into the placement of everything. I think that kind of detail happened more when physical models were built too, now everything is CG it's easy to just knock cool designs out without investing a vast amount of thought in to the logic of everything (see most ships from Discovery, JJ-Prise etc)
Very cool work and nice job with the deflector.
I was sure that there was trop Launchers in that cut out above the deflector.
I just did a search to see if I could find a better reference for that area to see if I was right and came across an old WIP picture of my ship.
Dam that model was bad! LOL, I can see why I took such a long break form modelling.
Haha it's not that bad! We've all got models we look back on and cringe a bit, thats how we get better. I'm almost certain they're not torpedo launchers but like a lot of things here there's room for interpretation. I've made them grilled vents but there's various things I could do with them tbh.
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Next thing I'll do is probaby start with the window booleans.
I see you put the twin torpedo launcher on the side of the saucer. I never liked that placement, so did not put it on mine. Instead I went with windows.
This ship is already over gunned with the 12 launcher in the weapons pod and the two forward facing launchers on the bottom of the saucer.
I never saw this ship as being a gun boat, but with the number of launchers it had it gives that impression. At first I though this ship was some sort of Carrier, for small fighters. (something not really seen in Trek.)
But it come across more as a Troop carrier. It gets the troops to a plant then start dropping them down by shuttles (reason for the shuttlebay to got though the ship) as Transporter dampening fields are in place stopping them transporting down to a planet.
I'm not wild on the idea of lateral torpedo launchers either, it's not something we've seen anywhere else canonically, but they are there so I've stuck with them for now. I guess they could be there to help protect shuttles on approach/departure. A troop carrier seems like a good theory though.
If a ship was able to get that close to make the launcher useless, then the Phaser array should be able to do the job.
I just think the design when a little to happy with the launchers.
Yeah they defnitely had fun with those, especially given how the ship only has 2 phaser strips (saucer top and bottom), it is an odd one. Maybe it's a duel role long range gun boat and carrier.
Speaking of which, on the old Armada games the Akira was a standard cruiser, while the Steamrunner was a long range artillery unit, with tricobalt torpedos that could be fired on a full 360° angle. I always though the roles should've been reversed.
So, that tells you his thoughts when designing her. It's possible this was yet another ship designed around the Borg threat, much like the Defiant. The Borg led to some unconventional ships being built.
You use the ship in Star Trek Online as a tactical officer. You get it as a Commander, if I remember correctly. It's got lots of guns, especially forward facing, but still only a standard number of torp launchers.
Anyway, speaking of that, added detail to the torpedo pod, and added the windows to the underside of the saucer;
If you go with that Theory, that would make the Akria Class a replacement for the Nebula Class.
Loving what you have done.
Personal I never liked the layout of those rear Launcher as it would create issues with the load mechanisms. So I had them all pointing to the rear to resolve that issue.
Alex Jaeger was not thinking about the interiors when he design her and went with what looked cool. It might have also been down to the amount of time he had to work on it. I know he a huge fan, so if he had the time he would have though about it and designed it differently.
I'm aware that it wasnt a 'hero' ship either, so despite getting a bit more attention than Steamrunner and Norway, it didnt get the full blueprints and production drawings treatment with real thought going into the placement of everything. I think that kind of detail happened more when physical models were built too, now everything is CG it's easy to just knock cool designs out without investing a vast amount of thought in to the logic of everything (see most ships from Discovery, JJ-Prise etc)
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Needs work but the idea is there
I was sure that there was trop Launchers in that cut out above the deflector.
I just did a search to see if I could find a better reference for that area to see if I was right and came across an old WIP picture of my ship.
Dam that model was bad! LOL, I can see why I took such a long break form modelling.
Haha it's not that bad! We've all got models we look back on and cringe a bit, thats how we get better. I'm almost certain they're not torpedo launchers but like a lot of things here there's room for interpretation. I've made them grilled vents but there's various things I could do with them tbh.
Thanks, 1701-E style but with the dual-tone of 1701-D / Voyager.