Oh for sure! And I can imagine using them the smae way TOS used colour gels, different colour schemes for moods, red alert, yellow alert, green and blue... mood lighting via UI.
I've finally finished the bridge set. I'm sure there will be some snagging issues that I'll notice over the next week, but I'm quite happy to get to the end of the process. I've done a fair amount of ship exteriors, but this is my first proper bridge, and I've learned a lot from building it over the past several months.
A little lighting experiment - whilst figuring out how to light my bridge set, I started using IES lights and global volumetric materials. I wondered what the result would be if I applied the same techniques to a render of a ship exterior. This image was lit with a single IES light (not counting the ship's own running lights) and a corona volume material plugged in the global slot:
Edit, I think I'm going round the bend with tweaking and overthink! Which do you folks think looks better, the yellow colour grade, or the blue?
I've been having fun with kitbashing to make another ship sub-type, This is something I've been wanting to put together for ages, and since I'm recuperating from Covid right now and spending a lot of time indoors, now was a good opportunity to do it.
I re-arranged some of the components and added some other parts in order to make Reliant's sister ship Defiant. I designed it to be more of Sol System defense variant, with limited duration warp capability and more powerful but less efficient sub-light engines. As befitting a ship that is more combat biased than Reliant, it has an additional ventral mast carrying extra point-defense missiles and a couple of extra torpedoes. It also has more compact proportions.
I thought the original version of these ships were first rate. You took your craft to a whole other level of magnitude.well done. Look forward to more from you.
Thanks for all your kind feedback! Now that I've built most of the major assets I want for this prequelverse, I'm going to have some fun putting these models into various exploration-themed scenes.
Now that I've built most of the major assets I want for this prequelverse, I'm going to have some fun putting these models into various exploration-themed scenes.
Perhaps one of the best Star Trek themed surface to orbit craft I've ever seen, wonderfully realized. Depictions of early shuttles (ie. pre ST:Enterprise era) are next to non-existent in fandom. This helps fill a massive gap, and is a very credible, hard sci looking craft.
Dare I ask about any thoughts about propulsion or power plant(s). Newtonian? Early impulse? Clean fission? Fusion? I'll assume chemical rockets are off the table if it has any cross range capability or full descent from orbit and return ability without refueling.
I've given some thought about the sort of propulsion it could have, whilst still being a somewhat believable vehicle. I like to come up with backstories for my designs because, as Adam Savage says (I'm paraphrasing), 'if you don't know how your vehicle or greebles works, the design will feel less thought out and believable.'
The propellant tanks are situated along the lower half of the craft (below the cargo bay and cockpit.) That means that compared to the volume that propellant takes up in real rockets, this vehicle has a poor propellant mass fraction.
To make up for it, the vehicle has to have a superb specific impulse number, but it's in an era where you can't just slap an impulse engine on a tiny craft, so there needs to be other lower tech methods to get around the problem. I've settled on the idea that it uses chemical propulsion, but utilising metallic hydrogen. That should give it good specific impulse and high thrust. It's still very sci-fi, but metallic hydrogen is at least a real concept.
There are also air intakes on the underside, because the engines are combined-cycle SABRE type engines, which should further help the ascent performance, albeit in Class-M atmospheres only.
As far as cross range capability, I think it would be fairly limited because of the aforementioned propellant constraints as well as it's stubby little wings and gridfins. It would probably 'fall with style' onto a predefined landing site, rather than hover around and then pick a landing spot on the fly.
I think it could easily land and take off from Mars-like worlds, and just about manage to do the same for Earth-like class Ms. If it wanted to land on an Earth sized world that lacked an oxygen atmosphere, the SABRE concept couldn't be used, meaning there would be a Delta-V shortfall. Maybe prepositioning propellant assets at the landing site would be a solution for those cases.
Metallic hydrogen would help explain the low propellant tank volumes in trek ships generally, so mega high specific impulse chemical propulsion sounds up to the flight envelope of this stubby little beauty. I was thinking though, if that beautiful bridge for the Reliant (which is the 1st flight deck type space I've really liked since the one on the 'Nostromo' in Alien), has some sort of artificial gravity, then maybe the tech could be used to mitigate gravitational effects during ascent/descent and help your fuel fraction issue out a tad. Oh, and did I say the Reliant is gorgeous too. Love the bell rocket nozzles and radiator fins. Gives it a late 21st century feel.
maybe the tech could be used to mitigate gravitational effects during ascent/descent and help your fuel fraction issue out a tad.
