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3DExcelsior Prototype

245

Posts

  • Warp Propulsion LaboratoryWarp Propulsion Laboratory913 BrooklynPosts: 322Member
    Thank you all so much! :)

    Big update today. I finished the lower part of the secondary hull. The more I work on this thing the more details I see on the studio model. ILM really went to town on this one.

    41mxskrrrtwl.jpg

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    And a closeup of the rear torpedo launcher:
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    RekkertashleytingerBrandenbergevil_genius_180LeoBerlinFreakLizzy777BolianAdmiralMustang13Camaro68McC
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    Formerly furswift
  • Vortex5972Vortex5972321 Posts: 1,202Member
    Fantastic work!
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    You sure know what you're doing! :)
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    Stunning!
    This will be my next main ship build after I have done the Oberth Class.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Outstanding work on those details. I absolutely love this design. :)
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • Warp Propulsion LaboratoryWarp Propulsion Laboratory913 BrooklynPosts: 322Member
    Thanks, everyone! Always such nice comments on this site. :)
    Freak wrote: »
    Stunning!
    This will be my next main ship build after I have done the Oberth Class.

    Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing it. :)

    I'm done modeling the top of the secondary hull, the pylons, and the nacelles, so the entire ship model is finished. Now for texturing fun...

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    The prototype Excelsior has an odd structure in front of the shuttlebay whose purpose I can't figure out. It looks like a large room with huge windows. This would make a great arboretum, but it's oddly close to the shuttlebay and the space would be better suited for auxiliary craft maintenance and storage (maybe that's why they changed it on the NCC version). Then again it would make an awesome reception area for dignitaries arriving by shuttlecraft. It would be cool if someone fleshed out its interior (@Rekkert I'm looking in your direction ;) ) I may do it in the future, but for now I'm just interested in recreating the movie miniature.

    tqsijhu4tpni.jpg




    ashleytingerBrandenbergevil_genius_180Lizzy777FreakBolianAdmiralMcC
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  • ashleytingerashleytinger1998 Central OhioPosts: 1,232Member
    Love all the detailing on her. The Excelsior model and the K'Tinga were the only two ship models to survive all my moves from my teen years and into adulthood (like '92 or '93 up to now) and seeing this is making me want to break my models out of storage and do the repair work on them. (The Excelsior saucer and secondary hull had an involuntary separation and I think one of the nacelles is cracked and the K'Tinga bridge module snapped off meh).

    You do such good work on this. It looks great!
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    Why was I thinking there was a pool back there? However, you are right - crazy place for anything besides shuttle related use.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • Chris2005Chris2005675 Posts: 3,096Member
    This is blowing me away. :open_mouth:
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
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  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    She looking great.
    furswift wrote: »
    Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing it. :)

    I'll try not to disappoint.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • Warp Propulsion LaboratoryWarp Propulsion Laboratory913 BrooklynPosts: 322Member
    edited June 2020 #42
    Thank you all. :)
    Why was I thinking there was a pool back there? However, you are right - crazy place for anything besides shuttle related use.

    A pool! Awesome idea. In fact I like it so much I created a quick mockup. I don't have any models of Starfleet personnel, so I used a random office worker for scale. This won't be a part of the finished model; I'm just having some fun.

    qgc3yf97kwyw.jpg
    After a grueling weeks-long away mission you'll need to relax. Come to the Excelsior Spa. After rejuvinating in Starfleet's largest mobile pool you'll be able to go back to breaking the Enterprise's speed records in no time.
    Post edited by Warp Propulsion Laboratory on
    RekkertashleytingerFreakLizzy777BolianAdmiralslybrarianMcCgmd3dSoul Scream
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    Formerly furswift
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    Man, what a delightful surprise. Love the promo text at the bottom.
    I'm not sure where I got the idea it was a pool but I'm sure I read it somewhere or saw it on one of those cutaway interior artwork posters artists have done for Trek ships. Man if it ever sprung a leak there would be a lot of soggy shuttles below it somewhere. :p
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • RekkertRekkert4037 Buenos Aires, ArgentinaPosts: 2,302Member
    lol, that actually looks great!

    Yeah, I think over at TrekBBS there was some discussion about what this area was on the NX version, back when I was making the Potemkin shuttlebay. It could be a "traffic control tower" of sorts, but then again it would be looking the other way, plus it's way too big for that. It was clearly intended to mirror the Enterprise's arboretum windows, even if that doesn't make much sense in that area. Perhaps a large VIP lounge is another possibility, similar to what we saw in TMP, but in a bigger scale; maybe even with some trees and grass, a mix arboretum/lounge area.

    Then again, that would make little sense so far away from the bridge and the saucer as a whole, where most of the crew areas are. If red alert is called while the senior staff are in this spot, the turbolift network would become saturated with officers moving from one end of the ship to the other in order to get to battlestations.

    Then again, maybe I'm way overthinking this. The Excelsior wasn't made with much though into its layout. Heck, the bridge doesn't even fit into the module!
    tadeo-d-oria-screenshot-from-2020-05-24-21-20-47.jpg?1592615573
    BolianAdmiralBrandenbergWarp Propulsion LaboratoryMcCSoul Scream
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  • BolianAdmiralBolianAdmiral1114 Torrance, CaliforniaPosts: 2,560Member
    You know... seeing that pool image... that area actually would be a cool spot for the Excelsior version of the arboretum... IMO. The crew could chillax, and kick back watching the stars zip by the nacelles, lol.
    BrandenbergWarp Propulsion Laboratory
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    edited June 2020 #46
    Agreed. It certainly would be one of the best views on ANY starship in the fleet. Of course later, that area was changed on Enterprise B and the Lakota.
    Post edited by Brandenberg on
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    @Rekkert

