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3DAdventures in Sketchup - back bgain with a re-work for TUC era Star Trek

WideFootWideFoot83 Posts: 81Member
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It has been a long, long time since I've made one of these. Nobody much cares for Sketchup anymore. The last good free version is quickly receding into obscurity. But, Captain Julian Locksley still makes excellent renders with my ships, so I'll make more ships.

Long ago, I made an experiment of a ship with the saucer sweeping smoothly into the nacelle struts called the USS Gamgee. It was primarily intended as an experiment in simplicity of design and spreading out components for appearance's sake. Prior to that ship, everything I had made was crumpled up and dense. They were unpleasant in the way of the Nebula class. The Gamgee wasn't particularly pretty. In fact, it was downright ugly. But, it did what I wanted.

The base idea stuck in my mind like a tiny sliver in my toe. It bothered me and itched that I hadn't made the thing look good. So, I'll try again.

The Gamgee had a number of design aspects which I really liked, but usually paired with something I didn't. The general layout was good, but the proportions were wrong, especially in that it was too thin for it's length. The bow-facing shuttle bay was my favorite part of the design, but it was awkwardly implemented and unevenly detailed. The engineering hull met the saucer in the right place, but completely disregarded the actual intersection of those things.

The only unambiguously good part of the design was that the top of the aft part of the swept single-hull design is at the same level as the bottom of the edge of the saucer. It is completely unnoticeable except in orthographics, but it makes me happy knowing its there.

I wanted to do something more directional than the whimsical experimentation of that ship. I wasn't going to pull over any of the stranger design elements like the bridge, exposed longitudinal warp core, or massive turrets. I wanted this ship to fit nicely into the TMP through TUC movie era. I also wanted it to have a intention and direction for the design starting out, unlike most of my designs which I draw first and then retcon with a plausible story to explain my design choices.

I have already done a deep space exploration ship, cargo ships, and a bunch of science ships. I refuse to make warships. So, diplomatic and humanitarian cruiser. This new ship will be in the style of the Excelsior, which is my second-favorite Enterprise (after the 330). It is a design style which I have not made before. I need to brush up on my art deco.

The Gamgee's large shuttle bay will be made even larger with a three-deck high through-hull design, occupying most of the saucer section. This alternatively facilitates the transport of dignitaries and their cargo, allows a huge cargo area for disaster relief supplies, or can be outfitted as emergency berthing for refugees. A deck directly beneath the shuttle bay will be outfitted with diplomatic suites, each with large window bays for views of the planet below. The ship will be fitted with extensive communication arrays and some moderate defensive capabilities.

This ship does not have a "neck," so it can't have the ribbed bit which echoes the ribs in the nacelles. Instead, I carried that detail into the shuttle bay doors. I have tried to pull details from some designs which would be "cutting edge technology" for a ship of the era. The impulse engine is similar in appearance to the pair on the Enterprise D saucer. The nacelles have a similar design to the Probert Enterprise C. But, the saucer is somewhat antiquated with it's echoes of shape from the 1701-A. I wanted the top of the saucer to be curved like the Excelsior, but the bottom has to be a mirror image per the Gamgee.

I'm still not sure I got the intersection of the engineering hull to the saucer quite right, but it is definitely better than the previous one. And I like the deflector much better.

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Lizzy777ashleytingerrojrentrekkiMustang13Camaro68RekkertWarp Propulsion Laboratorycaveat_imperator

Posts

  • WideFootWideFoot83 Posts: 81Member
    Item number 1 - Should I round or chamfer the edges of the saucer / top face? It is possible, but it's haarrrd. waaa :'( . I expect that I would need to find some way to make the mesh nice, though. I would do about 6" of round, with 5 faces. Thing is, I kind of like the sharp corners, but I'm not sure if I like them just because I'm used to seeing it that way.
  • WideFootWideFoot83 Posts: 81Member
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    I started the process It is a bit rough. I may reform the mesh in a different way in the future.
    Lizzy777Rekkertcaveat_imperator
  • RekkertRekkert4037 Buenos Aires, ArgentinaPosts: 2,302Member
    Interesting design. I like how it looks and your reasoning behind it, and the ventral section full of greebles contrast nicely with the soft dorsal area of the ship. I also like all the little asymmetrical details.

