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3DUESPA Patrol Boat

evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
edited July 2013 in Work in Progress #1
I’ve been unable to talk myself into continuing to texture the last ship I built, so I started another one. For a long time now, I’ve wanted to do a ship in the style of the NX-01, but with a single hull extending aft, as opposed to the dual hull (catamarans.) Originally, I wanted the ship to be from roughly the same time frame as the NX, but I decided instead to make it an earlier vessel.

The following information will be posted ONCE. If people ask me about some or all of it later, I will simply point back to this post.
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Fact: For those who don’t know, Alpha Centauri is a binary solar system just under 5 light years from Earth. A third star, Proxima Centauri, is actually the closest star to ours, at 4.24 light years from Sol and is often considered to be part of the Alpha Centauri group, though it’s not a true trinary star system due to the distance of Proxima from Alpha Centauri AB. (Proxima Centauri is not visible from Earth) At least one Earth-sized planet may exist, orbiting Alpha Centauri B.

Fiction: In the Star Trek universe, Alpha Centauri is considered a trinary and there are three habitable planets in the system, each of which has been colonized by human settlers. These colonies were founded sometime in the late 21st century and still exist in the 24th century.

My story:

Under the command of the United Earth government, (UEG) the United Earth Space Probe Agency (UESPA) has established three colonies in the Alpha Centauri solar system. Due to the success of these colonies, humans began flocking to them in large numbers. There were a few mishaps along the way, but most of the trips were successful. Due to the few issues encountered and growing knowledge of other species in the galaxy, the UEG knew that they would have to start defensive patrols between Earth and the Alpha Centauri system and around the Alpha Centauri system. Even the Vulcans couldn’t find fault in the logic of that idea. Thus, they began to design a series of small armed vessels to keep the space between Earth and Alpha Centauri safe.

My ship’s specs:

Launched: 2121

Length: 110 meters
Width: 60 meters
Height: around 20 meters (it will keep changing until I’m done adding the bridge and sensor domes)
Deck count: 4
Crew: around 40

Max speed: Warp 1.95 (see the episode First Flight for when the first warp 2 flight took place)
Cruising speed: Warp 1.7
Impulse Rockets (see the episode Where No Man Has Gone Before) at approximately 1/6 the speed of light

Armaments: 3 or 4 plasma cannons, possibly a torpedo launcher or two

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That’s what I have so far. This ship predates Starfleet by over a decade. We know this from plot devices in the series Enterprise. Jonathan Archer said in one of the episodes that he graduated from college and was going to go into the merchant fleet about the time Starfleet was founded, and he decided to go into Starfleet. Since he was a child in the year 2121, (the beginning of the episode Broken Bow) he obviously would have gone to college in the 2130s. Memory Alpha guesstimates that Starfleet was founded around 2134 to 2136. (that works for me) So, this ship would be directly under command of the UESPA. I think it’s safe to assume that, for a military-type ship such as this one, they would recruit personnel from Earth’s various armed forces and give them special training to crew the ships (much how NASA recruits astronauts.)

Design wise, I want the ship to be reminiscent of the NX, but more primitive looking. It may not look so now, but many of the finishing details will be aimed at this goal. (things like bell-shaped impulse engines) The engineering section (central structure) was designed with the NX catamarans in mind. Originally, I had it flipped and the shape was slightly different, but I refined and rebuilt it. Then I paneled it and, after doing so, I realized I had made it too low poly. Fortunately, I’m using the “save incremental” feature in Lightwave, so I went back to pre-paneling and subdivided it.

Anywho, without further ado, here are the pictures:

uespa_patrol_boat_0011.jpg?w=500

uespa_patrol_boat_0021.jpg?w=500

uespa_patrol_boat_0031.jpg?w=500

uespa_patrol_boat_0041.jpg?w=500

uespa_patrol_boat_0051.jpg?w=500

uespa_patrol_boat_0061.jpg?w=500

It’s very rough right now, but you get the idea. While it’s mostly my design, I’m getting influences from the various ships from Enterprise, other Star Trek ships and even some fan designs. As Doug Drexler did when he designed the NX-01, I’ll be putting in plenty of “classic” elements, such as the round TOS-style deflector that I’ve already built. I think it’s important to have some “nods” to the series and ship that started it all. :)
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Post edited by evil_genius_180 on
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  • BorklessBorkless171 Posts: 0Member
    Looks cool! I like how the lines of the secondary hull sort of imply the presence of Catamarans. It's a cool call-forwards. If anything, she looks more classically TOS than the messy, retro-futuristic ENT ships. I also see a tiny bit of Delta class in her.
  • RekkertRekkert4071 Buenos Aires, ArgentinaPosts: 2,307Member
    I like that backstory, it makes sense.
    As for the ship itself, it looks cool, and there are some great ideas there. I particularly like the way the pylons connect with the nacelles, it certainly looks more primitive than traditional ships.
    For all my finished Trek fan art, please visit my portfolio
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Thanks a lot, guys. I was definitely thinking "more primitive" with the pylons. :)
  • Knight26Knight26192 Posts: 838Member
    What about making the nacelle pylons more open, with girders and pipes running up them? That would definitely make it look more primative, kind of like if the ISS were given warp nacelles and a saucer.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Not that I'm against the idea, but it doesn't fit with what was done with these other early ships:

    conestoga1.jpg iss_emette-_r02.jpg

    As it is, I'm pushing it by making them more blocky (and, ironically, more like what was on the *more advanced* TOS ship.)

