What seems a billion years ago, I was inspired to build a ship from the old DC comics;
I called her the USS Clarke NCC-901. I had a lot of plans for the class, but life got in the way, and then disaster struck, and I lost all of my 3D work. Aside from a few images I had nothing left of decades worth of work. (Yes, I used to keep backups – they were destroyed as well. But you don’t need the sordid details. Things are far more secure now).
The Ingram Class has been saved due to the fact I shared that mesh with a fan-film group. But the Clarke and everything else was lost.
Well, I have been reclaiming some of what was lost. I built an Excelsior Class variant a while back. Although the thread got highjacked by the need to fit in a with a fan list… Which yes, soured me on building Trek again – hence the Blake’s 7 project. But… well, here we are. I have started rebuilding the Clarke. Obviously, I am mindful of the fact that since I built the original some things have happened on screen in Trek (like the USS Clarke NCC-1661, and the fact there is a Clarke Class now).
So, I’m building a ship inspired by what I had, a new USS Clarke NCC-2661. If pushed for a class name, I’d go with McCaffrey. She was the first female writer to win the big awards for science fiction books. The Clarke is going to be a TMP era style ship, and… I guess I’ll see how we go;
C&C is always welcome. More soon!
Posts
More soon, C&C welcome.
- Mike Oldfield
Will watch with interest. Also some amazing backdrops on the very first image.
Thank you! Hopefully I can find the old backdrops. Just got out the ruler and hit a problem - this is a much bigger ship than the original. I may run with it because... Why not? But thoughts on this would be interesting;
Comments welcome, more soon.
- Mike Oldfield
C&C welcome, more later.
- Mike Oldfield
I would say the proportions of your new ship are a tad different. I may be wrong but I think the new saucer is a little smaller relative to the bottom main hull and that the new vertical height of your engines possible taller than the former. Part of the reason I say this, is because your pylons head out at a lesser angle after the first bend where they attach at the lower hull. In your original pictures I found that attractive.
And of course that's how they appear in the comic as well.
The original images would have had credits on them, sadly I cut three down to use as Facebook banners and that's all I have left. If I find them I find them, if not - I shall make do with something new. I'm not worried.
Yes, I remember having a lot of fun getting the proportions right on the mesh. I went through several iterations before I was happy. I don't mind this being a bigger ship than the original, or slightly different. When I made the original I only had one image from the comic, but since I have found another. I'd like to recapture as much of the ship I originally built or do something a little different. I'm not working from any plans but rather from imagination. So we shall see where we go...
Thanks again, more soon!
- Mike Oldfield
I've dumped the saucer for a new one. I'll detail that tomorrow. But the proportions sit better now. It may not be one hundred per cent what I built originally, but it will be close. And it will be better :-)
Comments welcome, more soon!
- Mike Oldfield
Thank you!
Update, back to where I was before I changed the saucer;
Yes - their are rooms behind the windows :-)
Comments welcome, more soon!
- Mike Oldfield
About the ship, I know you´re following the refs and schematics, but the nacele looks small, giving the ship the aspect of a toy... Maybe you would consider to make it longer, like the pic attached (hope you don´t mind about the dirty edition of your rendering). Just a suggestion.
I've been back for a while - just finished off a Blake's 7 project on here ;-)
Re nacelle length - you mean something like this?
I suppose if I changed the length of the secondary hull, maybe made the saucer bigger? (Shame because I have nearly finished detailing it) I could make this look like the child of a Constitution and Excelsior... I'd be tempted to move away from being a smaller ship and more something that sits between the afore mentioned classes...
Something to think on perhaps.
More soon.
- Mike Oldfield
Comments, as always, are welcome - more soon!
- Mike Oldfield
All in all, this is a cool little ship.
Thank you!
Changing the nacelles is something to think about. I am trying to recapture what I built before... But with a lack of images and references I know I can't rebuild what was, and maybe treating this as something new is the right way to go. That being said... I really liked what I built before. I like to build rationalised ships that work (remembering the fact that this actually just make believe, lol). I like windows that line up with decks, ships with gubbings that make sense. That's what I like to build. It doesn't always make for the sexiest of starships... But they are "practical" from an in-universe POV.
Anyways, back to the main feature (more soon).
- Mike Oldfield
Comments welcome, More soon!
- Mike Oldfield
She looks great so far.
Thank you :-)
Stared work on the main hanger. Borrowed a shuttle from my old USS Horizon project. I may (may I stress) create a new shuttle just for this ship type;
Oh yes, the nacelles have an "on" mode;
Comments welcome, more soon
- Mike Oldfield
Thank you :-)
I think I'm going to lock down the impulse engines as done;
comments welcome, more soon!
- Mike Oldfield
Now comes the challenging bit - the secondary hull, but next the neck.
Comments welcome, more soon!
- Mike Oldfield
Decided to dust this off. The original TMP design for a shuttle. I shall... Play around and see what I can make from it :-)
Comments welcome, more soon :-)
- Mike Oldfield
Thinking back, this shuttle was the last thing I worked on before the attack. It's nice to finally see it realised - and most importantly that it's safe!
Comments welcome, more soon :-)
- Mike Oldfield
I’ve been thinking about where the McCaffrey Class fits in Starfleet, what it’s role would be. I think I’ve given her too many teeth for the role I have in mind, but I am opening this up to the floor for thoughts, as I am thinking of pulling some of those teeth. I see this ship as being more of the science side of things within Starfleet, rather then a multi-purpose platform. I see this as a ship that does the in-depth exploration side of things, rather than just the general dip in and out. At most I see her military role as being more of a support ship, then a front line assault ship.
Anyone what to add there two cents?
- Mike Oldfield
She's bigger than the Oberth by a nice margin, I need to do some scale renders to show that. But she's smaller than a Constitution. Looking at the old WIP thread on Treknographics I only original had ten Phaser banks on her, and at the moment I have twelve just on the saucer. I only had one torpedo launcher, but at the moment I have two. I think I need to see this ship against some others to get a good idea of size before I make a decision. I'll share the renders when I do.
Cheers :-)
- Mike Oldfield
This is a much bigger ship than I originally built. I either take a major step back and rejig things for a small ship, or run with it as is. Length comes out as 237 meters, with 18 decks. Humm. Let me think on this.
Comments welcome, more soon.
- Mike Oldfield
Neck is locked down for the moment.
More soon, comments welcome :-)
- Mike Oldfield
I'm liking that idea - and it makes sense. Thank you :-)
- Mike Oldfield
And the current state of play;
May take a little break and work on the shuttle for a time.
Comments welcome, more soon :-)
- Mike Oldfield