This is a hyper-accurate model of Franz Joseph's Constitution plans, but I wanted to post it as an example of the sort of detailing that the TOS Enterprise could have "really" had. A lot of people think the original design looked shitty, and this just shows that it's all in the execution. He plans on doing the TV version next, and I for one can't wait to see it. =)
Posted by Cpt. Kyle Amasov (Member # 742) on :
Ah, Vektor's baby. Despite what people say, I think she's the real reson they made him the mod of the Art Forum.
Sorry to say it, Foundation, but I think this model has to be one of the best CGI's I've ever seen. And if his movie-version will be as good as this one, they should think about doing the TWOK-Director's Edition with this beauty. 8)
Posted by The Red Admiral (Member # 602) on :
Ah yes I know this guy and his connie, I'm glad to see he's finished it. I can say with some authority that it's possibly the best CGI Constitution out there.
Posted by Cpt. Kyle Amasov (Member # 742) on :
He even put small rooms behind each window. Now that's what I call detailed...
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
I've been following Vektor's progress for some time at the Trek Art forum at TrekBBS.. it's quite the masterwork..
My favorite detail (besides actually finding a pearlescent finish that makes me think metal when I look at it) is the inclusion of a subtle aztec pattern of panels on the hull.. I imagine that the TOS Enterprise would be like this had we ever seen it in detail, and yet it maintains Jefferies novel 'no greeblies' requirement of no outside equipment that gives it its integral gracefulness. I also like the minor score marks achieved around the phaser banks and torpedo tube covers.. gives the ship a 'lived in' look without giving it a worn appearance..
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
That's a beautiful Connie! Nice comparison shot on that site, too:
well for starters thats his site posted at the top of the thread, so i think by going to the home page, http://www.cet.com/~jasonl/ would be a good start.. also, he is a Moderator of the Trek Art forum at http://www.trekbbs.com/ where these pictures are posted, and can be easily reached through there
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
OMG...
*drools*
OMG...
*spasms*
OMG...
*blinks*
OMG...
WOW!
That is amazing. *gulp* WOW... it the TOS Enterprise looks REAL for once.
Those WINDOWS don't look like empty white squares etc.
look at the underside view - the shape of the secondary hull... very... ahem... sexy ;o)
Ahhhh Mojo - your in a run for your money... maybe some employment is on the agenda!?!
*throth*
WOW!
The test - for me - would be to see it in an ?oblique? view...
*swoon* WOW... flood lights and everything... I wonder if this is how Gene might have wanted his ship to look...
Now that's a starship!
Posted by darkwing_duck1 (Member # 790) on :
It's a REALLY good mesh! Very faithful to the FJ plans, AFAICS!
I'd just like to know where FJ got the idea that the photon tubes were on TOP of the saucer...
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
A dark little space that smells like poopie.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
OK, can someone explain this to me, this 'Connie' isn't what we see on screen (you know what I mean)... it's different to the Enterprise... follows FJ's blueprints!?! How do the two differ?
Does anyone think that the forward three 'portals' look a little large?
I'd love to see a picture looking OUT one of those windows.
I really don't know much about 3d work - since my computer is as old as the hills (well a 6 year old hill) but how do people do these things... do they take a 2d schem and start from there or just add different cylinders together etc... and push and pull them!?! How do you get them to look anything like a schematic... but 3d'd!?!
Andrew
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Others can add more to this if I forget anything...
�The bridge module on the filming miniature is a much more tapered teardrop shape. �The angle of the saucer rim on the filming miniature is more acute than the FJ plans. �The taper of the nacelles is more subtle on the filming miniature. �The edge of the saucer undercurve is much softer on the filming miniature. �The secondary hull of the filming miniature is a simple lathed cylinder, having none of the complex curves the schematics possess. �...Except for the three recessed deflector boxes. �The nacelle endcaps have a screw in the middle of the dome (or a spike, depending on the version), which is absent on the FJ plans. �The filming miniature has no visible weapons ports or hardpoints, but the series VFX show phasers and torpedoes both emanating from approximately the same point on the saucer -- just above the lower sensor platform. Additionally, dialogue refers to "midship phasers", which don't appear on FJ's plans, and an implied >6 torpedo tubes.
What am I forgetting? --Jonah
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
I think the lighted squares on the upper saucer surface are positioned differently, and smaller in size, in the filming miniature. I believe the detail atop the impulse engine on the saucer is different, too (the L shapes are differently proportioned). Minor stuff like that. And then there's of course the eternal debate about the deflector grid lines...
