Hello everyone. A while back ago I had a thread that I started involving me building the Enterprise J. After a long time, I have decided to pick up from where I left off. Except I realized that I made several mistakes during the process of building it the first time (plus a second) and decided to start completely from scratch.
So far I have got a camera placed in the 3D environment to match up to the reference picture that I am using. Once that was done, I got the start of the saucer section as well as the basic outline for the primary hull and nacelles. The main picture that I will be using is the one from the Ships of the line calendar; yep the same one I used during my first attempt. My biggest hope is that I can actually finish this ship once and for all.
Just like with my first attempt, any feedback is greatly appreciated.
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I am also deciding to document my build on video which you can view here:
Constructing the Enterprise J
Posts
Is it better than Sketchup?
To Stormcloud: I myself am not a fan of the design either. Because it is a canon ship with very little screen time makes it the only reason why I would like to try to make it. Eventually there will be a time that I will have to come up with my own take on several things. For example the bottom of the ship: even though there are "official" pictures of the ship detailing that side, I have my own reasons for not thinking it is cannon. So I am deciding to disregard it and come up with my own take using the little info I do have.
To Saquist: Yes you can use a photo in blender to help you assist. I have not used Sketchup so I can't compare the two. The hardest part that I had was to match the camera position in blender to that of the photograph.
I did a photomatch with Defiant and I was able to take multiple pictures of the ship and match the model to those perspective. It was difficult and the results were questionable but impressive. Obviously designs with less organic shapes help with finding the center axis. Perhaps I'll give Blender a try for the photomatch.
I know! I remember the previous attempts.
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I spent most of my time tinkering around with the camera in blender to try to get it matched up with the picture. After awhile, I think I finally got it to where I am 99% happy with it. The other 1% would be almost impossible to get without actually having the original file. I am however not to pleased with the way the ship is looking overall when modeled based off of the camera angle.
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As you can see from the top down view, the saucer section is a bit to squashed along the z axis; but oh well. I will keep pressing on.
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And for anyone who is interested in to how big it is; The small cube is the size of a standard human.
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Stormcloud - I understand where you are coming from. It would be difficult to get the ship to look right with the limited information that we have. But I just like the challenge. I am like those people who make replica props from movies and try their best to get it exact. One day after I finish with this, I will probably do my own take on it using the picture only as a guide line.
http://www.suricatafx.com/?p=521
We (Doug Drexler and I) started to redo the J earlier this year, and pending Doug's approvals on the model (which he has yet to sign off on) people should see what the ship really looks like sometime in the next few months, but for now.. there really is no real good look at the ship that's official.. (you're missing the mile long windows looking into a full city in space, and the new Secondary scout ship attached to it... )
The other problem with the J is her scale. she's huge. I mean HUGE. Working on her is like working on a full scale model of New York City, she's also organic, there are no "sharp" edges on the thing, everything was organically grown in space not assembled, you have to remember than when making a rendition of her..
I really hope Doug approves the finals for the base soon and I can show you what I mean...
- Jenny DeSalle
It's supposed to be more or less a combination Starbase/Explorer ship, right? I kind of remember Doug's write up about it on his blog a few years back. I think he said it's a multi-generational ship that's designed to explore the universe, not just the Galaxy. That's one reason it's so freaking huge. Also, didn't he say something like it carries a few ships the size of the Sovereign class?
That's what's taking so long with the rebuild, the whole interior you can see through the windows on top, and it's a fully functional and used city complete with Starfleet Academy and parks and highrises... the bridge is for people to pilot the ship, if they wish, but it really only takes one person to handle ship functions, all the ohter stations are whoever wants to do it, it's a huge huge huge multi generation vessel and the starship it carries is about twice the size of the Sovvie..
I will bed doing comparison work with the Enterprise E and J
Cool, thanks for the info. I remember him doing a write-up on the ship ages ago, but I couldn't remember what all he said. And, unfortunately, his blog no longer exists. I hope he gets back to you at some point and we can see more of the work you were doing on the ship.
It seems since CGI's arrival the quality of design has suffered.
Sovereign, Prometheus, NX-1, and Nu-Enterprise all rely on style-over-substance. Of course I understand the desire for a faithful reproduction but I think this needs a talented redesign.
It was a quick and dirty model for one shot only, which is why Drex posted earlier this year that he handed it over to me to redo the ship in a much higher resolution, and I gotta say it's taking some time to do.. the nacelles alone took three months to perfect how they looked and connected to the new pylons... The saucer is a pain , as it's thin but houses a fully functional city inside.. the bottom which you don't get ot see has an ancellary full sized starship attached to it, and there are Voyager sized ships for exploration in bays near the back..
It's huge, the project is taking WAY longer than I expected, but hopefully 2015 will start to wind down my involvement with Enterprise and I can get back to modeling..
quote: I am going to sit back and drink Tranya while Jen builds the Enterprise J in high detail.
I believe it's because he never got to flesh it out in the series, and there is a want to see it up close and personal.. I've been working with Andy Probert when he has time designing the various areas like the new style bridge and cityscape.. it's a slow slow process though..
The NX Refit is a different story, CBS wants it HERO Ready and available for January usage.
i cant see the point in it carrying a full blown long endurance starship - voyager sized ships really should be the absolute max it carries - basically you can fit more smaller ships which can achieve more than one larger ship - if its for defensive reasons then should again be carrying lots of defiant'ish ships
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