    The only thing about it that looks "off" IMO is that the windows and shuttlebay doors are placed a bit too close to the top and bottom edges of the saucer, making the ship look like it's hull has no thickness. The front shuttlebay for example seems to be leaving no usable space for rooms behind the windows directly above it.
    froggi3
    For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
  • WideFootWideFoot83 Posts: 81Member
    The only thing about it that looks "off" IMO is that the windows and shuttlebay doors are placed a bit too close to the top and bottom edges of the saucer, making the ship look like it's hull has no thickness. The front shuttlebay for example seems to be leaving no usable space for rooms behind the windows directly above it.

    You know, I was going to go into a whole tirade about how my windows are perfect and that I spent a lot of time making them smaller than any windows on any ship I've done before and that they're each in exactly the right spot for those decks. But, no. You're right. They were too low.

    On both Deck 2 and Deck 3, I moved the windows toward the center of the saucer 5 ft. The nasty thing about it is that now they are unevenly spaced compared to the rest of the decks. But, they are more like skylights than windows in that position anyway. the Deck 2 windows were already higher than most.

    Floor to floor spacing is 11 ft. on this ship. I figured 8.5 ft of living space and 2.5 ft. of utility space. (yes, I know, I know.... metric. I don't have a good grasp on typical metric sizes of stuff.)

    The shuttle bay doors are staying put. I like the thickness of that space between the top of the door and the edge of the saucer. I figured a hull thickness of about 6". That is really very thick. if you saw a boat with a 6" thick steel hull, you would think it basically indestructible.. whatever they make Starfleet vessels from must be better than steel.

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    RekkertLizzy777McCcaveat_imperator
  • RekkertRekkert4037 Buenos Aires, ArgentinaPosts: 2,302Member
    Ahh, makes sense and with that deck view I see that there's more than enough room for those windows in deck 4 at the saucer edge! Also, the ship looks really unique from the side, I'm digging it!
    For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
  • WideFootWideFoot83 Posts: 81Member
    there's more than enough room for those windows in deck 4 at the saucer edge! Also, the ship looks really unique from the side

    Honestly, i think it looks weird from the side. The engineering hull and the saucer don't follow the same curve at all and it bothers me. I do like the general thick/thin dynamic going on, though.

    Yeah, when you see the deck spacing, it makes more sense. Maybe i should have put the deck 3/4 transition somewhere other than at the break of the corner. But, it makes sense being there and it makes my life easier
  • StarshipStarship464 São Paulo - BrasilPosts: 1,976Member
    I love your ships!
    I downloaded several of them and started a conversion for 3ds max, but my backlog is HUGE, kkkkkkkk!
    Please keep posting your ships. B)
  • johnl2112johnl211248 Posts: 54Member
    I like how you smashed the excelsior, constellation and excelsior concept model into one ship
  • WideFootWideFoot83 Posts: 81Member
    I downloaded several of them and started a conversion for 3ds max
    Please do! I know my modeling is not always condusive to porting, so let me know if i can make any edits. Also, there is a guy named Lucas Redesign on both DeviantArt and the 3D Warehouse who made a retexture of my XCV-330 which is flatly better. If you're interested in that one I'd hit him up. (I'll tell him you're coming)

    And, when this one is done, it will go up too!
    excelsior, constellation and excelsior concept model

    With that list, you'd think it'd be bigger. :lol: but, that is a list of ships easily in my top ten. (Well, maybe not the excelsior concept, which is too badly referenced to be anything other than a curiosity.) But, those are definitely all rattling around in my head.
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