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3DExcelsior Prototype

Warp Propulsion LaboratoryWarp Propulsion Laboratory913 BrooklynPosts: 322Member
edited February 2022 in Work in Progress #1
Hey everyone. I've started work on a model of the Excelsior NX-2000 prototype. Ever since seeing it in the Star Trek III program my dad brought home I was in love. I couldn't wait to see on the big screen and I certainly wasn't disappointed, even after the humiliating breakdown. I know it was designed to be a bit goofy and ridiculous in an over-the-top sort of way, but asking Bill George to create an unattractive starship model is like asking Placido Domingo to sing off key. Anyway I've blocked in the masses, now it's time to start cutting out the details.

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Edit: New thumbnail.



Post edited by Warp Propulsion Laboratory on
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Formerly furswift
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  • Vortex5972Vortex5972321 Posts: 1,202Member
    Fantastic start. The Excelsior was a great take on the Constitution layout and really looks good next to the Galaxy.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • trekkitrekki939 Posts: 1,394Member
    Nice start, love this ship.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    Spot on start. Looks really great @furswift.

    The first time I saw it I was comparing it to the Constitution Refit and so didn't like it. Having drawn one, it is one of my favorites. I love it's massive feel. Absolutely cannot wait to see what you do with this.

    I'll never forget, having completed the basic shape of the lower hull, it was downright scary to cut the deflector into it.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratoryjapetus
  • ashleytingerashleytinger1998 Central OhioPosts: 1,233Member
    That is a fantastic start!
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • RekkertRekkert4037 Buenos Aires, ArgentinaPosts: 2,302Member
    Looks great already!
    I don't think the Excelsior was ever supposed to be goofy or over the top, at least nothing I ever read suggested that, and the long design process with half a dozen prototypes indicates they were very serious about reaching a good looking ship. IMO it's the most elegant starship ever designed for Trek.
    Warp Propulsion LaboratoryP5ych0p4thBolianAdmiral
    For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
  • P5ych0p4thP5ych0p4th476 GermanyPosts: 341Member
    Looks really really great so far! Very clean.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Looks outstanding so far. This has always been one of my favorite designs.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • count23count23361 Posts: 779Member
    edited May 2020 #9
    Post edited by count23 on
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
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  • Warp Propulsion LaboratoryWarp Propulsion Laboratory913 BrooklynPosts: 322Member
    Thanks, everyone! :)
    ...I'll never forget, having completed the basic shape of the lower hull, it was downright scary to cut the deflector into it.
    Yeah that secondary hull is a real bear. It's one of the gnarliest compound curves I've ever modeled. The cutout for the deflector dish is a weird shape too.

    @Rekkert "Ridiculous" was probably a poor choice of words on my part. I think I remember seeing an interview where Bill George said the Excelsior was supposed to look ostentatious and haughty to make the Enterprise look inferior. I think of it like Captain Styles' personality was mapped onto a starship design. They really did end up with one of the most beautiful shapes in Trek, though. :)

    @count23 Thanks so much for posting those refs! :) I hadn't seen most of those photos before, so it's really helpful. They show me that most of my work still lies ahead.

    Command and impulse decks are finished:

    tjzhb0j16pox.jpg

    y6g9pdxq4uam.jpg







    P5ych0p4thevil_genius_180Lizzy777Billynom8BolianAdmiralBrandenbergFreakMcCMadKoiFish
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  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    There are some things on this version that I prefer over the "refitted" version from Star Trek VI. That large impulse deflection crystal is one of those things.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratorypubliusr
  • Chris2005Chris2005675 Posts: 3,096Member
    Once done, couple this with Alex's Earth Starbase and you'll have some dope renders to produce. :D
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
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  • Hunter GHunter G1905 Posts: 543Member
    Agree with the others, off to a great start! My models are not nearly this clean starting out!
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    Although these are for the refit, there may be some content that you might find a bit useful.

    http://trebuchestarships.blogspot.com/2011/03/model-magic-reference-photos.html
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    Wow, did you read the note at the bottom? The guy that drew those wants them taken down. On the other hand, he asked back in 2015 and they are still there.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • count23count23361 Posts: 779Member
    @Brandenberg an anonymous post from 2015... pretty sure those images are not going anywhere :)

    Fun fact, did you know the TSFS Excelsior appeared longest of any of the Excelsior variants in trek?

    TSFS's Excelsior was used for Encounter at Farpoint at the start of TNG and was used as the guest ship for all 7 seasons, TUC didn't occur until TNG season 5. So that means the TSFS excelsior version appeared as stock footage for all 7 seasons of Trek. The TUC excelsior only appeared for about 2-3 years in DS9 before Generations and converted to CG after that with it's own errors.