I take it the Endeavour Vektor is planning on making will be the oddly nacelled thing from "Ships of the Star Fleet"? It's certainly one of the least-known study models / sketches of the NCC-1701 - I'm still not quite sure where it comes from.
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"...do they take a 2d schem and start from there or just add different cylinders together etc... and push and pull them!?!"
Basically, yeah. There are usually a few more complicated shapes in there, too.
Posted by CaptainMike (Member # 709) on :
My heavy 3D modeling days are behind me, but i still have nightmares about the way it was.. hours sitting in the dark getting a pale green monitor tan, transforming faces, polygons, deleting vertices... i couldnt think or talk to people in the real world for a while after modeling.. nobody else made sense.. only shapes did.. *shudders* i would literally stay up all night.. theres no way to desribe the way you think after an experience like that..
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
My only regret about that beautiful model is that there's no lighting in the deflector area to complement the liberties he took with the warp engines.
Generally, on TOS, one would see the deflector area of the ship well-lit. But, when the Enterprise was shown on DS9, that area was poorly lit, and just came off looking like it was really dirty.
Alas, several of the amazing render-jobs also show that "dirty" look to the deflector area.
Some sort of gentle blue lighting would really make that area of the ship glow . . . no pun intended.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
I too think there is something missing in his deflector area - it needs more detail for a start - considering the rest of the ship got a muted Aztec finish! The dish looks the most fake part at the moment.
A subtle blue glow from behind the dish? A ring of blue at the FRONT of the dish glowing... a very thin ring.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
Another thing that makes that area look dirty is the additional copper- or rust-colored area. There's an extra ring of it behind the usual navigational deflector, interrupted by the three blocky things that jut forward from the edges of the secondary hull. The filming model did not have such a detail.
Alas, without Franz Joseph's 1701 blueprints handy, I can't say whether his includes that or not (the FJ work being what Vektor's Constitution is based on).
Also, in reference to the blue glow in the deflector region, I've taken the liberty of using one of Vektor's older images to show what that might look like:
I think I'll be "that guy" and show these to Vektor, to see what he thinks . . . yeah, that's kinda like your average Christian telling God how to do his job, but hey, you never know.
Posted by Guardian 2000 (Member # 743) on :
Well, I went and e-mailed him.
Here's the reply, if anyone's interested:
Those modified renders look pretty interesting with the blue glow behind the deflector, but to be honest I don't really care for the effect. I don't care much for the bright blue glow on the nacelles of the NX-01 either. I much prefer the subtler, almost violet hue of the refit Enterprise, which I have tried to duplicate on the Constitution. Bright blue is just too garish for my taste, especially in combination with bright red and orange. That's the main reason I dislike most of the ship designs from the TNG era on; they look more like Christmas tree ornaments than starships.
You're not the first person to suggest this idea. At least five or six others commented during the making of this model that it could benefit from the backlit dish effect used on the NX-01. If I do anything like that at all, it will be something very subtle.
I think, however, that the backlit approach is the wrong way to go for those like yourself who think the deflector area is too dark. One thing I've discovered about this ship is that it's a bitch to light without creating all kinds of ugly shadows. The deflector area, for whatever reason, never seems to get as much light as it really needs. Backlighting would do little to improve the situation since it wouldn't really light the deflector itself. Someone else suggested a beauty light shining down on it from the lower sensor dome, which I have tinkered with a little bit, but it sort of sticks out like a sore thumb that way.
So, I'm not sure what the solution is. I think it's mainly a matter of setting up the lighting in just the right way. The lighting scheme that came into use with Voyager, in which the key light is behind the model rather than behind the camera, is just about the worst possible scheme for this model from most angles. There are variations, though, that manage to show it off pretty well.
I plan to post some more artistic renderings some time fairly soon. Perhaps you'll be more satisfied with those.
And thanks for the comments!
Vektor
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
You know what I'd like to see... a saucer sep - a la Andy Proberts storyboard sketches as seen in the Art of Star Trek.
That's where I reckon the auxillary control room is - on top of the 'neck' - and when connected imbedded in the saucer section - which would put it close or if not on Deck 6 - Engineering. (or one of them).
It would then eventually evolve into what we see with the Battle Bridge in TNG. I think there was a comic that depicted this scenario - I have it somewhere - I'll have to scan it in (not that I have many comics - I bought a few one day to read).
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