I feel like the artificial gravity tech would be sufficiently new it would only be used on a few decks on the main ship, and not yet used on small things like the pod.
I've made my first crop of exploration themed renders this week. Moon and Mars stuff first:
Reliant and Defiant conducting joint operations and shuttlepod deployments around the Moon:
Your Vega is fantastic! Once finished will you do variants of it as well?
Also, you have spoken about the design of the Enterprise being quite good considering the constraints Doug Drexler had to deal with. My question is have you thought about what your version of the Enterprise would look like in this more realistic setting?
I really like your work. The blend of near future tech with Star Trek really strikes a cord with me. Plus, your work on materials and lighting is fantastic.
Your Vega is fantastic! Once finished will you do variants of it as well?
Also, you have spoken about the design of the Enterprise being quite good considering the constraints Doug Drexler had to deal with. My question is have you thought about what your version of the Enterprise would look like in this more realistic setting?
I don't know if I'll get around to finishing that old Vega freighter model - The mesh is in fairly good shape, but I don't know if I want to spend the time to texture it. Besides, I've kitbashed several of Vega's components to do this years's modifications to Reliant and its Defiant sub-type, as well as the shuttlepod. I can definitely see myself slapping some simple tileable textures onto the model and have it as a background ship though.
I've been working on these models for a good long while now though, and I don't want to get burnt out on it. As I said in a previous post, I'm planning on doing a series of renders with the models I've currently got, and then I'm looking forward to getting stuck into something new.
As for what I'd do if I tried to come up with my personal spin on the NX-01 Enterprise, I'd probably keep the catamaran hull idea because it's very cool, but bulk out all the shapes so it loses the Akira DNA. It's tempting to go with a spherical primary hull, but honestly it's so difficult to light a ship well with that big sphere on the front haha. Then I'd cover the hull with all manner of details you see on real spacecraft (sensor fixtures, antennaes, thrusters, thermal protection etc etc.) Also I'd probably get influenced by NuGalactica/Expanse with its point-defence systems as opposed to shield's, polarized hulls and the like.
I roughed out an idea years ago which keeps the spirit of Drexler's design, but loses the Akira vibe. Yet another unfinished project, unfortunately:
Nice. It would be cool if you continued developing that, as I can clearly see the NX influences, but also that you're taking it in a different direction. Though, you may have just given me an idea for a TNG era ship.
Gorgeous work, and such a consistent, realistic approach to the likely tech applications in the era.
I love the idea of early artificial gravity systems being limited to a relatively small area of the ship. There would likely be a period with hybrid setups, keeping a centrifugal torus on board. The traditional circular and spherical hulls of many subsequent federation ships may have been a holdover from this time.
Your Vega is fantastic! Once finished will you do variants of it as well?
Also, you have spoken about the design of the Enterprise being quite good considering the constraints Doug Drexler had to deal with. My question is have you thought about what your version of the Enterprise would look like in this more realistic setting?
I don't know if I'll get around to finishing that old Vega freighter model - The mesh is in fairly good shape, but I don't know if I want to spend the time to texture it. Besides, I've kitbashed several of Vega's components to do this years's modifications to Reliant and its Defiant sub-type, as well as the shuttlepod. I can definitely see myself slapping some simple tileable textures onto the model and have it as a background ship though.
I've been working on these models for a good long while now though, and I don't want to get burnt out on it. As I said in a previous post, I'm planning on doing a series of renders with the models I've currently got, and then I'm looking forward to getting stuck into something new.
As for what I'd do if I tried to come up with my personal spin on the NX-01 Enterprise, I'd probably keep the catamaran hull idea because it's very cool, but bulk out all the shapes so it loses the Akira DNA. It's tempting to go with a spherical primary hull, but honestly it's so difficult to light a ship well with that big sphere on the front haha. Then I'd cover the hull with all manner of details you see on real spacecraft (sensor fixtures, antennaes, thrusters, thermal protection etc etc.) Also I'd probably get influenced by NuGalactica/Expanse with its point-defence systems as opposed to shield's, polarized hulls and the like.
I roughed out an idea years ago which keeps the spirit of Drexler's design, but loses the Akira vibe. Yet another unfinished project, unfortunately:
Thanks for the feedback. I must say that I really like your Enterprise idea. Maybe one day, eh?