    Though, I do plan on doing the impulse engines more like what was done on those two ships, which is more of a rocket look.
    102232.jpg102233.jpg
  • BorklessBorkless171 Posts: 0Member
    Looking at the proto-Warp Delta, it seems that Starfleet ships followed an aerospace design lineage. The Delta looks like an X-33 with Warp Nacelles, so the more aerodynamic looks fits.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Which Delta? The one you're building, the one I posted a picture of or the more advanced 2152 version? I figure, in the warp five program, the UESPA was trying all different configurations to see what worked better, hence the Delta ship seen in 2152.

    I actually considered doing a "middle of the road" Delta, something to fit in between the canon designs, but I opted for a saucer, since the ship you're building fits that role nicely. :)
  • The LibrarianThe Librarian0 Posts: 0Member
    It looks like it'll be a good little ship. I do like the suggestion above about having the pylons 'exposed' so some degree. I understand why you'd opt to go with a more streamlined look based on the Costanoga et al, but perhaps you could add extra radiators or pipework to suggest that they were trying out new technology and hadn't quite got it to fit into the pylon yet?

    Also, are you emulating the Costonoga with the eliptic hull? If so, it might benefit from a bit of staggered sectioning too, perhaps expanding out into the pylons. Not entirely sure that makes sense written down, but I think it would be a rather unique look to have the 'secondary' hull stepping outwards after the saucer.
  • BorklessBorkless171 Posts: 0Member
    Which Delta? The one you're building, the one I posted a picture of or the more advanced 2152 version? I figure, in the warp five program, the UESPA was trying all different configurations to see what worked better, hence the Delta ship seen in 2152.

    I actually considered doing a "middle of the road" Delta, something to fit in between the canon designs, but I opted for a saucer, since the ship you're building fits that role nicely. :)

    I meant the ship from the Title sequence. The same one you linked to in your post.
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Yeah, I love the ship from the title sequence. Though, the front is under detailed, I guess because they only needed it for the one shot.
    It looks like it'll be a good little ship. I do like the suggestion above about having the pylons 'exposed' so some degree. I understand why you'd opt to go with a more streamlined look based on the Costanoga et al, but perhaps you could add extra radiators or pipework to suggest that they were trying out new technology and hadn't quite got it to fit into the pylon yet?

    Also, are you emulating the Costonoga with the eliptic hull? If so, it might benefit from a bit of staggered sectioning too, perhaps expanding out into the pylons. Not entirely sure that makes sense written down, but I think it would be a rather unique look to have the 'secondary' hull stepping outwards after the saucer.

    Thanks. :) I do plan to have some exposed bits. I don't plan on emulating much about the Conestoga. It's a great design, but it's from more than forty years before my ship.
  • BorklessBorkless171 Posts: 0Member
    Are you going to go with ENT-style bare metal or TOS flat gray paint?
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    I haven't really decided yet. I'm thinking something Ent-ish, but we'll see what kind of mood I'm in when I get that far. ;)
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    Work continues. I’m not as far along as I’d like to be at this point, but yesterday was a series of non-stop work and various other distractions that left me little time for modeling until I was too damn tired to do anything. But, I did manage to get the rest of the main structures in place, which consisted of modeling the bridge and lower sensor dome. I know it doesn’t exactly jell with what they did on Enterprise, but I based these heavily off of the elements from TOS. However, I feel this works because it looks less advanced, due to the fact that somebody decided the details on the Enterprise should be more TMP looking than TOS looking. (thanks a lot, Berman and Braga) Not that I don’t like the NX and what was done, but I would have gone in a different direction with it. We just have to assume that, in a reality where the NX-01 exists, the TOS ship would be more detailed than it was in the 1960s. Not freaky looking like the JJ Abrams version, but just more detailed, like what Deg did with his “TOS.5″ Enterprise and a few other artists have done. (tasteful, logical additions)

    uespa_patrol_boat_007.jpg?w=500

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    uespa_patrol_boat_009.jpg?w=500

    uespa_patrol_boat_010.jpg?w=500

    uespa_patrol_boat_011.jpg?w=500

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