3DThe XCV-330 Declaration Class Enterprise

I might have a small obsession with this ship...

It's the reason I don't completely despise the JJ Trek Reboot (although, why did it have to show up on the desk of the villain?) and my main complaint (of many) about the Akira-prise.

I collect images of it, deck plans, and I love seeing all of the many interpretations of that fuzzy painting and the rough sketches which had been hastily retrieved from among the rest of the Starship design rejects.

It's a great design, and I would love to see it work it's way into some other universe (since it's obvious it won't show up in any way other than a shout-out to lore nerds in the Trek universe). Maybe some more serious movie by Christopher Nolan.

Here is the model for downloading. There has been some interest in this, so if anyone wants to reproduce it in more useful file formats, I whole-heartedly support that endeavor. I know SketchUp is weird and not widely used among serious modelers.



The background of that image is "Deep Space Nebula" by Hameed and can be found here.

First: some blatant thievery. This thing was a challenge for me, as was it's intent. I stole details from MadKoiFish and others just to see if I could reproduce them, even rudimentarily. So, thank you and sorry.

There are two things which make my version stand out: Most dominantly is the use of a cylinder in the engineering hull in the back. In every other design I've seen (including my old one) the stubby "wings" and main pylon sort of sprout out of nothing. One of the earliest design decisions I made was to use that dynamo detail in front of the centerdyne. I liked it, it was unusual for the ship, and it was fun to make. But, using the dynamo meant that I couldn't follow the standard detail for this section. It also meant that I got to add stiffeners to the base of the long boom leading to the habitation section, which I like.

Next, the bubble attached to the side of the habitation module is covered in sensor equipment. In the design for the show "starship" which never got off the ground, I'm told that this bubble was supposed to be a sort of holodeck where the crew could explore the planet while never leaving the safety of the ship. Of course, that's not very Star Trek-y, so in my case it became a sensor package. I imagine it spinning like some kind of 3D-mapping LiDAR system, just much more advanced. In other versions of this ship I've seen, that bubble turns into a shuttle bay with TOS style clam-shell doors. That's a good idea too because, as it is, this ship is too old to have transporters, but also doesn't seem to have a shuttle anywhere.

My rings are fairly standard. I discovered afterward that the shading on the little fins that I added to the outer side of the rings work really well in lots of ways when properly lit. The connectors running longitudinally between the rings aren't as bulky or prevalent as in most designs, but that's okay. I don't think big bulky connectors work well with the otherwise sleek shape of the ship.

there are very few things I don't like. most of them have to do with the lack of detailing in the habitation module. I'm not really sure what to put in the very forward-most section. Nothing seems necessary, but it does look vacant.