Posts
Edit, I think I'm going round the bend with tweaking and overthink! Which do you folks think looks better, the yellow colour grade, or the blue?
Thanks! I've made one more image to further finesse the colder version:
I re-arranged some of the components and added some other parts in order to make Reliant's sister ship Defiant. I designed it to be more of Sol System defense variant, with limited duration warp capability and more powerful but less efficient sub-light engines. As befitting a ship that is more combat biased than Reliant, it has an additional ventral mast carrying extra point-defense missiles and a couple of extra torpedoes. It also has more compact proportions.
I haven't forgotten this, and am planning on creating some blueprints hopefully in the not-too-distant future
Really looking forward to it.
Dare I ask about any thoughts about propulsion or power plant(s). Newtonian? Early impulse? Clean fission? Fusion? I'll assume chemical rockets are off the table if it has any cross range capability or full descent from orbit and return ability without refueling.
The propellant tanks are situated along the lower half of the craft (below the cargo bay and cockpit.) That means that compared to the volume that propellant takes up in real rockets, this vehicle has a poor propellant mass fraction.
To make up for it, the vehicle has to have a superb specific impulse number, but it's in an era where you can't just slap an impulse engine on a tiny craft, so there needs to be other lower tech methods to get around the problem. I've settled on the idea that it uses chemical propulsion, but utilising metallic hydrogen. That should give it good specific impulse and high thrust. It's still very sci-fi, but metallic hydrogen is at least a real concept.
There are also air intakes on the underside, because the engines are combined-cycle SABRE type engines, which should further help the ascent performance, albeit in Class-M atmospheres only.
As far as cross range capability, I think it would be fairly limited because of the aforementioned propellant constraints as well as it's stubby little wings and gridfins. It would probably 'fall with style' onto a predefined landing site, rather than hover around and then pick a landing spot on the fly.
I think it could easily land and take off from Mars-like worlds, and just about manage to do the same for Earth-like class Ms. If it wanted to land on an Earth sized world that lacked an oxygen atmosphere, the SABRE concept couldn't be used, meaning there would be a Delta-V shortfall. Maybe prepositioning propellant assets at the landing site would be a solution for those cases.
I've made my first crop of exploration themed renders this week. Moon and Mars stuff first:
Reliant and Defiant conducting joint operations and shuttlepod deployments around the Moon:
Reliant in Lunar orbit:
Reliant coming out of FTL over Mars:
Your Vega is fantastic! Once finished will you do variants of it as well?
Also, you have spoken about the design of the Enterprise being quite good considering the constraints Doug Drexler had to deal with. My question is have you thought about what your version of the Enterprise would look like in this more realistic setting?
I don't know if I'll get around to finishing that old Vega freighter model - The mesh is in fairly good shape, but I don't know if I want to spend the time to texture it. Besides, I've kitbashed several of Vega's components to do this years's modifications to Reliant and its Defiant sub-type, as well as the shuttlepod. I can definitely see myself slapping some simple tileable textures onto the model and have it as a background ship though.
I've been working on these models for a good long while now though, and I don't want to get burnt out on it. As I said in a previous post, I'm planning on doing a series of renders with the models I've currently got, and then I'm looking forward to getting stuck into something new.
As for what I'd do if I tried to come up with my personal spin on the NX-01 Enterprise, I'd probably keep the catamaran hull idea because it's very cool, but bulk out all the shapes so it loses the Akira DNA. It's tempting to go with a spherical primary hull, but honestly it's so difficult to light a ship well with that big sphere on the front haha. Then I'd cover the hull with all manner of details you see on real spacecraft (sensor fixtures, antennaes, thrusters, thermal protection etc etc.) Also I'd probably get influenced by NuGalactica/Expanse with its point-defence systems as opposed to shield's, polarized hulls and the like.
I roughed out an idea years ago which keeps the spirit of Drexler's design, but loses the Akira vibe. Yet another unfinished project, unfortunately:
I love the idea of early artificial gravity systems being limited to a relatively small area of the ship. There would likely be a period with hybrid setups, keeping a centrifugal torus on board. The traditional circular and spherical hulls of many subsequent federation ships may have been a holdover from this time.
Thanks for the feedback. I must say that I really like your Enterprise idea. Maybe one day, eh?