    I do love that impulse deflector crystal on the back of the impulse deck personally, no idea why they replaced it in TUC with something different. That crystal dome was _the_ standout part of TMP that tied all the ships together.
    evil_genius_180Warp Propulsion Laboratory
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  • lennier1lennier1913 Posts: 1,280Member
    Impressive craftsmanship!
    I prefer the refined ST6 version, but it's still nice to see this done justice!
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • publiusrpubliusr550 Posts: 1,746Member
    Just lovely. I look forward to seeing more
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • Warp Propulsion LaboratoryWarp Propulsion Laboratory913 BrooklynPosts: 322Member
    Thanks to everyone for the kind words, and thanks to @BolianAdmiral for the refs! :)

    After several snafus while working on the saucer section I've made some actual progress:

    tc2tz5c6r0ju.jpg

    jf4ya8de5d8r.jpg

    o150m57zz9q5.jpg

    Light tests:

    zj6wq6n4p8gx.jpg

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    P5ych0p4thBillynom8ashleytingerevil_genius_180Lizzy777BolianAdmiralRekkertBrandenberg
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    Formerly furswift
  • japetusjapetus2937 SeattlePosts: 1,397Member
    Nice job! It's a hard one, as im in the middle of updating my Ent-B I feel for you. Modeler Magic has great reference for Excelsior
    Warp Propulsion LaboratoryBolianAdmiral
  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    You're welcome for the refs! If you need any more, let me know... I have some more on my external HD, along with all the images from that site I linked you to, lol.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    Nice :3
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • Warp Propulsion LaboratoryWarp Propulsion Laboratory913 BrooklynPosts: 322Member
    Thank you all!

    Small update today. I wasn't happy with the spacing of the windows around the saucer so I recut them to be a bit closer together. I think it helps with scale and is closer to the actual model. I also enhanced the lights around the planetary sensor dome to be more dimensional and physical looking. Along with that I toned down the "blueness" of the lighting overall to be a bit less nauseating. Neck sensors have been completed as well. Impulse deflection crystal has now been activated.

    047hkwjby77p.jpg

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    pbtsj1ose8hc.jpg




    P5ych0p4thRekkertevil_genius_180srspicerBillynom8Lizzy777Brandenberg
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  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Everything is looking great. I don't know why they went from one large impulse deflection crystal to the two small ones on the studio model, but I just love the ship with one big one.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • Warp Propulsion LaboratoryWarp Propulsion Laboratory913 BrooklynPosts: 322Member
    Everything is looking great. I don't know why they went from one large impulse deflection crystal to the two small ones on the studio model, but I just love the ship with one big one.

    Thanks! I too prefer the single crystal design. The "twin mill" design of the NCC version makes me think it has two warp cores.

    So I've started work on refining the drive section. I decided to dive right in with the contraption in the cutout of the lower part of the hull. I know it's often referred to as a hangar bay, but it's always open to space and doesn't have a flat deck. Also the aforementioned "contraption" would seem to get in the way of any landing craft. I prefer to think of it as a "Transwarp Field Conditioner", much like the one between the nacelles of the NX-01. I also imagine the two large dark pads on the bottom of the hull are transwarp field sensors. I really don't know though I'm just a speculating hobbyist. It was difficult to model this thing as I couldn't find any reliable plans and all the photos of it are pretty foreshortened. In fact I got so carried away working on this thing that I forgot it was just a part of a larger project. Anyway here are a couple renders:

    20z6id0aoswz.jpg

    And lit:

    4694xwvboyzv.jpg

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  • Lizzy777Lizzy7771249 PNWPosts: 754Member
    furswift wrote: »
    I prefer to think of it as a "Transwarp Field Conditioner", much like the one between the nacelles of the NX-01. I also imagine the two large dark pads on the bottom of the hull are transwarp field sensors. I really don't know though I'm just a speculating hobbyist. It was difficult to model this thing as I couldn't find any reliable plans and all the photos of it are pretty foreshortened. In fact I got so carried away working on this thing that I forgot it was just a part of a larger project. Anyway here are a couple renders:

    It seems like a good definition to me for all those greebly bits. It's also a lot more detail than I'd have thought to put into it. Well done, so far!
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
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  • P5ych0p4thP5ych0p4th476 GermanyPosts: 341Member
    That‘s a nice little Idea. And the execution looks great. The Excelsior was always my favorite Ship design.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    The modeling on that section looks fantastic. I put together a plastic model of the Excelsior and one of the Enterprise-B back in the day and their level of detail doesn't even touch what you're doing.

    One could think it was for capturing ships that are larger than a standard shuttle, much like how the Star Destroyer captures the Tantive IV in the original Star Wars. But, there's nothing like that in Star Trek, so it's hard to say.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • count23count23361 Posts: 779Member
    Yea, FYI it is a hangar deck because the original studio model had two executive shuttles docked in it until they remade the model.

    https://i.imgur.com/VertHYQ.jpg
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  • RekkertRekkert4037 Buenos Aires, ArgentinaPosts: 2,302Member
    Love the modeling! Also love the explanation for what that hole on the hull is, as I touched on my thread when doing the Potemkin shuttlebay I don't subscribe to the idea of it being a hangar, there's nothing in canon that suggests that.

    Keep in mind the NX version looks different than the later NCC model there as well, the "executive shuttles" (I put it in quotation as given the scale there's no way those are shuttles, they'd be smaller than a Class-F) were designed for TUC, and thus weren't there on TSFS.
    QA3dTY4.jpg

    Touching on the topic of the "impulse crystals", I actually prefer the two smaller crystals; then again I never saw them as the top of the warp core. The Oberth and Constellation classes both have two crystals as well. :)
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
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  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    The Constellation class has no impulse deflection crystals because they changed the details on the impulse engines.

    I just personally like the look of one big crystal. The MSD on the Enterprise-B definitely shows the warp core ending well below the impulse engines, so I'm going to agree that it has nothing to do with the crystals. As far as I know, the only sources showing the warp core going up that high on the Constitution refit are non canon sources.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
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