    What I always assumed about interior bridges that didn't match exterior shape is that the bridge area had an external buffer of room space around it. For instance, obviously there are no windows on the bridge but there are on the exterior shape in your example above. So it might be like an onion, the bridge inside the bridge structure.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    edited June 2020 #48
    Also, it's entirely possible the bridge on the Excelsior wasn't originally intended to be in the dome up top, but rather in the structure beneath. Like Brandenberg said, the bridges didn't have windows but that dome is covered in holes, three rows of them in fact. That's too many rows of holes to be windows indicating three decks. It's my opinion that the original dome was probably just a sensor dome. Though, it's also possible that the ship was originally designed to be even larger than it was established to be in the film. Of course, the Lakota is definitely larger, though I suspect that was more of one of the legendary DS9 scaling issues when the Defiant passed over it and was tiny by comparison. (more so than it should have been)
    Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • RekkertRekkert4037 Buenos Aires, ArgentinaPosts: 2,302Member
    @Brandenberg: Oh, yeah that's a given; most bridges in Trek have other rooms around them, hence the exteriors are usually larger and with windows around. The TMP Enterprise, Enterprise-D, Voyager, and Enterprise-E were all designed with that in mind.
    The problem here with the Excelsior that I was trying to illustrate is that at the canon established size the bridge is larger than the module itself, which showcases the little care that went into actually thinking the scale and finer details of the design.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
    For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
  • slybrarianslybrarian68 Posts: 49Member
    Over the years I've increasingly grown sympathetic to the idea that the Excelsior is closer to the six to seven hundred meter range rather than the 467 listed in sources like the encyclopedia and tech manuals.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    Rekkert wrote: »
    The problem here with the Excelsior that I was trying to illustrate is that at the canon established size the bridge is larger than the module itself, which showcases the little care that went into actually thinking the scale and finer details of the design.
    Ohhhhhhh. Got it. I missed the fact that the drawing you overlaid was scale to the structure.

    So that either means the bridge would have to be in a room below what we see as the "bridge" as @evil_genius_180 indicated or @slybrarian is right that someone set the dimensions of the Excelsior too small.

    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • BrandenbergBrandenberg1655 CaliforniaPosts: 1,937Member
    I was looking at the pool render again and it occurred to me that for a body of water like a pool, inertial dampeners would have to be incredible to put the brakes on the inevitable warp speed tidal wave.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • scifiericscifieric1122 Posts: 1,497Member
    Although I've never been a big fan of the Excelsior design, your model is stupendous! Excellent work!
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • ViperViper1678 Posts: 717Administrator
    The Excelsior size problem is something I've looked into a lot. The issue is that the windows are the same size as the Connie. With that in mind, the 467m is correct. If you scale the ship up, you need to make the windows smaller and then you won't have the same look at the movies/show do.

    For the bridge, I would just make it recessed and have different rooms in the upper level. A bit unorthodox for a classic ship, but the Shenzhou had the bridge in the lower levels, we can make a bridge be a multi level deck ;)
    Rekkertevil_genius_180Warp Propulsion LaboratoryFreak
  • mattcmattc181 Perth, AuPosts: 322Member
    Lovely job so far.

    M.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    edited June 2020 #56
    Viper wrote: »
    The Excelsior size problem is something I've looked into a lot. The issue is that the windows are the same size as the Connie. With that in mind, the 467m is correct. If you scale the ship up, you need to make the windows smaller and then you won't have the same look at the movies/show do.

    Yeah, ILM built the model to be 467m, and it's consistent in the movies and anything else where ILM did the effects shots. (such as Encounter at Farpoint) Nilo Rodis did a scale chart for Star Trek III and the Enterprise is 1,000ft long, which is 304.8m, and the Excelsior is 1,531ft, which is 466.6488m. Of course, we round those up to 305m and 467m. Any scaling issues come from other companies doing effects shots with the model and not getting their scales correct.

    Of course, that doesn't explain the bridge issue, but I suspect that has to do with real world considerations. The model was likely repaired and "upgraded" well before principle filming began, and the effects crew wasn't likely to have had knowledge that the Enterprise bridge set was going to be redressed to be the Excelsior bridge. Of course, the movie was done on a very strict budget and that allowed money to be spent elsewhere.
    Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • publiusrpubliusr550 Posts: 1,746Member
    One could just say the windows were bigger.
    Not much room for shuttles otherwise?
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • ViperViper1678 Posts: 717Administrator
    publiusr wrote: »
    One could just say the windows were bigger.
    Not much room for shuttles otherwise?

    That creates a very inconsistent look and your scaling goes to hell if you have both ships side by side. If you notice, each era has its own window shape, which was very smart of them.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratory
  • StarshipStarship464 São Paulo - BrasilPosts: 1,976Member
    furswift wrote: »
    Thank you all so much! :)

    Big update today. I finished the lower part of the secondary hull. The more I work on this thing the more details I see on the studio model. ILM really went to town on this one.

    It´s a wonderfull work all around old friend!
    Congratullations!

    Warp Propulsion Laboratorypubliusr
  • Warp Propulsion LaboratoryWarp Propulsion Laboratory913 BrooklynPosts: 322Member
    Thank you all for your kind words. I hope everyone is having a good summer. :)

    So I've decided to create the pool area once the ship exterior is finished. I have something pretty fun in mind ;)

    I've finished texturing the saucer, command section, and the impulse drive. The secondary hull will be next.

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    ashleytingerRekkertevil_genius_180Lizzy777Freakgmd3dscifieric
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    Formerly furswift
  • ashleytingerashleytinger1998 Central OhioPosts: 1,232Member
    I am so loving what you're doing with her.
    Warp Propulsion Laboratoryscifieric
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