There's a light on the front of the structure below the bridge. I tried to increase the intensity so that it illuminated the hull, but I really only got it to light up the saucer directly in front of it. So, I'm going to have to fake the rest with spotlights.
I finished up the details on the upper saucer. The only way any of this will change will be if I decide to do another detail pass later. But, that’s not likely to happen, as Starfleet ships aren’t known for having an excessive amount of exterior details. And, even though this is a reboot of sorts, there’s no reason to stray too far from tradition on this. If I wanted to do something with gobs of detail, I’d do a ship from another race (like the Klingons) or just switch to another franchise or do something original.
I love this, a great overall design and the details are looking great so far! The only critique I could offer is that IMO the red strip behind the bridge structure going to the impulse engines is a bit too thick, I think it would look better if it were the same size as the registry stripes around the saucer, but then again, maybe if you're planning similar strips all over the ship they'll look better in context.
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I think that that red stripe may work better if you put the starfleet emblem at the top. There's just a touch too much red on it at the minute. Also, those panel corner details really seem to have become less prominent. The only one that sticks out to me is the two on the 'N'. Looking back through the thread that was there earlier apparently.
Can't wait to see what you do with the rest of the ship.
...Also, those panel corner details really seem to have become less prominent. The only one that sticks out to me is the two on the 'N'. Looking back through the thread that was there earlier apparently....
If Chris colour them black so they are the same as the red, that will resolve that issue.
To be fair, we posted about the same time, so I only saw and was replying to Vortex5972's post.
I considered changing the color of the greebles that you mentioned to the color of the lettering but I decided against it. I'm really anal when it comes to stuff like that, and if I do a couple of them like that, then I have to do all of the ones that overlap letters or stripes like that. Then I'll wind up with a bunch of red and black squares sticking out of the lettering and stripes. To me, it's a lesser evil to have a few hull colored greebles overlapping the lettering and stripes.
After a short break, I’m back to work on this. The saucer edge was next, so I started by putting some cutouts for it to add details. The three circular ones on the front are going to be the auxiliary nav deflector and forward sensor array. The ones on the port and starboard sides are obviously going to be the docking ports. And, I added some horizontal lines similar to what they did on the TMP Enterprise because I’ve always liked that look, though I did less lines so that you can make out the individual lines better. And, I put in the saucer rim windows. I went with more windows than the TOS ship, again similar to the TMP ship. I’ll be doing very few (if any) windows on the saucer underside because having a bunch of windows on that aggressive curve makes no sense. I may just take a cue from the Kelvin Timeline Enterprise and have no windows down there. Or I may do some indentations like they did on the Enteprise-D and other TNG era ships to put some windows down there.
I'm not really a fan of those pop-up turrets. I get what they were going for, the weapons on the Kelvin were sort of a cross between the Enterprise style emitters and the later ones, which makes sense if the ship was built between the two. However, my ship is supposed to be a later ship.
I got the forward sensor/deflector greeblies done. I also added the docking port(s.) The ports are based on other ones from Star Trek. It’s a pretty basic design, but there’s no need to make it complex. It’s (obviously) situated between decks, just like the one on the TMP Enterprise. The airlock would require extra equipment that would make it too large to sit on just one deck. The idea is also that the whole airlock assembly itself can extend outward if necessary to dock with other ships, stations, or whatever. I’m pretty sure that’s the way the Voyager airlocks were too.
Anyway, the only thing left to detail on the saucer edge is the impulse engine.
I’m going to work in a little while, so no work will be done on the ship today. However, I decided to render up some full ship shots with higher anti aliasing to take a look at how everything is looking so far. And, since I rendered them anyway, there’s no reason not to share them.
Rendering full ship shots gives me an idea of how things are shaping up, as well as giving me an idea of problems (if any) that exist with the mesh. So far, I’m not seeing any.
Really nice work Chris.
Though I am not a fan on the cut outs for the airlocks. I think they need to have some sort of sliding cover on them, when not in use.
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Since you're going to that level of detail on the greeblies have you thought yet as to whether to model in the self illumination or not?
There is.
Can't wait to see what you do with the rest of the ship.
If Chris colour them black so they are the same as the red, that will resolve that issue.
Also the blots on the Reg, if you turn those black, will stop them standing out.
I should really prof read before hitting post.
I considered changing the color of the greebles that you mentioned to the color of the lettering but I decided against it. I'm really anal when it comes to stuff like that, and if I do a couple of them like that, then I have to do all of the ones that overlap letters or stripes like that. Then I'll wind up with a bunch of red and black squares sticking out of the lettering and stripes. To me, it's a lesser evil to have a few hull colored greebles overlapping the lettering and stripes.
You got that somehow from this sight?
Yes.
It's colon (:) +1 colon. Obviously, no spaces between the colons and the rest.
I'm not really a fan of those pop-up turrets. I get what they were going for, the weapons on the Kelvin were sort of a cross between the Enterprise style emitters and the later ones, which makes sense if the ship was built between the two. However, my ship is supposed to be a later ship.
Thanks.
Anyway, the only thing left to detail on the saucer edge is the impulse engine.
Thanks. I am too.
I’m going to work in a little while, so no work will be done on the ship today. However, I decided to render up some full ship shots with higher anti aliasing to take a look at how everything is looking so far. And, since I rendered them anyway, there’s no reason not to share them.
Rendering full ship shots gives me an idea of how things are shaping up, as well as giving me an idea of problems (if any) that exist with the mesh. So far, I’m not seeing any.
Though I am not a fan on the cut outs for the airlocks. I think they need to have some sort of sliding cover on them, when not in use.